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
Pixel Litigation Drives Transparency in Privacy Policies
Pixels, a piece of tracking software businesses use to assess the success of their advertising campaigns, are creating headaches for in-house counsel as decades-old laws are being revived by litigants. Unlike cookies, pixels cannot be easily blocked with privacy software. The potential consequences for improper use have increased due the Federal Trade Commission’s increasingly close…
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…
AI Firms Sign Voluntary Commitments to Oversee Use of AI Technology
Amid growing concern of the use of AI tools, Congressional questioning and hearings, and the lack of regulation around its use, at least seven technology firms have signed on to follow voluntary commitments to oversee how AI technology is used. The commitments include oversight of thorny issues such as AI safety, privacy, cybersecurity, and public…
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…
Popular Tax e-Filing Sites Reportedly Sent Tax Info to Meta
According to reporting from the Verge and the Markup, several popular e-filing providers have been transmitting sensitive financial information to Meta through Meta Pixel. Meta Pixel is a free advertising analytics service offered by Meta that, similar to cookie files and other persistent user identifiers, collects personalized data about how the users interact with content…
Ireland Fines Instagram €405 Million for Children’s Data Violations
Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner will reportedly fine Instagram for its handling of children’s data. According to an investigation that began in 2020, Instagram published emails and phone numbers for children ages 13 to 17 who operated business accounts. Business accounts typically post this information by default. Meta, Instagram’s parent, plans to appeal the €405 million…
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.…