Noteworthy Information

Business & Government Simple read

U.S., EU Reach Preliminary Deal on Data Privacy

The U.S. and the European Union reached a preliminary deal to allow data about Europeans to be stored on U.S. soil, heading off a growing threat to thousands of companies' trans-Atlantic operations.

Business & Government Simple read

The New Rules of Data Privacy

After two decades of data management being a wild west, consumer mistrust, government action, and competition for customers are bringing in a new era. Firms that generate any value from personal data will need to change the way they acquire it, share it, protect it, and profit from it. They should follow three basic rules: 1) consistently cultivate trust with customers, explaining in common-sense terms how their data is being used and what’s in it for them; 2) focus on extracting insight, not personal identifiable information; and 3) CIOs and CDOs should work together to facilitate the flow of insights, with a common objective of acquiring maximum insight from consented data for the customer’s benefit.

Individuals Simple read

I (Finally) Fired Google

Kyle Rankin: "In this post I’ll tell my story of how tightly Google was integrated in my life, the lengths I had to go to remove them, and what took so long."

Developers Intermediate read

Mozilla and Meta Propose New Privacy-Preserving Ad Technology

Mozilla engineer Martin Thomson reveals they've been collaborating with Meta (formerly Facebook) on new technology that can measure "conversions" from advertising while still preserving privacy. The proposed new technology is called Interoperable Private Attribution, or IPA.

Individuals Advanced read

How to protect privacy in a datafied society? (38 pages)

The United Nations confirmed that privacy remains a human right in the digital age, but our daily digital experiences and seemingly ever-increasing amounts of data suggest that privacy is a mundane, distributed and technologically mediated concept. This article explores privacy by mapping out different legal and conceptual approaches to privacy protection in the context of datafication.

Individuals Intermediate read

People Don’t Understand the Purpose of Privacy Policies and Terms of Service

Any visit to a website, app download, purchase of a digital service, or use of new software involves legal policies. People typically encounter both a privacy policy and Terms of Use or Terms of Service (TOS/TOU) policy. But do they understand what functions these two types of policies serve? It seems they don’t.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Red Cross Begs Hackers Not To Leak Data of 'Highly Vulnerable People'

The Red Cross has disclosed that it was the victim of a cyber attack and has asked the hackers who broke into the IT network of one of its contractors not to leak the personal information of more than 515,000 of "highly vulnerable people."

Individuals Advanced read

Personal Data Gentrification (Paper, 9p)

Individuals have undergone a process of Personal Data Gentrification, as data ownership has shifted from individuals to service providers and data consumers, as if the data is worth nothing to the individuals; these new owners then harness the data to obtain large profits. In this paper, we propose Personal Data Enfranchisement as a middle ground, empowering individuals to control the sharing of their personal information to shift the business flows of personal information. Based on these insights, we propose a model to gradually and incrementally make a shift from our current situation towards one of Personal Data Enfranchisement.

Business & Government Simple read

DuckDuckGo Search Queries Grew 47% in 2021

The privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo continues to grow rapidly, with the company now averaging over 100 million daily search queries and growing by almost 47% in 2021. While DuckDuckGo's growth is considerable, it still only has 2.53% of the total market share, with Yahoo at 3.3%, Bing at 6.43%, and Google holding a dominant share of 87.33% of search engine traffic in the USA.

Individuals Simple read

Five Personal Data Trends and Resolution for 2022

We have seen that privacy, personal data, and the user-held data discussion have changed significantly during the last few years. At the same time, wearable devices have come to the mainstream. People are interested in collecting their wellness and health data and making their lives better. Let’s quickly look at developments in 2021 and the outlook for the year 2022.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Serious privacy & security risks, plus global advertising platform in K12 school utility apps

Common technical frameworks and app templates used by hundreds of organizations, when combined with technical weaknesses built into devices and operating systems from Google and Apple, are leading to unregulated and out of control student and parent data sharing to unexpected online advertising companies.

Developers Simple read

US and UK to Partner on Prize Challenges to Advance Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

The United States and the United Kingdom today announced plans to collaborate on bilateral innovation prize challenges focused on advancing privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). This emerging group of technologies present an important opportunity to harness the power of data in a manner that protects privacy and intellectual property, enabling cross-border and cross-sector collaboration to solve shared challenges.
Announced during the Summit for Democracy, as part of a series of International Grand Challenges on Democracy-Affirming Technologies, the prize challenges will take place during the Summit’s “year of action,” accelerating work to overcome technical gaps and adoption challenges related to PETs. By bringing together top minds from both countries on building viable solutions, the prize challenges will aim to help mature and facilitate adoption of these promising technologies.

Individuals Simple read

Israel Authorizes Use of Phone Tracking Tech To Contain Spread of Omicron Covid Variant

Rights groups petitioned Israel's top court on Monday to repeal new COVID-19 measures that authorize the country's domestic intelligence service to use counter-terrorism phone tracking technology to contain the spread of the Omicron virus variant. Announcing the emergency measures on Saturday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the phone tracking would be used to locate carriers of the new and potentially more contagious variant in order to curb its transmission to others. Israeli rights groups say the emergency measures violate previous Supreme Court rulings over such surveillance, used on-and-off by the country's Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency since March, 2020.

