How will a Biden-Harris presidency affect the U.S. privacy landscape? Let’s take a look. Federal Privacy Legislation On both sides of the political aisle there have been draft proposals in the last 18 months on federal privacy legislation. In September, movement actually happened on federal privacy legislation with the U.S. Setting an American Framework to … Continue Reading
The misinformation on social media about the election results (and other topics) is rampant. Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook are struggling with the balance between the First Amendment right to free speech and false information or exaggerated reports on their platforms and are hiding or flagging those they deem to be false or … Continue Reading
On March 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued additional guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on HIPAA and telehealth services to help providers furnish care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FAQs follow and provide further information on the Notification of Enforcement Discretion issued by HHS on March 17 (Notification), … Continue Reading
As most of you know, I rarely download an app. However, here’s one I just downloaded and here’s why. The Jumbo Privacy app, available in the App Store, is all about providing consumers with a way to audit their privacy and learn whether and how their information might have been compromised. A cool thing about … Continue Reading
As we previously noted, Facebook originally announced a breach late last month, in which hackers took advantage of a code vulnerability in the website’s “View As” feature, to access user’s data. However, on October 12, 2018, Facebook stepped back the number of affected accounts from 50 to roughly 30 million, and it acknowledged that hackers … Continue Reading
Last week, two Senators, Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding apps designed for children and whether they are in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), See 15 U.S.C. 6501 and regulations at 16 C.F.R. Part 312 … Continue Reading
Facebook announced late last week that it had suffered the largest breach in its history with 50 million accounts were compromised, and another 40 million accounts affected. Yes, that equals 90 million accounts. If you use Facebook and were locked out of your account over the weekend, your account was most likely affected. The 50 … Continue Reading
We all know that it is important to protect our Social Security number. But sometimes companies still try to use the last four digits of our Social Security numbers as identifiers or to verify identity in some way. The use of Social Security numbers began in 1936 long before computers, the internet, and identity theft … Continue Reading
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
