U.S. Privacy And World Privacy News
Gattaca’s Warning against Vaccine Passports
https://brownstone.org/articles/gattacas-warning-against-vaccine-passports/
Trump Pick Brendan Carr as FCC Chair is a disaster for human rights
Lyft's "Rider Verification" Turns Ride Sharing Into A Massive Passenger Surveillance Program
"Following a successful regional pilot, our Rider Verification program is rolling out across the U.S., and we're verifying millions of riders to help drivers confirm that riders are who they say they are. Our process includes cross-checking a rider’s personal information, like their legal name and phone number, using trusted, third-party databases. If their information can’t be validated, riders may be asked to upload an ID."
https://www.lyft.com/blog/posts/nationwide-rider-verification
https://www.lyft.com/safety/rider-verification
CFPB finalizes rule to supervise Big Tech payments, digital wallets
CFPB Will Treat Payment Apps Like Banks
https://www.investopedia.com/cfpb-will-treat-payment-apps-like-banks-8749003
Global Censorship Hub NED Reached Agreement with State Department to Conceal Government Grants from the Public
Deepfake Crackdowns Threaten Free Speech
https://reason.com/2024/11/22/deepfake-crackdowns-threaten-free-speech/
The incoming FCC chair is threatening to censor views he doesn't like
Now Do You See Why Letting HHS Censor “Misinformation” Is A Terrible Idea?
OpenAI accidentally erases potential evidence in training data lawsuit
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/21/24302606/openai-erases-evidence-in-training-data-lawsuit
Explicit deepfake scandal shuts down Pennsylvania school
My child is at camp and my phone pings nonstop with photos. Does anyone really want this?
"By the time a child is 13, estimates suggest, around 72m pieces of data will have been collected about them. Eighty per cent of children in the developed world have a digital footprint by the age of two."
Texas May Be Next State to Restrict Abortion Pills as “Controlled Substances”
https://reason.com/2024/11/18/texas-bill-takes-aim-at-online-speech-about-abortion-pills/
University of California, San Francisco Medical Staff Reveal Efforts to Censor Pro-Palestine Speech
https://theintercept.com/2024/11/19/ucsf-medical-palestine-speech/
Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany
https://www.wired.com/story/phone-data-us-soldiers-spies-nuclear-germany/
T-Mobile Hacked in Massive Chinese Breach of Telecom Networks
Google Lens to spy on what you buy at retail stores
"For instance, if you see a toy that you’re interested in at Target, you can take a picture of it via Google Lens to find reviews and similar products in stock at the specific location you’re visiting. You can also see if the toy is cheaper at a different retailer, like Amazon or Walmart."
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/19/google-lens-new-feature-makes-it-easier-to-shop-products-in-store/
DOJ will ask judge to force Google to sell off Chrome
BS WARNING: Google's attorneys claim selling off Chrome would hurt America’s global technological leadership
https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/doj-search-remedies-nov-2024/
DISGUSTED: Justices dismiss Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach dispute
"The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that it shouldn’t have agreed to review a lower court decision finding that Meta violated disclosure laws by not telling investors about the Cambridge Analytica scandal."
https://www.courthousenews.com/supreme-court-drops-review-of-meta-shareholder-brawl-over-data-breach-disclosures/
How misconfigurations in Microsoft Power Pages lead to data breaches
https://appomni.com/ao-labs/microsoft-power-pages-data-exposure-reviewed/
Microsoft Teams will help you speak in a foreign language during meetings
Tesla has the highest fatal crash rate
https://www.iseecars.com/most-dangerous-cars-study
FCC passes auto safety C-V2X (surveillance) spectrum rules
Cellular Vehicle-to-Everying (C-V2X) technology will operate in the 5.9 GHz band. C-V2X will use existing cellular networks to send messages from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure, vehicle to cyclists, or vehicle to pedestrians to warn of each other's presence for safety purposes. It could cross-alert for hazardous road conditions, including speeding cars, weather, or traffic congestion
Korean scientists have reinvented the wheel
Inside UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage
https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-mental-health-care-denied-illegal-algorithm
PSA: You shouldn’t upload your medical images to AI chatbots
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/19/psa-you-shouldnt-upload-your-medical-images-to-ai-chatbots/
Elon Musk asked people to upload their medical data to X so his AI company could learn to interpret MRIs and CT scans
https://fortune.com/2024/11/20/elon-musk-x-user-medical-information-privacy-ai-grok/
Great Plains Regional Medical Center data breach affected 130K people
One Brooklyn Health System fined $1.5M over data breach
HHS fined Rio Hondo Community Mental Health Center $100K for HIPPA violations
State & Local Privacy News
ME- Judge dismisses lobstermen’s challenge to law requiring tracking devices on boats
MA- Boston councilors conclude it's too early to ask the state to put the city election department into receivership
https://www.universalhub.com/2024/boston-councilors-conclude-its-too-early-ask-state
CT- New Canaan purchase 5 Flock Safety license plate readers
NY- Nassau County Police Department's 70 Flock Safety license plate readers, spark privacy concerns
The Old Westbury Police Department has used a state grant to buy 34 license plate readers from the Atlanta-based Flock Safety Group, Police Chief Stuart Cameron said. The Muttontown-Upper Brookville, Old Brookville, Brookville and Oyster Bay Cove police departments also purchased 34 license plate reader cameras to be operated in the nine villages they patrol. The City of Glen Cove recently approved the purchase of nine cameras. “It’s like having a police officer on every corner,” Cameron said.
