The European Union is considering temporarily banning the use of facial recognition technology in public areas for up to five years. In an 18-page document seen by the BBC, The European Commission has outlined its plans to introduce new rules that will bolster existing regulations surrounding data and privacy rights. “Building on these existing provisions, […]
Privacy
#Privacy: App exposes thousands of baby photos
A leaky Elasticsearch database has resulted in thousands of images and videos of babies being leaked online. The developer of the Peekaboo Moments app, Bithouse Inc, failed to secure a 100GB Elasticsearch database. The database had been left open accessible by anyone, and without any password protection. The database contained over 70 million log files […]
#Privacy: Grindr accused of sharing users’ data
The Norwegian Consumer Council has filed three complaints against Grindr, and five other adtech companies that collect personal data through the apps. A new report published by the government-funded nonprofit organization in Oslo found that the dating app Grindr was sharing detailed user data with a vast number of third parties that are involved in […]
#Privacy: Getting data security right
This year has seen the pressures facing business reach new heights. Extremely intricate IT environments require businesses to constantly upgrade their applications. They need to improve on efficiencies and comply with tight regulations while keeping up with modern applications, as well as moving operations to the cloud to stay ahead of competitors. This creates a […]
#Privacy: TikTok found secretly transferring user data to China
According to a lawsuit file by a college student TikTok has been secretly transferring user data to China without gaining consent. The class-action lawsuit filed in California, accuses TikTok of secretly harvesting large amounts of personally identifiable user data and sending it to China. In addition, the lawsuit accuses TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, […]
#Privacy: Mixcloud breach exposes millions of users
The personal data of tens of millions of Mixcloud users have been put on sale on the dark web. In a statement, the British streaming service, Mixcloud announced that it has received reports about hackers gaining unauthorised access to some of its systems. “Our understanding at this time is that the incident involves email addresses, […]
#Privacy: New malware campaign found targeting hotel guest data
At least 20 hotels have fallen victim to a new malware campaign impacting hotel guest data in 12 countries. The malware campaign, named RevengeHotels, has been targeting hotels, hostels, hospitality and tourism companies since 2015. Researchers at Kaspersky, have noted that the campaign has since expanded, targeting more than 20 hotels in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, […]
#Privacy: Brexit data company in breach of privacy laws, Canadian regulator claims
According to a report by Canada’s federal privacy commissioner, a Canadian data firm that worked with a pro-Brexit group broke privacy laws. According to a watchdog’s official report, whilst working with a leading pro-Brexit group in Britain and multiple US political campaigns, AggregateIQ broke privacy laws by not taking measures to ensure that it had […]
#Privacy: New privacy bill could strengthen FTC’s ability to enforce digital privacy protections
A new privacy bill would provide citizens the right to request that their personal data be deleted from company records. Introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, the Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act (COPRA) will provide US consumers with foundational data privacy rights, create strong oversight mechanisms and establish […]
#Privacy: Church’s Chicken investigates possible data breach
Church’s chicken, an American restaurant chain has launched an investigation into a possible data breach involving credit and debit card information. The company stated that it had detected unauthorised activity in the IT systems used to process payments at some of its 165 restaurants in the US. “Although our investigation is ongoing, what we currently […]