Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: August 28, 2020
Featured: Privacy News Online – Week of August 28th, 2020
Max Schrems files 101 complaints across 30 European countries to turbocharge GDPR’s impact – and he’s not the only one
The European privacy activist behind Noyb recently filed these complaints to follow up on the recent European Union Court of Justice decision that invalidated the Privacy Shield framework of international transfer for private information. Noyb is joined by other activists such as The Privacy Collective in filing these complaints. These complaints could be the legal proceedings that finally bring some teeth to the GDPR. Fingers crossed!
Experian breach affects over 24 million customers and businesses in South Africa
The consumer credit agency has suffered a data breach in South Africa which affects millions of customers and almost a million businesses. This data breach was the result of something called social engineering. What happened was Experian willingly sent the data to a hacker who was just pretending to be a client. On their end, Experian has claimed that the attacker has since been caught and his copy of the data has since been deleted.
Clear Channel to start tracking consumers with billboards in Europe
The international billboard company Clear Channel is rolling out a new program to advertisers in Europe that will allow them to track consumers that see the billboard. Clear Channel will buy your location data from your smartphone which can be used to verify if you passed by a target billboard. The advertising company claims that this information is well anonymized and also pointed to the fact that this program has been active in the United States for years. PNO wants to know! How do you feel about billboards tracking your location?
More Privacy News This Week:
Unsecured Social Data database leaks 235 million public profiles from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
Researchers from Comparitech recently discovered unsecured databases which contained profile information which was scraped from popular social media platforms. The databases belonged to a company called Social Data and contain a trove of information including profile picture, age, gender, likes, and more. Experts are worried that this information could be used for phishing attacks.
UK class action style claim filed over Marriott data breach
A new class action lawsuit has been filed in the United Kingdom against Marriott for failing to protect personal data. Between 2014 and 2018, hackers were able to steal information on over 500 million guests from Marriott. Since the dates of the data breach extend through 2018, Marriott could be liable under GDPR rules. So far, the UK government has proposed a $123 million dollar fine for the data breach which would be separate from any judgement found in the class action claim.
US Border Patrol Says They Can Create Central Repository Of Traveler Emails, Keep Them For 75 Years
The US Border Patrol has released clarifications on how they will handle digital data taken from travelers at the border. Officially, the border patrol can make a mirror image of your device and then store it for up to 75 years. Stored information can include emails, videos, pictures, texts, location history, web browser information, and much more. Courts have ruled that constitutional rights don’t apply at the border, so next time you cross the border, have a plan!
Google fixes major Gmail bug seven hours after exploit details go public
The bug allowed any attacker to send an email with a spoofed “from:” address. The bug was officially reported to Google in April by security researcher Alison Husain, and that likely wasn’t the first time that Google had heard of the bug. For months, GOogle did nothing so Husain released the Gmail bug exploit details and within seven hours, Google had fixed the bug.
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Thank you to Josh Long, our cybersecurity correspondent from Intego, makers of award-winning security software.
