By Lisa Rabasca Roepe

One of the fastest-growing financial crimes, synthetic identity fraud, often is undetected by banks and consumers — costing U.S. lenders as much as $6 billion a year, though experts said that losses might be much higher because schemes are miscategorized as credit losses.

That’s because synthetic identity fraud uses real information, such as a stolen Social Security number, with fictional information — a name, address or birth date — to open new lines of credit.

Over time, fraudsters can build up lines of credit, only to max it out and then walk away, forcing banks to write off millions of dollars in losses, according to the Federal Reserve.

Experts: Political Affiliations, Generally Private, May Cause Bias in the Workplace

By Nora Macaluso

Americans have the right to keep their political opinions to themselves, should they wish — but as anyone who’s done a Google search knows, it’s not hard to find hints online as to someone’s party affiliation or political leanings.

That’s concerning to some who follow workplace issues.

The current U.S. election cycle, which peaks with nationwide voting Tuesday, has made for even more of a minefield — with politics taking center stage in a highly polarized environment.

By Dalia Hatuqa

Countries worldwide are facing an unprecedented challenge in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.

The measures being put in place, while timely and often necessary, have had a real impact on democratic practices and processes — including those in the digital sphere, rights groups have told Digital Privacy News.

The Palestinian territories are no different.

As the pandemic rages throughout the West Bank and Gaza —54, 060 confirmed cases, 561 deaths as of Sunday — digital-rights groups told Digital Privacy News of an increase in violations of human rights online by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

By Patrick W. Dunne

California residents will vote Tuesday on a divisive privacy initiative: Prop 24, also known as the California Privacy Rights and Enforcement Act.

Alastair Mactaggart, the San Francisco developer, wrote and financed Prop 24 to enhance or adjust provisions of his previous initiative, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA).

Prop 24 would require businesses to provide customers with an opt-out regarding the collection of their private data and would limit how that information is used and stored.

“Prop 24 aims to give California privacy-first protection like Europe has under the General Data Protection Regulation since 2016,” Mactaggart told Digital Privacy News.

By Jackson Chen

Big Tech CEOs again are testifying before Congress — this time on Wednesday — about how they run their companies, but now they are in front of a Republican-led panel of the U.S. Senate.

CEOs from Twitter, Google and Facebook will be questioned by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on the liability shield that companies operate under, as well as its content-moderation practices and effect on consumer privacy.

Specifically, the session will discuss how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act offers online platforms immunity from the content that’s published by its users and if it has allowed tech giants to enable unintended behavior. 

By Rachel Looker

The 2020 presidential election is a week away — and with it comes the chance for each candidate to determine the direction of data-privacy issues for the next four years.

From regulating social media platforms to enacting stronger privacy legislation, either Republican President Donald Trump or former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden may get the chance to shape the future of digital privacy if re-elected or elected to office.

“When we’re sitting here in January 2021, we will continue to see both the new Congress and the next administration discuss data privacy in some way,” Jennifer Huddleston, director of technology and innovation policy at the American Action Forum (AAF), told Digital Privacy News.