CDP Institute

Documents found by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reveal the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has widely tracked people’s movement. Of more than 6,000 records reviewed, the agency found approximately 336,000 North American location points.  Over three days in 2018 in the southwest alone, 26 location points were tracked per minute. This, due to the DHS purchasing information from data broker Venntel, which had siphoned it from smartphone apps, so was not obligated to the same privacy restraints.

Chinese authorities are said to be preparing to hit Didi Global, the ride-hailing app, with a $1.28 billion fine, approximately 4.7% last year’s revenue. While that should sting, ironically it may also help lift China’s current ban on Didi’s new riders. Thinking here that taking with one hand while giving with the other may not be the optimal deterrent.

The US, which has been trying to solve its cross-border data sharing dilemma resulting from laxer privacy regulations than other countries, has found a willing first partner in the UK. The US and UK have set October to begin their Data Access Agreement, which stems from the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act. The deal allows investigators in each country to directly ask service providers in the others’ jurisdiction to provide data they deem helpful in detecting and preventing serious crime, including in child sexual abuse cases.

In fact, the pandemic has significantly added to the number of people using smart speakers and to the frequency of their use, according to the Smart Audio Report from National Public Media. Nearly half surveyed said Smart Device listening bothers them and 52% worry hackers could use the device data to get access to their home or personal information.

The Delhi government considers it helpful to allow parents to watch every minute of their kids’ classroom time, but privacy advocates disagree. They contend it is a clear violation of children’s privacy rights because it exposes their facial expressions, voice data and behavior and takes away the safe space that children have traditionally had in school to experiment with new relationships and experiences. This raises questions about 1) the teaching experience, 2) how the streams will be secured, and 3) what would keep parents and others from sharing or misusing... Read More >

New management at the company has also promised the US FTC it will maintain a strict privacy program for the next twenty years. Sounds good, and perhaps then they’ll renew.

The kids’ version alone, JusTalk Kids, has had more than 1 million Android downloads. Report is that the leaked data also made it possible to track streams of various conversations, including between kids and parents.

Vzbv has filed a suit claiming the company misled in ads and didn’t reveal that their car Sentry Mode function logs locations without consent.

T-Mobile has also had to commit an additional $150 million to beef up their data security and other related technology.

A statement issued by the EU Data Protection Board about data transfers between EU countries and Russia is raising concern among privacy experts who feel extra care must be taken considering the Ukraine war and because the EU doesn’t have an adequacy agreement with Russia. This is in contrast with the EU’s data sharing relationship with the US, which has had to be renegotiated since its prior Privacy Shield adequacy agreement was struck down. Of particular concern with regards to Russia is its potential access to citizen location data in... Read More >

The US Federal Trade Commission has emphasized its commitment to enforcing privacy protections following the Dobbs ruling, by reminding companies that privacy is protected under other laws, including the Safeguards Rule, the Health Breach Notification Rule, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, and under state laws. The statement the FTC issued said it will use its power to full extent to protect consumers from harm that result from sharing or selling data. The FTC also reminded companies not to misuse data, or to mislead consumers about whether their data is... Read More >

Indonesia is threatening to block tech company platforms, including Google, Twitter and Meta’s, that still have not complied with the country’s licensing rules by this week’s deadline. The licensing rules allow Indonesian authorities to demand that content they deem unlawful or disturbing to the public be taken down. It also compels companies to turn over communication and personal data of individuals upon request from law enforcement or the government.