Federal Trade Commission Warns Data Brokers about the Uncontrolled Sale of Raw Location Data

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about an important order from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It set minimum privacy requirements for biometric surveillance in commercial settings, and marked an interesting move by the FTC to extend its activities in this area. As if to confirm that this was not just a one-off, … Continue reading “Federal Trade Commission Warns Data Brokers about the Uncontrolled Sale of Raw Location Data”

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  • Jan 11, 2024
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

US FTC Order Sets Minimum Privacy Requirements for Biometric Surveillance in Commercial Settings

Over the last couple of years, it has become increasingly common for customers to be watched, tracked, and analyzed in stores. A key element of this surveillance is AI-based facial recognition. Companies say that the facial recognition software helps prevent shoplifting by recognizing people who have allegedly stolen goods before, even though it recently emerged … Continue reading “US FTC Order Sets Minimum Privacy Requirements for Biometric Surveillance in Commercial Settings”

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  • Oct 25, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Online Privacy, Online Security, Social Media, Surveillance,

Contextual Advertising Should Be Great for Privacy, But It Risks Being Undermined

We’ve been discussing the privacy advantages of contextual advertising – a system that places ads based on a webpage’s content and not who’s viewing it (also known as behavioral advertising) – for over four years now. In a clear sign that the tide is turning against surveillance-led behavioral advertising, the adtech industry itself is starting … Continue reading “Contextual Advertising Should Be Great for Privacy, But It Risks Being Undermined”

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  • Aug 20, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Online Privacy, Online Security,

What Zoom’s AI Blunder Can Teach Us About Future Threats to Privacy

It’s no surprise that AI is starting to seep into every kind of digital service, even if the frenzy over generative AI seems to be dying down somewhat. But over on Stackdiary, Alex Ivanovs spotted something rather remarkable in Zoom’s updated terms and conditions that involved AI. The new wording seemed to give Zoom the right to … Continue reading “What Zoom’s AI Blunder Can Teach Us About Future Threats to Privacy”

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  • Feb 4, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Google’s Surveillance Advertising Model under Attack on Both Sides of the Atlantic for Its Deep Privacy Problems

PIA blog has just written about a major problem for Google: a decision by the Austrian Data Protection Authority that the continuing use of Google Analytics violates the EU’s GDPR legislation. The post noted that the Dutch Data Protection Authority is also investigating the use of Google Analytics; now it seems that France may follow … Continue reading “Google’s Surveillance Advertising Model under Attack on Both Sides of the Atlantic for Its Deep Privacy Problems”

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  • Jul 6, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Multiple European Attempts to Strengthen Online Privacy Are Likely to Have Global Impact

Often it can seem that the battle to protect online privacy is hopeless, as companies gather ever-more data about us as we move around the internet. But in the background, the fightback is underway. It’s happening on multiple fronts, and it’s happening slowly, but it is definitely happening. For example, back in 2017, Privacy News … Continue reading “Multiple European Attempts to Strengthen Online Privacy Are Likely to Have Global Impact”

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  • Jun 8, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media,

Antitrust investigations on both sides of the Atlantic emerge as an important new way of protecting privacy

A few weeks ago, Privacy News Online wrote about the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information taking action against Facebook, in a move that signalled growing unhappiness with how the GDPR is being enforced. Two years ago, there was another move in Germany against Facebook, by Germany’s competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt, that … Continue reading “Antitrust investigations on both sides of the Atlantic emerge as an important new way of protecting privacy”

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  • May 20, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Better than the EU’s GDPR? China’s new privacy law includes a rule for handling personal information after death

Back in January, Privacy News Online wrote about China’s important new privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection Law. That post concentrated on the law’s extraterritorial reach, and its likely impact on non-Chinese companies, and referred to the first draft of the law. The second version has just been released, and an article on the Protocol … Continue reading “Better than the EU’s GDPR? China’s new privacy law includes a rule for handling personal information after death”

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  • Apr 9, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media,

What the Great Personal Data Leak of 2021 tells us about Facebook, the GDPR, and privacy

By now, many people will have heard about the appearance of 533,000,000 Facebook records online, first revealed in a tweet by Alon Gal at the weekend. You can find out whether you are one of the unlucky ones using the excellent free site, Have I Been Pwned, which has now added the latest Facebook account … Continue reading “What the Great Personal Data Leak of 2021 tells us about Facebook, the GDPR, and privacy”

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