By Jackson Chen

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently touted to Congress the company’s privacy efforts stemming from a record $5 billion Federal Trade Commission settlement last year, including “an industry-leading privacy program.”

“We have more than a thousand engineers working on the privacy program now,” Zuckerberg told the Senate Commerce Committee at an October hearing. “I think that settlement will be quite effective in ensuring that people’s data and privacy are protected.”

But experts told Digital Privacy News that the settlement did not address the root issue of Facebook’s privacy practices and instead raised more questions.

By Melt Strydom

Days before a new privacy law takes effect in New Zealand, stark differences remained between advocates praising its stronger privacy protections and opponents badgering it as a “toothless tiger” because of its seemingly small fines compared with regulations in other countries.

“Even the best of laws, including the new European regulation, will have the same problem, but our law remains fit for purpose — as it is principles-based and is one-size-fits-all, covering all sectors,” Gehan Gunasekara, chairman of the New Zealand Privacy Foundation (NZPF), said of the New Zealand Privacy Act of 2020.

Farmers Wary on Giving Up Data to Big Ag Firms

By Christopher Adams

Iowa farmer Jeff Frank has used precision technology for years. He believes in it.

He helped ag giant Monsanto — absorbed by Bayer in 2018 — break ground on its acquired Precision Planting technology and digital-agriculture platform FieldView a few years back.

He even sold drones for a while.

School Districts Vetting Online Learning Apps More Because of Growing Privacy Concerns

By Samantha Cleaver

During her years in the classroom, Karen Mensing, technology integration facilitator with the Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Ariz., used every cool new app she came across.

“I wanted to try the new apps,” Mensing told Digital Privacy News. “It was fun.”

And, for a long time, “We weren’t vetting apps,” she said. “It was, like, do what works for you.”

By Robert Bateman

Politicians in the EU are calling for strict regulations on targeted advertising, including considering a phase-out that would bring a total ban.

The European Parliament, which comprises elected representatives from each EU country, last month called for targeted advertising to be “regulated more strictly in favor of less intrusive, contextualized forms of advertising.” 

Legislators envision new forms of online ads that “require less data and do not depend on previous user interaction with content,” according to an Oct. 20 news release. 

By Joanne Cleaver

Privacy practices by homeowners’ associations (HOA) are one more headache for financially stressed Americans trying to avoid foreclosure. 

Petitioning a board for suspension of association fees is fraught with potential privacy pitfalls, lawyers and professional HOA managers told Digital Privacy News.

Laws that dictate condo board rules vary by state, but whether a board actually handles members’ financial information with discretion is another matter, they said.

HOA members should not expect sensitive financial information brought to boards in seeking fee relief to be kept confidential, said Brian Boger, an attorney in Columbia, S.C., who specializes in HOA disputes.

Man-operated toll booths, though not this bullet-riddled one from the death of Sonny Corleone in 1972’s “The Godfather,” have given way to technologies that now raise privacy issues. Credit: Paramount Pictures.

By Rob Sabo

The death of fictional New York mobster Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather” is perhaps the most famous movie scene involving a toll booth in American cinematic history.

But this month, such settings will be relegated to history — as toll booths along the 420-mile New York State Thruway system go dark in favor of electronic tolling monitors.