Should kids be on social media? At what age? Should parents monitor their conversations on those platforms? Do parental controls work? These are questions facing many parents and guardians, especially with the increasing use of social media platforms by kids and teens. The Pew Research Center reported that 58% of teens are daily users of
Shareholder Suit Against Meta for Data Breach Goes Forward
Meta (formerly Facebook) has been hit with a revived class action shareholder suit stemming from its involvement with Cambridge Analytica, a firm that infamously mined Facebook user data for hyper-targeted political engagement. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco restored shareholders’ claims that Meta falsely stated that user data “could” be compromised…
Privacy Tip #361 – Beware of ChatGPT-Themed Scams
Researchers at Meta, the owner of Facebook, released a report this week which indicated that since March 2023, Meta “has blocked and shared with our industry peers more than 1,000 malicious links from being shared across our technologies” of unique ChatGPT-themed web addresses designed to deliver malicious software to users’ devices.
According to Meta’s report…
Facebook Is Removing Some Sensitive Information from Public Profiles
Starting December 1, Facebook reportedly will remove several biographic details from user profiles, including “Religious views,” “Political views,” “Interested in” (indicating the user’s sexual orientation), and “Address.” Many state privacy laws, including California’s Privacy Rights Act, restrict how businesses can collect and use these types of sensitive personal information. Facebook has not confirmed why it…
Texas AG Sues Meta, Alleging Massive Collection of Face Geometries Without Consent
Texas enacted a biometric information privacy law way back in 2001, which was amended in 2009. That was a long time ago in the context of the development of privacy laws, and even longer when it comes to biometric information privacy laws. In this rapidly changing area of law, Texas was surely ahead of its…
Privacy Tip #319 – How Facial Recognition Technology Works and Why You Should Care
I have written about the privacy concerns of facial recognition technology many times before [view related posts].
Many individuals are unaware of how facial recognition technology works, who is collecting their facial geometry, and how their biometric information is being used and disclosed.
The Texas Attorney General sued Meta Platforms (fka Facebook) this week,…
Meta Hit with Lawsuits Over Allegations of Promoting Hate Speech
Meta has been hit with two related lawsuits totaling over $150 billion in its first major legal challenge since rebranding. The suits (one filed in California Superior Court and the other in the UK) come from a class representing the Rohingya, a minority Muslim population that has suffered severe systematic violence in Myanmar.…
Meta Announces the End of Facial Recognition Technology on Facebook
The Facebook company now known as Meta announced this week that it is shutting down the Face Recognition system on Facebook. Meta stated that this is part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition technology in its products. What does this mean? If you have a Facebook page and you previously…
Irish DPA Hits WhatsApp with $266M Fine for Alleged GDPR Violations
When GDPR became effective three years ago, companies took notice of the fines and penalties attached to violations of the stringent privacy law—4 percent of global annual sales. The fines have been racking up, including the most recent one by the Irish Data Protection Commission against WhatsApp—$266 million. WhatsApp is owned by Facebook.
The fine…
Adobe Introduces Software to Replace Third-Party Cookies
This week Adobe Inc. released some updated software for companies to target customers with advertising and offers using the brands’ own data as opposed to third-party cookies. More and more, third-party cookies are being eliminated from websites due to consumer concerns regarding unwanted tracking across the internet. Many web browsers already block third-party cookies, and…