U.S. Privacy And World Privacy News
Bill Gates ‘Digital IDs’ Will Be Mandatory To Participate in Society:
California Governor Introduces “Cradle to Career” System That Tracks One Billion Data Points on Citizens
https://reclaimthenet.org/newsom-introduces-cradle-to-career-system
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/11/01/cradle-to-career-milestone/
Move to ax drunk-driver ‘kill switch’ in autos gains ground in Congress:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/8/move-ax-auto-kill-switch-gains-ground-congress
Thomas Massie Failed, To Stop “Kill Switch” Mandate That Could Disable All Vehicles Beginning in 2026:
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6340836692112
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1722236144296091892
How DHS and the State Department Partnered with Universities to Censor Americans' Speech:
"The report reveals how the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Global Engagement Center (GEC, within the State Department) coordinated with Stanford University and other entities to create the Election Integrity Partnership to censor Americans' speech in the lead-up to the 2020 election."
https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-details-how-federal-government-partnered-universities-censor
Does the First Amendment allow public officials to ‘block’ their critics online? The Supreme Court will soon decide:
The Gaza war reveals how colleges lost their way on free speech:
https://www.vox.com/2023/11/5/23944007/free-speech-israel-palestine-college-universities-campus-protests
Ivy League among top recipients of $8.5B Arab funding:
https://www.campusreform.org/article/ivy-league-among-top-recipients-of-85-billion-arab-funding/24195
Arkansas Librarian Who Was Fired Over Refusal to Enforce Book Bans Speaks Out:
https://truthout.org/articles/arkansas-librarian-who-was-fired-over-refusal-to-enforce-book-bans-speaks-out/
Librarians turn to civil rights agency to oppose book bans and their firings:
https://apnews.com/article/book-bans-librarian-fired-eeoc-culture-wars-d754f186818a9b3641e8f29cb8ce16a3
ACLU: free-speech risks in FEC oversight of AI-generated election ads:
https://www.nextgov.com/media/aclu_fec_ai_letter.pdf
Where State Abortion Laws Stand Without Roe:
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/a-guide-to-abortion-laws-by-state
When Banks Become Cops (Suspicious Activity Reports):
https://blog.simplejustice.us/2023/11/06/when-banks-become-cops/
Class action against Toyota's infotainment system recording cell phone text messages and call logs is dismissed by appeals court because they did not demonstrate any damages:
ICE employee phone apps leave agency vulnerable:
Parental Use of Grade-tracking Apps Causing “a lot of yelling and screaming at the kids"
https://www.newser.com/story/342178/one-hazard-of-grade-tracking-apps-obsessed-parents.html
Cryptographers Solve Decades-Old Privacy Problem:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/cryptographers-devise-an-approach-for-total-search-privacy-20231106/
Irony: Data Brokers Sell Secrets About U.S. Military Personnel for Pennies
https://gizmodo.com/data-brokers-sell-info-on-military-personnel-cheap-1850991378
Bill to increase penalties for unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer data:
Signal Tests Usernames To Replace Phone Numbers:
https://community.signalusers.org/t/public-username-testing-staging-environment/56866
FTC: Data Broker (Kochava) Sells Vast Amounts of Sensitive Data
"In addition to precise geolocation data, Kochava amasses and discloses a staggering amount of sensitive and identifying information about consumers," the FTC alleges. That includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, gender, age, ethnicity, yearly income, "economic stability," marital status, education level, political affiliation, "app affinity" - or the apps consumers have installed on their phones, app usage, "interests and behaviors," plus, a Mobile Advertising ID, or MAID.
https://www.govinfosecurity.com/ftc-alleges-data-broker-sells-vast-amounts-sensitive-data-a-23531
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/26AmendedComplaint%28unsealed%29.pdf
Privacy Warning: Palantir Ranked No. 1 Vendor in AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning
The Digital Platform Commission Act of 2023:
Government immunity from false credit reporting hits thin ice at Supreme Court:
WhatsApp's New Privacy Feature Protects IP Addresses During Calls:
https://faq.whatsapp.com/2635108359972899/
Do Not Call Data Book 2023:
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Do-Not-Call-Data-Book-2023.pdf
Realtor Influencers Are Freaking Out After $1.8B Conspiracy Lawsuit:
The Best Hope to Rein in Rent Control Is Lurking on the Supreme Court's Docket:
Conspiracy in the Making? Goldman Sachs Seeks to Enter Retail Electricity Market:
https://www.citizen.org/news/goldman-sachs-seeks-to-enter-retail-electricity-market/
Former Meta employee tells Senate company failed to protect teens' safety:
https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/former-meta-employee-tells-senate-company-failed-protect-teens-safety-2023-11-07/
Cruise Self-Driving Cars Struggled to Recognize Children:
https://theintercept.com/2023/11/06/cruise-self-driving-cars-children/
What One Woman’s Act of Street ‘Vandalism’ Says About the Sad State of Pedestrian Access in America:
"Transportation policy decisions have long been used to reinforce unjust and inequitable social outcomes," said Thomas DeVito. "It’s reflected by the disproportionate leveling of low-income neighborhoods across the U.S. to build urban freeways, the lack of convenient and safe crossings on some of our most dangerous roads, the dearth of sidewalks in many of our suburban and exurban communities, and the decades-long divestment in transit options serving cities and towns across the United States. The message is simple: if the infrastructure or policy doesn’t serve the wealthiest and most comfortable first, it’s on thin ice.”
