CDP Institute

While Pegasus (NSO Group) has been in the news for hacking politicians and journalists, new surveillance groups have been identified for using never-before-seen tactics to quietly hack and steal phone data of critics of authoritarian governments. Predator, from North Macedonian company Cytrox, was found by Citizen Lab and Meta (fka Facebook) to be targeting as many as 50,000 victims in more than 100 countries.

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (NDPA) fined the gay dating app $7.16 million for violating EU privacy laws, saying it sent personal data to advertisers without user consent. This is the highest fine Norway has issued to date against the company.

The US and Australia are partnering to combat cybercrime under an extension of the U.S.’s Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act. The law, originally passed in 2018 enables law enforcement collaboration to combat crimes, including terrorism and ransomware attacks, via electronic data.

Adalytics discovered internet users in Europe who specifically express “privacy choices” using a platform that allows for control over tracking and personalization, may in fact be having their preferences ignored. This is due to mislabeling and failure by companies to use IP address geo-location checking for GDPR applicability.

US survey of 1,000 consumers finds 71% don’t know about data laws like CCPA, despite the huge increases in data breaches (incidences were up 141% between 2019-2020) and their desire for data protection. Thirty-nine  percent of those surveyed said they want more government regulation – but in terms of best practice, 71% admitted they never, or only occasionally, read data sharing disclosures that are provided to tell them how their data is being used.