Starting today, two hallmark holidays are upon us. No, it’s not Halloween and Thanksgiving. It’s both Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It’s no coincidence these two awareness campaigns overlap. What were once seen as separate realities—the physical and the digital—are increasingly blurred as our offices, schools, and hospitals move from paper to screen. Our … [Read more...]
October 1, 2019
September 26, 2019
Insurance data security laws skirt political turmoil
Across the United States, a unique approach to lawmaking has proved radically successful in making data security stronger for one industry—insurance providers. The singular approach has entirely sidestepped the prolonged, political arguments that have become commonplace when trying to pass federal and state data privacy laws today. In California, for example, Big Tech lobbying groups have … [Read more...]
September 19, 2019
September 19, 2019
CEOs offer their own view of a US data privacy law
Last week, the chief executives of more than 50 mid- and large-sized companies urged Congress to pass a national data privacy law to regulate how companies collect, use, and share Americans’ data. Buried deep within the chief executives’ recommendations for such a law, presented as a policy framework for guidance, was a convenient proposal: Private individuals should not be allowed to sue … [Read more...]
September 12, 2019
YouTube ordered to cough up $170M settlement over COPPA infraction
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has required Google and YouTube to pay a settlement fee totaling $170 million after its video-sharing platform was found violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The complaint was filed by the FTC and the New York Attorney General, with the former set to receive the penalty amounting to $136 million and the … [Read more...]
September 10, 2019
300 shades of gray: a look into free mobile VPN apps
The times, they are a changin’. When users once felt free to browse the Internet anonymously, post about their innermost lives on social media, and download apps with frivolity, folks are playing things a little closer to the vest these days. Nowadays, users are paying more attention to privacy and how their personal information is transmitted, processed, stored, and shared. Nearly every … [Read more...]
August 27, 2019
Nextdoor neighborhood app sends letters on its users’ behalf
Dutch police departments and consumer organizations issued warnings about the use of the Nextdoor neighborhood app because people received letters (yes, as in snail-mail) pretending to come from someone in their neighborhood, which the alleged senders did not send or deliver. So, everyone figured there must be some kind of scam going on and decided to warn the public. Nextdoor is an app that … [Read more...]
August 19, 2019
How much personalization is too much?
In 2012, when Target used data analytics to identify customers who were expecting a baby, then mailed them coupons for maternity clothing and nursery furniture, it inadvertently revealed a teenage girl’s pregnancy to her parents. Back then, the revelation caused an uproar. Today, that kind of artificial intelligence-assisted profiling is rapidly becoming routine. Personalization is the new … [Read more...]
August 19, 2019
Global Data Privacy Laws: US, EU, China and More
In the 2018-2020 timeframe, the rollout of GDPR in the EU is having an impact on companies worldwide, thanks to its legislative reach beyond the EU’s borders. But companies also have to content with a wave of new data privacy legislation in the US, UK, China, and many other countries. Some laws are inspired by GDPR, while others take a unique approach that serves their country’s needs. … [Read more...]
August 13, 2019
