NSA Warns of Continued Russian Hacking of US Systems; Legal Experts Say Executive Order Affecting Social Media Has No Standing; Ariz. AG Sues Google, Alleging Fraudulent Collection of Location Data; US Probing Israeli Private Intelligence Firm. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/29)”Month: May 2020
By Peter A. McKay
Of all the things tech companies know about you, your spending habits are perhaps among the most sensitive — and the most overlooked by users.
Chalk the latter up to the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, which since has thrown a bright spotlight on potential abuses of social-networking data in particular, with Facebook arguably taking the brunt of criticism for the entire technology industry.
Continue reading “Online Payment Programs — Easy, Solid, Mundane — Carry Big Privacy Risks”Sen. Ron Wyden Opposes Reworked FISA Amendment; Researchers: Internet-Connected Security, Doorbell Cameras Contain Privacy Flaws; Bank of America Breach Affects Paycheck Program Applicants; Human Rights Watch: Russian Federal Database Threatens Privacy. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/28)”
By Matthew Scott
The warrants granted recently in the special investigation of former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s alleged faked hate crime last year highlight law enforcement’s expanding ability to gain access to vast amounts of personal data and the potential risks that poses to the digital privacy rights of Americans.
“There are tremendous risks to individuals’ privacy from the collection of data on this scale and also law enforcement access to information on this scale,” Mark Rumold, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), warned to Digital Privacy News.
Continue reading “Jussie Smollett Warrants Threaten Digital Privacy Rights, Experts Say”2 House Republicans Hit TikTok Owners on Children’s Privacy; 25M Mathway Users’ Records Leaked Online; Consumer Reports Releases Studies on Digital Privacy, Online Tracking. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/27)”
By Samantha Cleaver
The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) switched from in-person to online classes in March because of COVID-19.
Students were about to take quarterly final exams, and professors were given the option to use ProctorU, an online test-proctoring company.
The service was new to many faculty, Claudio Fogu, associate professor of Italian studies, told Digital Privacy News.
But Fogu and other faculty members read through ProctorU’s privacy policy and raised concerns about what data was collected, how it was used and whether students could opt out.
Continue reading “Online Test Proctoring Raises Privacy Questions Among University Faculty, Students”Dutch Judge Orders Grandmother to Remove Photos From Social Media; Canadian Spy Agency Warns Against Changes in Privacy Law; US State Legislator Introduces Bill to Protect Privacy as Contact-Tracing Begins. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/26)”
What Does COVID-19 Surveillance Portend for Privacy?
By Charles McDermid
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified fears of a stricter surveillance environment in a world already troubled by huge data breaches and privacy violations, as well as the increasing power of Big Tech.
Experts now hope the new reality brought on by coronavirus includes heightened awareness and stronger government protections, rather than apathy from a public possibly frustrated by the slow burn of constant data-privacy fears.
Continue reading “A ‘New Normal’?”Ohio Data Breach Exposes Pandemic Jobless Aid Applicants; UK Contractor Shares Emails of 300 Contract-Tracers in Breach; Apple-Google COVID App Technology Draws Interest From 23 Nations; Ex-Apple Whistleblower Calls for EU Probe of Privacy Policies. Click “Read more” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/25)”
By Gregory Austin
Gamers across the world are eagerly awaiting the release of the PlayStation 5 this holiday season.
But one of the device’s most popular add-ons, the new DualSense wireless controller, likely will incorporate a higher level of data-collection that could infringe upon user privacy, experts told Digital Privacy News.
The DualSense’s built-in, headset-free microphone and upgraded hand sensors could leave users vulnerable to a hack like PlayStation’s enormous network breach in 2011.
Continue reading “PlayStation’s New DualSense Controller Has Built-In Privacy Concerns”
A Privacy Solution That Combines Decentralization and Cryptocurrency
By Jackson Chen
With the market for virtual privacy networks growing to more than $25 billion last year, a field of established brand-name providers has dominated the market.
As major virtual private network (VPN) providers all include their own vulnerabilities, one platform seeks to offer a decentralized privacy solution that runs off cryptocurrency.
Orchid, a peer-to-peer privacy network that uses its own cryptocurrency — OXT — for payment, was launched in December.
Continue reading “Q&A: Orchid VPN Co-Founder Steven Waterhouse”ND Coronavirus App Caught Sharing Data With NYC Location Firm; Judge: Police Just Turning on Cellphone Qualifies as a Search; Data From 40M Wishbone App Users Leaked Online; States Suspending Public-Records Access Over COVID-19. Click “Read more” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/22)”
By Samantha Cleaver
Schools across the country started closing because of COVID-19 in mid-March.
But earlier this month, Montana Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock gave schools the option of re-opening for the rest of the school year. He was the first U.S. governor to do so.
Continue reading “As Schools Plan Re-Openings, Privacy Is a Consideration”Facebook to Pay $9M to Settle Canadian Privacy Probe; NSO Group Impersonated Facebook to Help Clients Hack Targets; CDC: U.S. Schools Should Reopen With Social Distancing Once Goals Are Met; Study: 97% of US Companies Plan to Increase Data-Privacy Spending This Year. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/21)”
By Robert Bateman
The U.K. is developing a contract-tracing app designed to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
But privacy experts have identified vulnerabilities that could leave users’ privacy at risk.
Continue reading “Experts Say UK’s Pilot COVID-19 App Has Privacy, Security Flaws”ACLU Warns Against COVID Screening Tools; ADT Camera Systems Allowed for Surreptitious Home Spying, Lawsuit Says; Equifax to Pay $30.5M in Settlement With Banks Over 2017 Breach; States Accused of Fudging or Bungling COVID-19 Testing Data; The New York Times to End Third-Party Advertising Data. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/20)”
By Joanne Cleaver
As travel resumes, what health and itinerary information will be attached to individuals’ documents?
The travel industry has its gloved hands full as it rethinks and reorganizes its mission, functions, design and operations.
A top priority for a consortium of industry trade groups, led by the U.S. Travel Association, includes new types of identifications and related processes for ticketing, check-ins and payments.
Continue reading “Travel Industry Weighs Privacy, Safety in Re-Opening Polices”ACLU, 51 Groups Urge US House to Take Up FISA Amendment; FBI Chief Rips Apple for Not Helping Crack Florida Shooter’s iPhones; Nigerian Crime Ring Siphoned Millions in US Unemployment Money During Pandemic; Germany’s Data Chief Spurns WhatsApp Over Facebook Fears. Click “Continue reading” below.
Continue reading “Daily Digest (5/19)”
By Myrle Croasdale
Infrared tracking technology now is adding to the data-privacy discussion.
A Johns Hopkins University clinical and engineering team recently released a study that used detailed patient-mobility data to predict lengths of stay, the level of care patients needed when discharged and the likelihood of them being readmitted within 30 days.
Continue reading “Patients May Benefit From Infrared Location Tracking, But at What Cost?”
‘Data Can Be Used to Create Social Movements’
By Terry Collins
The race is on for Data 4 Black Lives co-founder Yeshimabeit Milner, who admits time is of the essence.
She’s desperately seeking critical information on how many African Americans have contracted and died from COVID-19.
Mostly known as a privacy advocate seeking to abolish big data that she believes leads to social and political oppression, Milner’s group of engineers, data scientists and community leaders are making a hard pivot.
Continue reading “Q&A: Data 4 Black Lives’ Yeshimabeit Milner”