CDP Institute

Tech companies won’t be held liable for user posts and any subsequent disinformation – thanks to two Supreme Court cases won by Google and Twitter. The companies and tech platforms withstood a challenge to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Established in the early days of the Internet, Section 230 protects companies against liability for postings of users. So, despite growing concerns now about disinformation, discrimination, and violent content on social platforms and sites, these justices opted to side with corporations.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Meta $1.3 billion and ordered it to stop transfer of Facebook data collected on European users to the US. It is one of the most consequential rulings since the General Data Protection (GDPR) law was enacted and is the result of an EU court’s ruling GDPR protection was violated. If upheld, it could affect data related to photos, friend connections and direct messages stored by Facebook. Not surprisingly, Meta plans to appeal. It has a 5-month grace period, so states it won’t currently need to... Read More >

Hong Kong and the Philippines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to strengthen privacy rights for citizens of each. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong (PCPD) and The National Privacy Commission (NPC) of the Philippines have established the alliance to ensure more robust data governance, safeguard data subject rights, and to work together on breach investigations, training and education.

The amendments are major revisions to South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which was enacted in 2011. They include new rights of data portability and a right to refuse automated decision-making as well as rules for offshore data transfer, PI collection and use by offline businesses, and the granting of expanded rights to the country’s regulator.

A study by non-profit Tech Transparency Project evaluated videos recommended by YouTube algorithms and found the platform recommended hundreds of videos about guns and gun violence to boys interested in video games. These included videos that showed how to make and enhance weapons or depicted school shootings – all of which are in violation of YouTube’s stated policies about depiction of firearms and violence, and to protect children’s safety.

Local police across China alerted parents that encrypted communications apps, including Telegram, which can encrypt or immediately erase content, have been used by criminals to defraud children – and sometimes even involve them as accomplices in crimes. Parents were advised to check kids’ cell phones for encrypted apps and to remove them if found.

The vote of 306 to 27 (with 231 abstaining) resulted from the MEPs concerns that the framework proposed had too many weaknesses and that the Data Protection Review Court that would have been created for oversight would not be adequate.

The intended class-action cites the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which protects individuals from privacy invasion caused by use of devices and techniques.

Telly has a second, ad-filled display sitting below your tv show screen, and it captures intel on what you watch, where you’re located, and then infers what can be known about you based on data collected.