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/license-plate-readers-nassau-villages-supziu5p#
NY- The perils of bias reporting at Syracuse University
VA- Lawmakers considering regulating police use of license plate readers
AL- DA Filed Bogus Charges Against School Board Members Who Crossed Him
IL- Court Rules BIPA Single-Violation Amendment Applies Retroactively
WI- The Baraboo School District considers implementing unconstitutional ‘hate speech’ policy on and off campus
https://www.thefire.org/news/wisconsin-school-district-mulls-unconstitutional-hate-speech-policy
TX- AG Paxton sues city of Dallas over marijuana decriminalization
https://www.courthousenews.com/texas-ag-sues-dallas-over-marijuana-decriminalization/
TX- AG Paxton opens investigation into advertising group that Elon Musk sued for ‘boycotting’ X
Texas- DISGUSTED: AG Paxton ducks depositions in whistleblower case
https://www.courthousenews.com/texas-ag-ducks-depositions-in-whistleblower-case/
TX- Abernathy police wants to purchase 3 license plate readers
NM- Study Shows State’s Civil Forfeiture Reform Did Not Affect Crime Rates
CO- Groups accuse the Colorado Bureau of Investigation of skirting oversight in forensic lab investigation
CO- Yellow Scene Magazine beats cops’ huge fee demand for body cam footage
https://www.courthousenews.com/co-magazine-beats-cops-huge-fee-demand/
WY- Judge rules abortion rights protected by state constitution
CA- Free speech advocates blast ban on news reporting of sealed arrest records
CA- Stockton police to install more than 100 Flock Safety license plate readers
CA- Ross police to install 7 license plate readers
https://www.marinij.com/2024/11/19/ross-to-install-license-plate-scanning-cameras/
World Privacy News
Israel Has Killed Over 1,000 Doctors and Nurses in Gaza
https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-has-killed-over-1000-doctors-and-nurses-in-gaza
UN’s Climate Agenda Sparks Fears Over Online Censorship
https://reclaimthenet.org/un-efforts-censorship-online-climate-initiative
The UN Is Using Africa as a Testing Ground for Digital ID Program
https://reclaimthenet.org/n-digital-id-initiatives-africa
IDEMIA Fined R39 Million Over South African Contract Scandal
EU biometric entry-exit system faces another delay
https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/eu-entry-exit-system-faces-another-delay/
International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu And Hamas Officials
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/icc-israel-warrants_n_673f243ee4b05a426a1272bf
Chinese Summer Camps Teach American Kids To Be Like Red Army Soldiers And ‘Little’ Cops
Google faces call from DuckDuckGo for new EU probes into tech rule compliance
Leaks expose secret British military cell plotting to ‘keep Ukraine fighting’
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/11/16/uk-plot-keep-ukraine-fighting/
Russia- Ukrainian missile strikes amounting to war crimes continue to kill and injure children
Switzerland- Checkport Switzerland and Regula create digital ID for airline passengers
Germany- The struggle to ban Germany’s far-right AfD
France- Thousands protests violence against women and femicide
UK- Feminist Slams Police Over “Hate Crime” Farce
UK- MPs ignore concerned constituents questions about facial recognition
UK- Investigating the technology behind GPS fingerprint scanners
"Research found this tech to be inhumane by design."
UK- BS WARNING: Patient Passports-The Key to Globalizing the National Health Service
https://aibusiness.com/data/patient-passports-the-key-to-globalising-the-national-health-service
UK- Energie Fitness to remove facial recognition cameras from all 55 branches
UK- Police to get more data powers despite Sarah Everard data breach
UK- Leaked files expose high-level military plot to destroy The Grayzone
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/11/20/leaked-files-uk-military-plot-grayzone/
UK- Cemetery says grieving relatives must pay for VIP passes to visit graves
UK- ICO's failure to fine companies over data beaches puts the public at risk
Hong Kong- Court sentences 45 pro-democracy activists for subversion
Hong Kong and Macao ports to use facial recognition to ID travelers
https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202411/15/content_WS6736b9c3c6d0868f4e8ecfcb.html
Vietnam- Tech Companies Push Back on Government's Proposed Data Protection Law
China- The Government's Surveillance State Is Selling Citizen Data as a Side Hustle
https://www.wired.com/story/chineses-surveillance-state-is-selling-citizens-data-as-a-side-hustle/
India- Government's higher education department to use facial recognition attendance system
Turkey- Turkish Airlines to use facial recognition to ID passengers
Kazakhstan- Government testing facial recognition in two cities
https://timesca.com/ai-facial-recognition-system-being-tested-in-two-cities-in-kazakhstan/
Saudi Arabia- Government's Public Investment Fund aids human rights abuses locally and abroad
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/20/saudi-arabia-public-investment-fund-linked-abuses
AU- Bunnings breached privacy of customers by using facial recognition
AU- The government's plan to ban children from social media proves problematic
An age-based social media ban will be a costly mistake – and it’s children who will pay
Social media sites call for government to delay its ban on children younger than 16
https://www.yahoo.com/news/social-media-sites-call-australia-035500441.html
AU- Whistleblower David McBride is in prison for exposing government war crimes
NZ- Tens of Thousands March for Indigenous Rights
https://www.commondreams.org/news/new-zealand-treaty-of-waitangi
Iceland- "Iceland Supermarket" CEO may use facial recognition to allegedly ID shoplifters
https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2024/11/21/iceland-facial-recognition/
Canada- City of Brampton who Opened an Automated Speed Enforcement Center in Sept. to install 185 speed cameras
https://www.jenoptik.com/news/pressreleases/2024/11/18/speed-enforcement-in-brampton-ontario
https://www.brampton.ca/EN/City-Hall/News/Pages/News-Release.aspx/1432
Canada- Collabria and Trulioo to create digital IDs of union members
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/collabria-partners-trulioo-power-cardholder-150000702.html
Canada- Alberta Privacy Commissioner calls for changes to new proposed public sector access and privacy legislation
Sint Maarten- Princess Juliana International Airport to use Vision Box facial recognition to ID passengers