The release of Firefox 91 includes a new feature allowing users remove all local traces of visiting a website. Building on ‘Total Cookie Protection,’ which Firefox introduced earlier this year to disallow sharing of cookies between websites, the new functionality includes a ‘Forget About This Site’ option to clear all site data plus the history of having visited it.
A hacker claims to have compromised the records of 100 million T-Mobile users, which, if true, would have included social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, phone numbers and physical addresses. T-Mobile has confirmed the breach, but is still investigating if personal data was stolen.
New York City adds broad biometric privacy controls for retail, restaurants, entertainment venues, similar to Illinois’s BIPA biometric law, to New York City’s Admin. Code §§ 22-1201. Businesses are required to post clear and visible signage near all customer entrances and provide detail on their practices with regard to biometric data collection and use of the information. This includes, but is not limited to facial, retinal, iris and fingerprint scans, and hand scans.
It’s deal-making time for generative AI model builders and publishers who can provide them with quality data. Germany publishing giant Axel Springer is trading access to its data for Microsoft adtech, AI, and Azure hosting solutions. Meanwhile, The Financial Times has struck a deal with OpenAI to license its content with attribution of summaries and quotes.