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
Texas
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,…
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year… for a Drone Light Show
Every year, technology is used in new and inventive ways, and drone holiday light shows seem to be making their way into some cities’ and towns’ holiday traditions.
In Grapevine, Texas, millions of lights, gigantic decorations, and animated holiday characters fill the town this holiday season. Grapevine has been officially trademarked as being the “Christmas…
Colonial Pipeline Up and Running After Five Days of Grappling with Ransomware Attack
It is being reported late on May 12, 2021, that Colonial Pipeline is returning to full operations following a devastating ransomware attack that was discovered on May 7, 2021. Colonial took its systems offline that day following the attack, which caused supply chain issues particularly in the Southeast.
Colonial Pipeline, the largest gasoline pipeline in…
School Nutrition Vendor Sued for Compromise of 867,209 K-12 Student Records
PCS Revenue Control Systems, Inc. (PCS) was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit last week alleging that it discovered a data breach from a hacking attack in December 2019 but failed to notify the affected students until March of 2021.
According to the lawsuit, student information was collected by PCS’s predecessor, Advanced Business Technologies…
Vehicle Inspections in Multiple States Disrupted by Malware
Applus Technologies, Inc., a vendor of multiple state Departments of Motor Vehicles that assists states with vehicle inspections, recently announced that its systems have been affected by malware, disrupting motor vehicle inspections in Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Utah. As a result of the outage, vehicle inspections have not been able…
Texas Drone Law Faces Constitutional Challenges
Texas’ drone law, the “Use of Unmanned Aircraft,” is being challenged by press organizations and photographers for alleged violations of the First Amendment. The law prohibits the capture of images of a person or property while conducting “surveillance.” It takes it a step further and makes it a crime to use the images captured…
Home Depot Settles Data Breach Multi-state Enforcement Action for $17.5 Million
Home Depot has agreed to settle a multi-state enforcement action by 46 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. arising from the data breach that occurred in 2014. Home Depot has agreed to pay $17.5 million to put the enforcement action behind it. The investigation was led by the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Illinois and Texas.
The…
Walmart’s COVID-19 Testing by Drone Pilot Program
If you live within a one and a half-mile radius of the east side of the Walmart store in El Paso, Texas in a single-family home, within a one-mile radius of the North Las Vegas Walmart store in a single-family home, or within a one-mile radius of the Cheektowaga, New York Walmart store, then you…
Tyler Technologies Victim of Cyber-Attack
As one of the largest information technology service providers to local governments, the cyber-attack on Tyler Technologies (Tyler) in Plano, Texas is a sobering reminder of how a cyber-attack on a third-party vendor can put government data at risk.
According to reports, Tyler may have been the victim of a ransomware attack that disrupted its…