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/11/07/what-one-florida-womans-act-of-street-vandalism-says-about-the-sad-state-of-pedestrian-access
Court rules automakers can record and intercept owner text messages:
https://therecord.media/class-action-lawsuit-cars-text-messages-privacy
Acusensus Wins the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for IDing Drivers Using Phones/Wearing Seatbelts:
Of the winning solution, which was pioneered in Australia and is now being utilised in the UK and the United States, the judges said they were “especially impressed by the effectiveness of the technology and that it is now fully operational across several states in Australia”.
https://www.acusensus.com/acusensus-honoured-at-the-prince-michael-international-road-safety-award/
Amazon Defeats Privacy Lawsuit Over Prime Video Watch Histories:
Introducing Badger Swarm: New Project Helps Privacy Badger Block Ever More Trackers
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/privacy-badger-learns-block-ever-more-trackers
Google won’t say if companies beyond Spotify got secret special app store deals:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/9/23954376/google-spotify-user-choice-billing-deal-bumble-epic
Disney Must Face Privacy Suit Over Oracle Pixel:
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/390958/disney-must-face-privacy-suit-over-oracle-pixel.html
IAPP-EY Privacy Governance Report 2023:
Navigating Risk in Vendor Data Privacy Practices:
https://zenodo.org/records/10078610
More Than Half of Americans Take Prescribed Meds Daily:
https://www.statista.com/chart/31183/us-respondents-who-are-taking-prescribed-medicine/
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Must Pay $261M In Abuse Of Girl, Mother’s Suicide:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/maya-kowalski-johns-hopkins-lawsuit_n_654d67f2e4b0373d70b17075
HORRIFYING: Amazon's virtual care service costs $9 per month:
https://apnews.com/article/amazon-medical-membership-b961a006c24f82a839f971708b609800
Hospitals Accuse HHS of Double Standard Amid Pixel Privacy Row:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/hospitals-accuse-hhs-of-double-standard-amid-pixel-privacy-row
BlackCat ransomware claims breach of healthcare giant Henry Schein:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/blackcat-ransomware-claims-breach-of-healthcare-giant-henry-schein/
Cook County Health data breach affects 1.2M people:
https://cookcountyhealth.org/compliance-notice/
Western Washington Medical Group data breach affects 350K people:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/western-washington-medical-group-data-breach-alert-issued-by-wolf-haldenstein-adler-freeman--herz-llp-301982691.html
Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association data breach:
U.S. Radiology Specialists fined $450,000 over data breach:
https://news.yahoo.com/us-radiology-specialists-fined-over-122000418.html
Doctors’ Management Services fined $100,000 over data breach:
Dakota Eye Institute data breach affects 107K people:
State & Local Privacy News
CCIA 2023 State Privacy Landscape:
https://ccianet.org/library/ccia-2023-state-privacy-landscape/
ME- Automotive right-to-repair referendum passes with overwhelming support:
https://www.pressherald.com/2023/11/07/right-to-repair-pits-small-shops-against-automakers/
ME- voters don’t like their electric utilities, but they balked at paying billions to buy them out:
ME- MOVEit healthcare data breach affects 1.3M people:
https://www.maine.gov/moveit-global-data-security-incident/
Six-month delay notifying residents of state data breach draws ire:
NH- ACLU-NH in court for oral arguments in emergency room boarding case:
"Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union are expected in court Monday for an oral argument in the organization’s lawsuit challenging the state’s systemic practice of involuntarily detaining people experiencing mental health crises in hospital emergency rooms without adequate due process."
