Chinese company ByteDance faces growing concerns from governments and regulators that user data from its popular short video-sharing app TikTok could be handed over to the Chinese government. The concern is based on China’s national security laws, which give its government the power to compel Chinese-based companies to hand over any user data. More than
Texas Sues Google for Gathering Biometric Data
Posted in Enforcement + Litigation
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google for alleged “blatant defiance” of Texas’s biometric privacy law, which prohibits capturing biometric identifiers without prior consumer consent. The complaint alleges that several Google products, including Google Home, Nest, and Google Photos, collect and catalog biometric identifiers such as facial structure and voice print.
Texas…
Privacy Tip #311 – New Mexico AG Serious About Children’s Privacy Protections
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
New Mexico’s Attorney General, Hector Balderas, continues to champion children’s online privacy protections, this time settling with Google over alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
We previously reported that the AG sued Rovio Entertainment, the maker of Angry Birds, alleging that it violated COPPA by collecting data on players under the…
Could Artificial Intelligence Save the Holiday Shopping Season?
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain
As we all know supply chain disruptions over the past two years do not seem to be going away any time soon. However, businesses are turning to new artificial intelligence-powered (AI) simulations, known as “digital twins,” to help get products and services to consumers on time – especially as we head into the holiday shopping…
Privacy Tip #303 – Russian Hacking Group Targets Gmail Users
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
If you think the Russians are only targeting U.S. companies and the defense industry, think again. The cyber war between Russia and the U.S. has escalated since the President threw down the gauntlet on Putin, and the retaliation is to attack Gmail users in the U.S. Yes, Gmail users are part of the war.
According…
Privacy Tip #291 – Cryptomining Apps Offer Fake Services for a Fee
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Although app platforms guard against fake apps, criminals are working hard to get around app platform rules to scam victims out of a cryptobuck. Apple and Google throw apps off their platforms if they don’t play by the rules, yet fake and scam apps have proliferated and continue to scam victims.
Recently, security researchers at…
Girl Scout Troop Teams Up with Wing for Drone Cookie Deliveries
By Kathryn Rattigan on
Posted in Drones
Calling all Thin Mints fans! Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies can now be delivered right to your doorstep – by drone… IF you live in Christiansburg, Virginia. The town has been a testing arena for commercial drone delivery by Wing (a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company). Before Girl Scout Thin Mints, starting in 2019,…
National Cybersecurity Center Launches Free Training for State Elected Officials
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in New + Now
Speaking of security education and training, the National Cybersecurity Center this week launched a new initiative to offer cyber-hygiene and IT security sessions to elected state government officials and their staff for FREE. The training sessions are getting a financial boost from Google and bipartisan support from Secretaries of State Frank LaRose (R-Ohio) and…
U.S. Users Targeted with Phishing Scams More than Users in Other Countries
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in New + Now
The statistic that cybercriminals have been unleashing 18 million phishing emails laced with malware on a daily basis into cyberspace during the pandemic is mind boggling, and one that executives should pay attention to when prioritizing resources for user education. Math was never my strongest subject, but 18 million malicious emails targeted at all of…
Twitter fined $546,000 in December 2020 by European Data Protection Authority for 2019 Breach Notification Violations
By Kathleen Porter on
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Twitter 450,000 euros (about US$546,000) for failing to timely notify the Irish DPC within the required 72 hours of discovering a Q4 2018 breach involving a bug in its Android app, and also for failing to adequately document that breach. The bug caused some 88,726 European Twitter users’…