CDP Institute

The FTC said the company left sensitive genetic and health data unsecured and deceived its customers.

The same group is blamed for other recent cyberattacks on US agencies and global organizations. The hackers exploited a flaw in file-transfer software, MOVEit and the government’s belief is the act was mostly opportunistic as data hasn’t so far been found for sale.

The deal is part of the “Atlantic Declaration for a Twenty-First Century U.S.-UK Economic Partnership”.  It would allow for safe transfer of data within a framework of strong privacy protections.

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) announced that users of Meta’s social network will be able to choose whether their activity across Meta sites will be tracked. While this is the first time Meta has granted that level of choice, the FCO is still considering whether it is content with the decision.

Last month’s record-breaking €1.2 billion fine (≈ US$1.3 billion) that the EU handed Meta has prompted proactive privacy measures at Zoom. This will include allowing paying customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) to keep their data inside the EEA – only to be shared with US teams in individual cases or unusual circumstances. It remains to be seen if this satisfies EU regulators given that it only applies to paying customers.

Louisiana has just passed a bill requiring people under 18 (minors), to get parents’ permission to sign up for online services – including social networks, multiplayer games and video-sharing apps. This is broader in scope than similar new laws in Utah and California. Not sure if you have kids – but, it’s hard to picture our (now grown) kids understanding why this would be necessary when they were at ages old enough to drive, work and prepare for college.

A complaint filed by the US Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Microsoft with violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) due to its collection of personal data of underage Xbox users and then retaining the children’s data without parental consent.

This new feature automatically activated in Mail, Messages, and Safari’s Private Browsing mode, removes tracking parameters from links that are clicked on.

The law requires companies to post signage near store entrances to notify customers when biometric data is about to be collected.

Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast are worried AI “ghostbots” could start rising from the dead without UK privacy laws to stop them. These digital specters can happen when AI is used to create digital reincarnations (chatbots, deepfakes, or holographs) of people who have died. Problem is this might terrify actual live people (assuming robots haven’t gotten rid of us before this happens).

The class action brought by a California resident alleges that TikTok’s pixel allows TikTok and parent company ByteDance to collect data that can be used for online advertising. The claim is that since the pixel allows compilation of broad information on web users regardless of whether individuals have accounts with app or not, the company has violated federal anti-hacking laws and California privacy laws.

Unfortunately, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which has just settled a suit with Amazon for $5.8 million, Amazon’s Ring doorbell camera was found to be spying on female customers in their bedrooms and bathrooms. This comes just after the company agreed to pay a $25 million settlement from the FTC's children’s privacy suit.