CDP Institute

Big tech, which claims to have far more important ways to spend its time, is about to find out just how much people support their right to ignore hateful, harmful content – or if they want it removed. EU officials have agreed in principle that under the Digital Services Act, companies will need to: 1) make it easier for consumers to flag problems, 2) ban online ads aimed at kids, and 3) allow regulators to punish noncompliance with billions in fines.

It will now take just a click for Europeans to accept or reject cookies on Google search and YouTube when  in Incognito Mode or when signed out. France’s regulator, CNIL, provided guidance for the changes, which began roll-out this month in France, and continues on in the rest of Europe, UK and Switzerland.  Mid-May, the Google Play Store will begin blocking 3rd-party call recording apps – but only for apps that record calls where the person on the other end doesn’t know. However,  if a phone has a pre-installed dialer, that will continue to function. A start, but not feeling overly satisfied with the logic here!

Connecticut’s Senate unanimously approved a Data Privacy Bill, which now moves to the House. If it passes there, it puts Connecticut on track to be the fifth US state privacy law – and it would be one of the strongest consumer protections in the US. It includes rights for consumers to see what’s being collected and to opt out of sharing. It also increases the age limit for youth data protection – up to age 16 from 13, below which young people would need to opt in for data collection.

DataGrail, in its second annual State of the CCPA report found 2021 showed a dramatic gain in the volume of Data Service Requests (DSRs) since 2020. Cost to companies rose from $192,000 to nearly $400,000 (per 1 million identities).  And, with the addition of the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) combined with other states having their own new privacy laws, the trend is projected to accelerate.

Digital online spending has had a sharp increase during the pandemic, so much so, according to the Experian Global Insights Report, that numbers are rivaling traditional forms of payment. Sixty-two percent of survey respondents say they use mobile wallets, and 60% feel safe using biometrics.

The feature which debuted in the US in December, is designed to protect children from viewing or sharing nude images. The feature blurs the photo and on the device and then recommends contacting a trusted adult.

Shoppers enrolled in Amazon One there can use “palm signature,” which is biometrically linked to their credit/debit card information – and in just 1 minute vision technology does the rest.

That open-source Google framework is integrated in websites and which “helpfully” ensure you see ads most suited to you. Brave’s De-AMP feature knows how to rewrite links and URLs, so you can avoid visiting AMP pages altogether.

The group, which also includes Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Taiwan will develop an international certification system to help companies demonstrate compliance.

The groups are requesting information on how migrant data collected by the government’s department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is used. At issue is surveillance done by companies including BI Inc, which uses ankle monitors, and voice and facial recognition technology to monitor 200,000 migrants. The company, which is private, does not need to report what biometric and location data it collects via its Smartlink app, nor how it’s used or how long the data is retained.

Anonymous, the hacktivist group that last month claimed to have hacked into Russian state television and picked up anti-war messaging and video of the Ukraine invasion. It now says it has government data, including on copyright and censorship, and that it also breached email and data for a state-backed oil and gas company.

Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) Chairman has announced the country intends to proceed with its personal data law and possibly have it in place early June. If so, it would make it the third Association of Southeast Asian Nations,(Asean) country after Singapore and the Philippines to have such a law in place.