FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr asserted that TikTok poses an “unacceptable national security risk” in a letter to the CEOs of Google and Apple urging the companies to remove the app from their mobile app stores. According to Carr, TikTok’s history of “surreptitious access of private and sensitive U.S. user data by persons located in Beijing
data collection
Privacy Tip #337 – FBI Issues Warning About Cryptocurrency Apps
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
On July 18, 2022, the FBI issued an Alert advising consumers that fraudulent cryptocurrency apps have caused more than 244 victims to lose nearly $43 million.
The fraudulent apps that cyber criminals used to steal funds from consumers were presented as banking institutions asking investors to deposit funds, and then not allowing them to withdraw…
FTC Adopts Policy Statement to Increase Scrutiny for COPPA Violations
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Children's Privacy
On May 19, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted the “Policy Statement on Education Technology and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act” (COPPA), which calls for increased scrutiny for violations of COPPA by education technology companies. The FTC said in its statement:
The [FTC] is committed to ensuring that education technology (“ed tech”) tools…
How Creepy Is That New Product? Mozilla’s *privacy not included Privacy Guide Will Tell You
By Robinson+Cole's Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team on
Posted in Data Privacy
It’s that time of year again when we start to think about holiday gifts and Black Friday shopping. So as any good privacy pro knows, the Mozilla *privacy not included guide is the place to go to learn about the “creepiness” of the latest toy or gift that you are looking to buy.
This year,…
Privacy Tip #293 – Location, Location, Location-Based Services
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
This is not the first post discussing location-based services on mobile phones [see posts here]. And it won’t be the last. After reading my colleague’s post on the priest who resigned from his high-profile position after his location was tied to Grindr, I thought it would be useful to remind readers to think…
CCPA Part 2 – What Does Your Business Need to Know? Consumer Requests and Notice to Consumers of Personal Information Collected
By Robinson+Cole's Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team on
This week we continue our series of articles on the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA). We’ve been discussing the broad nature of this privacy law and answering some general questions, such as what is it? Who does it apply to? What protections are included for consumers? How does it affect businesses? What rights…
Google Tracking of Android Users Goes Beyond the Expected
By Sean Lawless on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Uncategorized
By now most smartphone users are aware of location tracking used by both Apple and Android operating systems. Basic location tracking is a system which uses GPS data to know the phone user’s location. However, according to a recent article published by Quartz, Google’s data collection goes far beyond basic location tracking. Not only does the data collected go beyond simple location information, but the ‘Opt In’ service Google uses to collect that data, Location History, isn’t as truly Opt In as users might expect. According to Quartz, Google’s Location History underlies many of Android’s main apps, including Google Assistant and Google Maps. Furthermore, Opting In to Location History for one app may actually give many apps access to Location History’s data and the ability to send that data to Google.
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