CDP Institute

The US Congress discovered that customs officials have been copying personal data from as many as 10,000 cellphones, iPads and computers of travelers entering or leaving the country by land, sea, and air. This has been done without requirement of a warrant or a suspicion of crime and was made possible by courts that expanded Customs and Border Protection (CBP) access. Congress has criticized CBP and is calling for stricter protections to remediate this.

South Korea found Google & Meta violating its privacy law, so now slapped them with fines: 69.2 billion KRW (~$50 million – Google) and 30.8 billion KRW (~$22 million – Meta). The companies had not obtained consent before collecting data from site users, then enabled targeting with customized ads. At Google, users were not clearly informed of use plans and a default forced them to “agree.” At Meta, details about data use plans were not provided, nor was consent obtained before using behavioral and personal information.

Indonesia is set to pass its Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP) this week. The law, which gives companies two years to comply, will require data operators to obtain consent from individuals for collecting personal data or medical history. The strict penalty for noncompliance is up to 5 years in jail and a maximum fine of 5 billion rupiah (US $337,000). The law stipulates that personal information collected must be for a specific purpose only and that data must be erased once the purpose has been met.

Ad trickery using psychological games, misleading claims, hidden disclosures or other bait and switch tactics are not new to sales, but the move to online has presented new opportunities to lure and ensnare prospective buyers. A new US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report displays examples of what’s called “dark patterns,” deceptive design practices used to dupe customers. The report is part of a larger effort by the FTC to identify and stop unfair business practices. This shortly after the FTC issued a policy statement warning companies against illegally tricking or... Read More >

Yubo, a French social start up popular with people under 25, and only available to those between ages 13-50, uses a mix of age-estimation technology from Yoti and data provided by users at sign-up to establish and vet age. This is crucial for ensuring safety for its 60 million and growing audience who use the platform to meet new people, play games and hang out in video chat rooms.

The company is investigating the cybersecurity incident discovered when the alleged hacker self-reported.

MeWe’s mission is to provide a social platform that doesn’t exploit users or sell their data.