By Steven Crook 

Taiwan’s plan to begin trials of its long-planned but heavily criticized national electronic identification (eID) cards next month has been thrown into doubt by a municipal government’s reluctance. 

The pilot effort would use volunteers in Hsinchu, a city of 451,000 nearly 45 miles southwest of Taipei. 

But the Hsinchu City Government said that, because it prioritized citizens’ rights and information security, if Taiwan’s central government was unable to convince it that the eID system was safe, it was “inclined to suspend the trial.” 

The Hsinchu City Government’s decision was reported Saturday by United Daily News, a major Taiwanese newspaper. 

By Robert Bateman

France’s data-protection authority has hit Google and Amazon with fines totaling $163 million over the tech giants’ use of tracking cookies online.

Google’s $121 million fine and Amazon’s fine of $42 million were imposed Dec. 7 by France’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL).

CNIL enforces privacy laws, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), France’s Data Protection Act and the ePrivacy Directive, which sets the rules on cookies use across the EU.

According to Dec. 10 statements on CNIL’s website, Google and Amazon’s websites placed cookies on user devices without proper notice and without requesting consent.

By Jason Collins

Anyone who uses Instagram or Facebook knows that moment when you realize that something you were talking about has popped up as an advertisement on your feed.

Whether you find this expedient or creepy, you now have realized that your cellphone is listening to you.

While most of the blame for breach of privacy is laid on Apple, Microsoft and other big tech companies, a major player is being overlooked: Telecom giants are directly connected to personal information, since not only do they now provide phone access, but also mobile data and WiFi as well.

By Jackson Chen

With the calls for the creation of a comprehensive privacy law in the U.S., politicians from both sides of the aisle have proposed solutions.

In March, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced the Consumer Data Privacy and Security Act, which aimed to create a federal standard for data-privacy protection.

It also sought to give consumers control over their data and restrict how businesses collect peoples’ data.

Moran’s bill also would give the Federal Trade Commission enforcement authority for these protections while offering the agency more resources.

The proposal is awaiting a hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee.

In the summer, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio, put forth his take on a comprehensive privacy bill.

By Joanne Cleaver

Last of two parts.

Patti Breitigam-Wenzel didn’t ask for fame, not the way it came in late August.

On Aug. 25, armed demonstrators mixed with protesters supporting Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot by local police in Kenosha, Wis.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, an Illinois resident now is charged with coming to the protests with a loaded gun, with shooting three men — killing two — and severely wounding Wenzel’s friend, Gaige Grosskreutz.

Supporters say Rittenhouse, who remains free on $2 million bond, acted in self-defense. The others fatally shot were Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, Wis., and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha.

But since the incident, Wenzel has been at the eye of a social media storm, much of it from a GoFundMe page she set up, which shows her name as the organizer of an appeal for funds to cover Grosskreutz’s medical bills.

By Joanne Cleaver

First of two parts.

A story good enough to coax donations from individuals through a crowdfunding site is also a story likely to attract unwanted attention. 

Intent on helping those in need — friends, relatives, animals, the environment or myriad other causes — consumers inadvertently mark a bullseye on themselves, said Stephanie Sullivan, founder of Protect Now, a technology company in Boston that equips individuals and professionals with digital privacy tools. 

The urge to help overrides everyday discretion, she told Digital Privacy News.

“You’ll be more vulnerable for a cause you care about,” Sullivan said. “All they have to do is hone in on your interests.

By Robert Bateman

The EU’s competition watchdog has accused ecommerce giant Amazon of breaching EU antitrust rules by misusing third-party sellers’ data on its marketplace.

The European Commission, which enforces competition law in the EU, has issued a “statement of objections” alleging that Amazon is “distorting competition in online retail markets” by “systematically relying on nonpublic business data of independent sellers,” according to a Nov. 10 news release.

The commission’s statement is part of its investigation into Amazon’s use of marketplace seller data, which was launched in July 2019. Amazon now has an opportunity to examine and respond to the objections.

By Nora Macaluso

More people than ever are shopping online this holiday season — 33% more than last year, according to Adobe Analytics — and that points to more opportunities for hackers.

Security experts told Digital Privacy News that the top privacy threats they were seeing involved spoofing and phishing attacks from sites purporting to be those of major retailers.

Shoppers need to be more vigilant than ever about making sure they’re not clicking on bad links and about monitoring credit-card statements for fake charges, they said.

“This holiday season is different from any other because of the pandemic,” Mieke Eoyang, senior vice president for the national security program at Third Way, a Washington think tank that focuses on security, told Digital Privacy News.

By Samantha Cleaver

Digital citizenship was front and center as the school year started in August in San Bernardino County, Calif. With online learning, “this is a priority,” said Laurel Aguilar-Kirchhoff, digital learning specialist. “It’s not triage.”

The focus across the 33 districts comprising San Bernardino will be building digital citizenship into the culture.

Instead of teaching a few lessons, digital citizenship now is a routine part of the day. “I think this is an opportunity to teach students to empower students to think critically,” Aguilar-Kirchhoff told Digital Privacy News.

By Hamil R. Harris

The murders are so frequent to the Rev. Duane Simmons that he sees police surveillance planes flying above his church in West Baltimore in Maryland as a blessing from God.

“I have been in this church for 30 years — and someone was killed right in front of the church,” said Simmons, who added that one Sunday a plane spotted suspects that relayed information to a police security camera on the ground.

A suspect was apprehended.

While Simmons, pastor of Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, told the talk-show host on WYPR-FM that he supported the Baltimore Police Department’s aerial surveillance program, David Rocha, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union countered, “Giving so much to government is dangerous.”

By Robert Bateman

Privacy advocates across the EU have filed complaints against Apple over a “tracking code” installed on millions of its devices. 

The code, known as the IDFA (ID for advertisers), is generated without user consent and enables Apple and third parties to track users’ activity across websites, apps and devices.

Experts told Digital Privacy News that IDFA was an intrusive tool that compromised user privacy.

Complaints were filed with privacy regulators in Spain and Berlin by Austrian nonprofit None of Your Business: European Center for Digital Rights (NOYB), headed by lawyer and privacy advocate Max Schrems.

Apple strongly disputed NOYB’s complaints.