Many readers questioned me about the Wall Street Journal article this week entitled, “Facebook to Banks: Give Us Your Data, We’ll Give you Our Users.” The questions and comments ranged from “Can they really do this?” to “This is outrageous!” Without getting into a legal analysis, there are laws that banks have to follow when … Continue Reading
Last week, the High Court of Ireland submitted eleven questions to the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) to consider about the personal data transfer regime between the European Union (EU) and the United States. This referral stems from a new claim by Max Schrems, an Austrian lawyer and privacy activist. Schrems previously … Continue Reading
Facebook reports that the personal data of 87 million Facebook users, mostly located in the United States, “may have been improperly shared” with British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica. Previous estimates put the possible scope of improper sharing at about 50 million users. The increased number was calculated by Facebook by totaling the friends of … Continue Reading
I have the privilege of teaching Privacy Law at Roger Williams University School of Law, one of the few law schools in the country to offer the course. This is the fourth year the course has been offered, and the students who take the course are bright and engaged. The fun thing about teaching the … Continue Reading
We have previously reported on Facebook’s fight against a proposed class action case alleging violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Facebook continues to fight the allegation that its collection and storage of users’ and non-users’ facial scans through the use of facial recognition technology violates BIPA, and has filed a Motion to … Continue Reading
It is well known that hackers and fraudsters surf Facebook to find individuals who have not protected their information through Facebook’s privacy settings. People put a lot of information on Facebook that is very personal and can give criminals detailed leads on how to launch successful campaigns against unsuspecting victims. Less publicized is the fact … Continue Reading
Today, the Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) fined Facebook 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million USD) in connection with how the company collects personal data for advertising purposes. The AEPD said Facebook did not get properly informed consent from users before exploiting this data as well as kept this data longer than it’s useful purpose. In … Continue Reading
In Washington, D.C. last week, the U.S. House of Representatives Unmanned Systems Caucus and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) held a briefing for congressional staff on technologies that enable unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to operate longer distances and at higher altitudes in the U.S. national airspace. The briefing included two panels of … Continue Reading
Facebook announced last week that it successfully completed a second test of an unmanned aerial system (UAS or drone) designed to carry internet access to remote parts of the world. Unlike Facebook’s first test for this task back in June 2016, the drone did not crash in this second test. Facebook plans to develop an … Continue Reading
Facebook says that someday ‘the password’ will be a distant memory. But for now, passwords are certainly necessary. However, Facebook has released a beta version of its Delegated Account Recovery software –a new way for social networks to be the backup security key when online consumers forget their password on different, non-Facebook websites and services. … Continue Reading
Last October, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved new privacy rules governing how Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are permitted to use and share its customers’ personal information. The rules have been fiercely contested by telecom companies that contend they are being unfairly held to more stringent regulations than so-called edge providers (Google, Facebook, etc.), which … Continue Reading
Tobias Boelter, a University of California Berkeley cryptography researcher claims that last year he found a security flaw in WhatsApp’s encrypted smart phone messaging application. The flaw, which relates to the unique security keys exchanged between WhatsApp users, is reported to allow third parties, including governments, to intercept messages in transit. Mr. Boelter informed Facebook, … Continue Reading
Starting February 6, WNYC is starting a 5-day plan “to solve that digital dilemma” of having the convenience of living online, but trying to take control over who gets your personal information and what they do with it. It’s called the Privacy Paradox series. I just signed up for the series on their site. You … Continue Reading
In the ongoing saga of Facebook’s challenge of the Illinois Biometric Law, it declared last week that the Illinois law violates the United States Constitution. According to Facebook’s Answer in a suit filed against it in California, the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause, which limits states from enacting legislation that would … Continue Reading
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released landmark protections for internet users, requiring permission from broadband subscribers before broadband providers can collect data on the subscribers’ web browsing, app use, location information or financial information. Broadband providers rely on subscriber data like this to create sophisticated, targeted advertising. Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the FCC, … Continue Reading
I never knew that since 2006, October has been designated as National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. According to the Department of Health and Human Service’s website, “This year’s Bullying Prevention Awareness Month marks the 10th anniversary of its initiation by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center http://www.pacer.org/bullying/. Since 2006, the event has grown to an entire … Continue Reading
Most individuals seeking out new job opportunities use their personal e-mail address to correspond with a prospective employer, presumably keeping that job hunt secret from their current employer. However, now, Joberate, a startup that track’s an individual’s job search activity into their public social media accounts, calculates a score of how likely each individual is … Continue Reading
Following in the footsteps of numerous other states, California became the newest state to pass a digital assets bill, which allows individuals to access social media accounts, music accounts, gaming accounts or other digital accounts on behalf of a deceased individual. The California Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act provides guidelines for how … Continue Reading
Social media users should beware of online scams purporting to offer free Aer Lingus flights. One scam asks users to fill out a questionnaire for a chance to win Aer Lingus tickets in celebration of Aer Lingus’ 80th anniversary. Once they have completed the questionnaire, users are told they have won two free tickets to … Continue Reading
My Facebook account got hacked, so I am no longer on Facebook. LinkedIn was also hacked and users were told to reset their passwords, which I did immediately. I don’t use Twitter, because it’s just another way to get hacked, and those of you who know me, know I am too paranoid about my data … Continue Reading
On August 5, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to nursing homes in a letter to state survey agencies (Letter) that addresses nursing homes’ obligations to protect residents. The Letter focuses on potential psychosocial harm to nursing home residents caused by the sharing on social media of demeaning photographs or … Continue Reading
This article co-authored with guest blogger Peter Wainman, a partner with Mills & Reeve LLP Transfers of personal data from most European countries to the U.S. have been exposed to legal attack since October 2015, when privacy campaigner Max Schrems successfully sued the Irish authorities over data transfers made by Facebook Ireland. The main objection with … Continue Reading
When I train clients’ employees on data privacy and security, I always mention the microphone on smartphones. They are powerful and if you allow apps access to your microphone, they can listen to every one of your conversations [see related privacy tip]. Do you want every one of your conversations to be accessible by someone … Continue Reading
The Belgian data protection authority has lost its legal battle with Facebook over whether the social network could track the online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium who visit Facebook pages. Belgium’s data protection regulator took Facebook to court a year ago, accusing it of breaking EU privacy law by tracking people without a Facebook … Continue Reading