NY- NYC Speed Cameras Have Issued 4.5M Tickets Totaling "Hundreds Of Millions" This Year:
https://www.silive.com/news/2023/11/nyc-speed-cameras-how-many-violations-were-issued-in-first-9-months-of-2023.html
PA- Cambria County leaders push to expand local drone delivery opportunities:
MD- Baltimore City ID program getting fresh look after seven years:
NC- Davidson College to keep name of slave owner on campus building:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article281396723.html
VA- Fairfax County police mark's one year anniversary of 25 license plate readers:
https://wjla.com/news/local/license-plate-reader-technology-police-fairfax-county-arrests-technology-search-suspect-guns-drugs-recovery-locate-vehicles-officers-lpr
TN- Nashville police want to expand license plate reader program:
https://news.yahoo.com/happy-nashvilles-lpr-cameras-down-110728589.html
KY- What’s behind Glasgow Police Department’s six Flock Safety license plate cameras?
https://www.wbko.com/2023/10/26/wbko-investigates-whats-behind-glasgows-new-license-plate-cameras/
FL- Parents are demanding criminal charges after they say a staffer beat fourth graders with a belt:
OH- Lawmaker Wants To Criminally Charge Minors Who Watch Porn to Protect Minors:
OH- New Urbana police chief a fan of license plate readers:
https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/urbanas-new-chief-a-fan-of-license-plate-readers-will-start-clergy-patrol/article_82d5b489-c877-5787-b0e3-4fba55da395c.html
IL- Brakenridge police want to purchase license plate readers:
“We have cameras and (license) plate readers at several intersections in the town,” Tarentum Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said. “We pay quite a bit, about $10,000 a year. “Now that we are with Brackenridge (police), we want to have the same capabilities there.”
https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/tarentum-police-eyeing-traffic-cameras-license-plate-readers-for-brackenridge-to-help-with-investigations/
IL- Decatur council approves extension of Flock Safety license plate readers:
https://herald-review.com/news/local/government-politics/decatur-council-approves-extension-of-license-plate-reader-cameras/article_011bd014-7d0f-11ee-b787-632cba17c2bd.html
MO- Buchanan County Sheriff's Office to purchase 24 license plate readers:
https://news.yahoo.com/sheriffs-office-securing-funding-license-013300239.html
CA- It’s Time to Oppose the New San Francisco Police Surverillance Ballot Measure:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/11/its-time-oppose-new-san-francisco-policing-ballot-measure
CA- Mayor Breed pushes San Francisco to expedite approval for 400 license plate readers:
CA- Speed cameras coming to Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach:
https://dailytrojan.com/2023/11/06/speed-cameras-to-be-installed-around-l-a
OR- No bar exam required to practice law starting next year:
World Privacy News
UN rights chief: Facial recognition surveillance of protests brings ‘unacceptable risks’
"Remote biometric surveillance systems, in particular, raise serious concerns with regard to their proportionality, given their highly intrusive nature and broad impact on large numbers of people. For example, law enforcement’s use of facial recognition tools scanning crowds or protests is indiscriminate, bringing about unacceptable risk to human rights."
https://www.ohchr.org/en/open-letters/2023/11/turk-open-letter-european-union-highlights-issues-ai-act
Draft “Pandemic Treaty” Fails to Protect Rights: Human Rights Watch Says
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/07/draft-pandemic-treaty-fails-protect-rights
European Parliament agrees to create digital IDs:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231106IPR09006/eu-wide-digital-wallet-meps-reach-deal-with-council
European Parliament Approves Data Act:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231106IPR09025/parliament-backs-plans-for-better-access-to-and-use-of-data
Revealed: plan to brand anyone ‘undermining’ UK as extremist
Thank You Police State America: Kazakhstan Government Critic on Trial for ’Extremism’
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/08/kazakhstan-government-critic-trial-extremism
The Confederation of European Data Protection Organizations "Generative AI: The Data Protection Implications"
https://cedpo.eu/wp-content/uploads/generative-ai-the-data-protection-implications-16-10-2023.pdf
The European Data Protection Board Orders Stop to Meta’s Behavioral Advertising:
https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2023/edpb-urgent-binding-decision-processing-personal-data-behavioural-advertising-meta_en
YouTube's Ad Blocker Detection Believed to Break EU Privacy Law:
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-ad-blocker-detection-eu-privacy-law/
Apple suffers setback as it fights colossal $14B tax penalty in EU courts:
https://www.courthousenews.com/apple-suffers-setback-as-it-fights-colossal-tax-penalty-in-eu-courts/
Norway- Data Protection Authority monitoring Meta's consent approach to behavioral marketing:
https://www.datatilsynet.no/aktuelt/aktuelle-nyheter-2023/datatilsynet-folger-med-pa-metas-nye-losning/
Switzerland- Data Protection and and Information Commissioner says the Data Protection Act still apply to data processing:
https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/fr/home/kurzmeldungen/20231109_ki_dsg.html
