CDP Institute

Warning that use of facial recognition technology poses a risk to individual privacy and can negatively affect human dignity and rights, the Council specified that it should only be employed on an appropriate legal basis. They said it should not be used in uncontrolled environments; in ways that may promote racial, sexual or religious discrimination; or to determine personality traits, sentiments, or personal mental health.

Records of 1.6M exposed, including Social Security numbers and banking data.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a global regulatory framework to rein-in the power of social media companies like Twitter and Facebook. Speaking at a news conference, Guterres expressed grave concern about the amount of data the companies control, the potential use of that data to influence politics and our behavior, and the risks of allowing these companies to continue to have unrestricted power over our lives.

On a more positive privacy note, Apple offered an easy-to-understand story that illustrated how its privacy controls can make a big difference.  Following the simple story of a dad taking his daughter to the park, Apple shows step-by-step how much data could be revealed by looking up the weather, checking a map, taking a photo, and other common actions — and how much of that sharing its privacy controls would prevent.

As more people are vaccinated and we move toward a return to public events, travel and gatherings, there is a clear need to have a valid, secure way to confirm whether a given person has been vaccinated. The Commons Project and a group of health and technology companies including Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic and Cigna are looking to develop common standards for health cards, via a new file type that could hold vaccine records without violating privacy.

A convenient-for-Facebook secret arrangement previously made with the UK’s ICO resulted in the UK’s information commissioner’s refusal to answer whether Facebook completed a publicly promised app audit. This after Facebook was wrist-slapped with a meager £500,000 penalty and walked away with an unspecified amount of user data.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, has announced key data initiatives and approved a Digital Master Plan for 2025. The ASEAN Data Management Framework and ASEAN Model Contractual Clauses focus respectively on guidelines for data governance, and on contractual terms and conditions for use in legal agreements for cross border transfers. The Digital Master Plan will look at bridging markets, expanding digital skills and building a strong and cohesive digital infrastructure for future expansion.

Norway’s Data Protection Agency ruled that it would fine Grindr, the world’s most popular gay dating app, $11.7M after it was found it shared details about its users with at least five ad companies.

Facebook in full privacy reassurance mode Facebook is trying out new tactics to persuade users to opt in to ad tracking and reassure them it respects their privacy.

Comparitech has issued a global biometric study showing what data is being collected and what it is being used for. China ranks at the bottom for privacy. The U.S. ranks fourth-worst. Ireland and Portugal rank high for privacy because of their biometric laws, and EU countries did better than non-EU countries thanks to GDPR. A separate COVID-19 table shows the concerning impact of that data collection.

Little-known CCPA provision could be a game changer, Global Privacy Control advocates believe