The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against Clearview AI, Inc. (Clearview AI) in March 2020, alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by capturing and using billions of individuals’ faceprints without consent. The ACLU filed suit “on behalf of groups representing survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, undocumented
Privacy Tips
Privacy Tip #330 – Data Privacy and Downloaded Apps: Here Are Those Dubbed “the Worst”
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Readers of this blog know how I feel about apps and the data they collect, use and disclose when it comes to privacy. Although they are supposed to tell you in their privacy policy what data they are collecting, few people actually read the privacy policy to understand how their data are being collected, used…
Privacy Tip #329 – Download Apps for Single Use—Then Delete
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
I traveled this week by plane to a client to conduct a cybersecurity tabletop exercise—one of my favorite things to do (the tabletop, not the flying).
To be able to use the wi-fi, everyone instructed in the gate area was told over the loudspeaker that we had to download the airline app on our phones,…
Privacy Tip #328 – Ukraine Charity Scams
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Unscrupulous criminals use crises to their advantage. Scammers are using the conflict in Ukraine to bilk money from people trying to help those impacted from the attacks. There are numerous accounts of scammers using old techniques to defraud people from funds and personal information.
We all want to help and what is unfolding in Ukraine…
Privacy Tip #327 – Scammers Spoof Cell Phone Numbers
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Scammers use familiarity to get victims to fall for their scams. One way to do that is to spoof a cell phone number from the same area code to make the targeted person think that the person calling or texting them is someone they know. When the call is answered, it is a recording or…
Privacy Tip #326 -Gift Card Scams Still Rampant and Successful
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
In addition to teaching your kids about financial literacy, teach them (and yourself) to identify scams that are designed to steal from you.
One scam that has made a comeback and is surprisingly successful is spoofing through an email or text that asks you to either buy gift cards or pay for something with…
Privacy Tip #325 – Largest Crypto Hack Ever? A Whopping $625 Million
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips, Virtual Currency
While the federal government figures out its role in regulating cryptocurrency, and consumers continue to try to get in on the action but have lost millions [view related posts here, here, and here], what is being dubbed as the largest crypto hack to date ($625 million) happened last week.
According to Ronin…
Privacy Tip #324 – What Happens to My Health Information When a Hospital Goes Out of Business?
In general, both state and federal laws apply to health information or protected health information that is in the possession of hospitals, health systems, and medical providers.
HIPAA requires that covered entities protect the confidentiality and integrity of protected health information in their possession and secure it from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. In addition,…
Privacy Tip #323 – FTC Warns Consumers of FTC Imposters
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
It’s an old trick, but it works, so alerting our readers is worth repeating. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Scam Alert this week warning consumers that fraudsters are impersonating FTC officials.
According to the Alert, scammers are “pretending to be FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and staff at the FTC. They’re emailing, saying…
Privacy Tip #322 – Monitor Apps Collecting Kids’ Data
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
There is a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), that requires app developers to obtain parental consent before collecting information from children under the age of 13. The law has been on the books for a long time, yet companies are not always in compliance with it.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…