Germany- Cop accused of painting climate activist's face with orange paint after slamming to ground:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/german-police-officer-accused-painting-climate-activists-face-orange-paint-slamming-ground
Italy- Data Protection Authority guidance on the use of AI in healthcare services:
https://www.garanteprivacy.it/documents/10160/0/Decalogo+per+la+realizzazione+di+servizi+sanitari+nazionali+attraverso+sistemi+di+Intelligenza+Artificiale.pdf
Spain- Data Protection Authority: Synthetic data and data protection
https://www.aepd.es/en/prensa-y-comunicacion/blog/synthetic-data-and-data-protection
UK- Southhampton bouncers to wear facial recognition body cams:
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23876664.southampton-bouncers-wear-facial-recognition-cameras/
UK- AI is not just a future problem - it's already eroding our freedoms:
"Take the UK’s farcical experiment with AI live facial recognition surveillance. In London and Wales, 89% of live facial recognition flags have misidentified innocent people as those on police databases. And yet this week, the Policing Minister called on police forces to “double” their use of AI facial recognition surveillance."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/02/its-wrongheaded-to-think-ai-is-a-future-problem-its-alrea/
UK- MPs Asleep at the Wheel as Facial Recognition Spells The End of Privacy in Public:
https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5155/uk-mps-asleep-wheel-facial-recognition-technology-spells-end-privacy-public
Police Face Recognition Is Expanding Across the Country:
https://www.wired.com/story/uk-police-face-recognition-expansion/
UK- Yoti releases a new Digital ID app with Lloyds Bank:
https://www.yoti.com/blog/yoti-releases-a-new-digital-id-app-with-lloyds-bank/
UK- Report Reveals Met Cops Testing Positive For Cocaine, Weed & More In Random Screenings:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/met-police-officers-caught-taking-31361578
UK- UN: Government in violation of international law’ over poverty levels
UK- ICO apologizes to ex-NatWest chief over claim she broke privacy law on Farage:
UK- Watchdog Ofcom puts Big Tech on notice:
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-watchdog-ofcom-puts-big-tech-on-notice/
https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/08/ofcom-illegal-content-draft-code/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/8/23952736/uk-online-safety-act-ofcom-illegal-harms-guidelines
SCT- Police use of facial recognition has tripled over the last five years:
https://theferret.scot/police-scotland-accelerates-use-facial-recognition/
SCT- The National Union of Journalists ‘extremely worried’ by police questioning journalists:
IRL- Government's DNA Database is Growing:
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/c8329-press-release-minister-for-justice-helen-mcentee-launches-forensic-science-ireland-annual-report-2022/
India- Police to install DNA, facial recognition systems at police stations:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-criminal-procedure-identification-act-to-also-capture-dna-face-matching-samples-of-the-accused/article67454507.ece
Bangladesh- Police shoot and kill a striking female factory worker:
https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/3zqzzanu5z
Turkey: Release Politicians Wrongfully Detained for 7 Years
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/03/turkey-release-politicians-wrongfully-detained-7-years
Philippines- The PSA Launches 'PhilSys On Boat' to Expand National Digital ID Program:
Philippines- President Marcos condemns killing of journalist, orders investigation:
Konami Gaming to use "SYNK Vision" biometric readers to ID gamblers in Asia:
Israel- Ministries seeking to extend period of access to government’s national biometric database:
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rytjtivq6
AU- WTF? Ombudsman argues against allowing journalists access to their own search warrants:
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/nov/03/ombudsman-argues-against-allowing-journalists-access-to-their-own-search-warrants
AU- New South Wales The Revitalization of the Government's Digital ID Program:
https://isp.page/news/after-a-pause-signs-of-life-for-new-south-wales-decentralized-digital-id-pilots/
AU- Government considers forcing Smart TVs to let them control what kind of media content people can see first:
https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/australian-smart-tvs-to-be-regulated-through-prominence-legislation-to-make-governmentfunded-news-appear-ahead-of-commercial-outlets/news-story/dfb7fec68d85ad4a41641d90d317d82a
Canada- Real Time Crime Centers Want Tech To Access Private CCTV Cameras:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/police-private-security-cameras-fusus-canada-1.7001675
Real Time Crime Center Operations & Tech Integration:
https://www.canadianinstitute.com/rtcc/
Canada- The Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada: government must convince the public to accept digital ID program
https://diacc.ca/2023/10/31/securing-canadas-digital-prosperity-building-trust-in-verification-and-credentials-is-a-shared-imperative/
Ecaudor- The Seymour Galápagos Ecological Airport to use SITA facial recognition to ID passengers:
Brazil- Data Protection Authority wants public comment on role of data protection officer: