Tag Archives: privacy

404 Media reports: Data from a license plate-scanning tool that is primarily marketed as a surveillance solution for small towns to combat crimes like car jackings or finding missing people is being used by ICE, according to data reviewed by 404 Media. Local police around the country are performing lookups in Flock’s AI-powered automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system for …

The Washington Post reports: For two years, New Orleans police secretly relied on facial recognition technology to scan city streets in search of suspects, a surveillance method without a known precedent in any major American city that may violate municipal guardrails around use of the technology, an investigation by The Washington Post has found. Police increasingly use facial recognition software …

CNBC reports: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced it will acquire “substantially all” of 23andMe’s assets for $256 million. The drugmaker participated in a bankruptcy auction for 23andMe, a once high-flying genetic testing company that filed for for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. Regeneron is buying 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service, Total Health and Research Services business lines, according to a …

Reuters reports: Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion in a settlement in principle reached with the state of Texas over allegations the company violated users’ data privacy, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Friday. The agreement settles two lawsuits that covered three products for allegedly violating Texas consumer protection laws. “In Texas, Big Tech is not above the …

The New York Times reports: Some have logged on late at night. Others have driven for hours. And some have just given up. All in the hunt for a coveted appointment for a Real ID. Starting on Wednesday, travelers in the United States will need a Real ID, passport or other federally recognized document to board domestic flights, a requirement …

The Associated Press reports: 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and its co-founder and CEO has resigned as the struggling genetic testing company continues its push to cut costs. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe nearly two decades ago, is also stepping down as CEO effective immediately, the company said — but will remain on the 23andMe board. Beyond …

Via press release from California AG Rob Bonta: California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a consumer alert to customers of 23andMe, a genetic testing and information company. The California-based company has publicly reported that it is in financial distress and stated in securities filings that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Due …

Ars Technica reports: Since Amazon announced plans for a generative AI version of Alexa, we were concerned about user privacy. With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view at the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the AI voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased …

The New York Times reports: Florida’s insurance regulator has demanded an unusually intrusive trove of data on millions of prescription drugs filled in the state last year, including the names of patients taking the medications, their dates of birth and doctors they’ve seen. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation in January sought this information from pharmacy benefit managers like UnitedHealth’s …

Ars Technica reports: Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then sold to third parties for targeted ads. In the proposed class-action settlement—which comes after five years of litigation—Apple admitted to no wrongdoing. Instead, the settlement refers to “unintentional” Siri activations that occurred after …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Friday against TikTok and parent company ByteDance for failing to protect children’s privacy on the social media app. The government said TikTok violated a law that prohibits collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. The DOJ said TikTok knowingly permitted children …

CNBC reports: Meta agreed to pay a record $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit by the state of Texas over the Facebook owner’s unauthorized use of biometric data by users, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday. The suit, filed by Paxton in February 2022, accused Meta of capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texas residents — …

ABC News reports: European Union regulators accused social media company Meta Platforms on Monday of breaching the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them. Meta began giving European users the option in November of paying for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram as a way to …

The Associated Press reports: Florida has more than 700,000 medical marijuana patients and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — who is battling a proposal to allow recreational use of marijuana — wants them all to know what a great job he’s doing. The Department of Health last week sent a blast email to its medical marijuana patient list boasting that DeSantis …

Reuters reports: Gay dating app Grindr is facing a mass data protection lawsuit in London from hundreds of users who allegedly had their private information, including HIV status, shared with third parties without consent, a law firm said on Monday. Austen Hays, which said the lawsuit is being filed at London’s High Court, said thousands of Grindr users in the …

Via press release from Airbnb: Airbnb is banning the use of indoor security cameras in listings globally as part of efforts to simplify our policy on security cameras and other devices and to continue to prioritize the privacy of our community. Historically, Airbnb allowed the use of indoor security cameras in common areas of listings, such as hallways and living …

Business Insider reports: On Thursday, Google agreed to settle a $5 billion class-action privacy lawsuit alleging that it spied on people who used the “incognito” mode in its Chrome browser to track their internet use. The lawsuit filed in 2020 claimed Google misled users into believing that it wouldn’t track their internet activities while using incognito mode. The suit argued …

Ars Technica reports: Genetic profiling service 23andMe has commenced an investigation after private user data was been scraped off its website.  Friday’s confirmation comes five days after an unknown entity took to an online crime forum to advertise the sale of private information for millions of 23andMe users. The forum posts claimed that the stolen data included origin estimation, phenotype, …

Today’s news about TikTok being fined by the European Union reminded me to give you a heads-up that this here website thingy will soon comply with a recent Google edict related to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All US-based sites that carry Google ads must issue a statement regarding privacy and personal data collection. A new message on …

The Guardian reports: TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view. The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules. It found TikTok had contravened GDPR by placing …