Business & Government Intermediate read

China's New Privacy Law Leaves US Behind

China enacted its Personal Information Privacy Law earlier this month, following Europe as the second major international player to have its own sweeping data privacy regulations. The law, regarded as China's version of Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, is a set of rules for how businesses can collect, use, process, share and transfer personal information. Another Chinese data regulation, the Data Security Law, went into effect Sept. 1. The laws aim to protect Chinese citizens from the private sector, while the Chinese government still has easy access to personal data.

Business & Government Advanced read

The Strategic Guide to Responsible Platform Business

The Strategic Guide to Responsible Platform Business highlights alternative strategies that platform organisations can pursue to acknowledge and mitigate platform capitalism’s problematic tendencies. While it is informative for policymakers and civil society, the Guide is mainly meant to be a resource for decision-makers in European platform firms. It outlines key ethical concerns and trade-offs, to then point to possible responses that have been tried by platforms operating in the market.

Individuals Intermediate read

Anonymity No More? Age Checks Come To the Web

In response to mounting pressure from activists, parents and regulators who believe tech companies haven't done enough to protect children online, businesses and governments around the globe are placing major parts of the internet behind stricter digital age checks.

Individuals Simple read

Amazon's Alexa Collects More of Your Data Than Any Other Smart Assistant

According to a survey from Reviews.org, Amazon's Alexa collects more data from users than any of the other digital assistants analyzed, which included the Google Assistant, Siri, Bixby, and Cortana.

Individuals Simple read

Neighbour wins privacy row over smart doorbell and cameras

A judge has ruled that security cameras and a Ring doorbell installed in a house in Oxfordshire "unjustifiably invaded" the privacy of a neighbour.

Business & Government Simple read

A Major Obstacle to Tech Companies Developing Health Apps: About 2 in 3 Adults Worry About Their Privacy

While Apple Inc. reportedly works on technology for its iPhones to detect depression and cognitive decline, new data shows most of the public does not yet trust technology to help track health and well-being.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Senate Democrats Call on FTC To Fix Data Privacy 'Crisis'

Senate Democrats are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to write new rules to protect consumer data privacy in a new letter to the agency authored on Monday.

Business & Government Simple read

Data Privacy: does anyone care?

Jason Smith from Meeco: "People most certainly do care about their data privacy. The question is: how are organisations going to bridge this data privacy chasm?"

Individuals Simple read

Lawsuits Accuse Siri, Alexa, and Google of Listening When They're Not Supposed To

On Thursday, a judge ruled that Apple will have to continue fighting a lawsuit brought by users in federal court in California, alleging that the company's voice assistant Siri has improperly recorded private conversations. He ruled that the plaintiffs, who are trying to make the suit a class action case, could continue pursuing claims that Siri turned on unprompted and recorded conversations that it shouldn't have and passed the data along to third parties, therefore violating user privacy. The case is one of several that have been brought against Apple, Google and Amazon that involve allegations of violation of privacy by voice assistants.

Individuals Simple read

Data privacy is a growing concern for more consumers

People surveyed by KPMG reported feeling increasingly uneasy about the data collection practices of corporations.

Individuals Simple read

UK To Overhaul Privacy Rules in Post-Brexit Departure From GDPR

Britain will attempt to move away from European data protection regulations as it overhauls its privacy rules after Brexit, the government has announced.

Developers Advanced read

Privacy & Identity protection in mobile Driving License ecosystems (PDF, 51 pages)

The non-profit Kantara Initiative association has released a report addressing concerns about digital identity and privacy concerning mobile drivers’ licenses.

Individuals Simple read

Data Brokers Know Where You Are—and Want to Sell That Intel

From location tracking to federal law: These firms could track whether you've visited your therapist's office or your ex's house. And without regulation, they're a threat to democracy.

Individuals Intermediate read

Online Games Gamble with Children's Data (PDF, 30 pages)

The way mobile games collect information about their users, and the details of what type of information they’re collecting, remains incredible opaque. The fact that it’s all so confusing is kind of the point, obviously. As a result, mobile games have escaped the level of scrutiny we’ve applied to social media companies, despite being – as category – nearly equally popular and far more likely to be used by children.

Individuals Simple read

Apple Plans To Scan US iPhones for Child Abuse Imagery

Apple will roll out a technology that will allow the company to detect and report known child sexual abuse material to law enforcement in a way it says will preserve user privacy. This move has already come under fire from privacy whistleblower Edward Snowden and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Individuals Intermediate read

Investigation Reveals Widespread Cellphone Surveillance of the Innocent

Cellphones "can be transformed into surveillance devices," writes the Guardian, reporting startling new details about which innocent people are still being surveilled.

The investigators say that potential targets included nearly 200 journalists around the world evidence was found that the Pegasus software had been installed on the phone of the fiancée of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. NSO denies this to the Washington Post. But they also insist that they're simply licensing their software to clients, and their company "has no insight" into those clients' specific intelligence activities.

[Intermediate] The Worst Data Breaches of 2021

Every six months, we compile a list of the worst data breaches that occurred during that period in order to learn from them. So far this year, the causes of the worst data breaches have shifted from human error and credential based attacks that we saw at the end of last year to ransomware, third-party vulnerabilities, and undetected security gaps.

Business & Government Simple read

Judge says: Privacy law applies to Google results

A federal judge says the results of Google searches are covered by the law governing how companies handle personal information, a victory for people seeking a digital "right to be forgotten."

Business & Government Advanced read

European Parliament approved ePrivacy Derogation

The European Parliament approved the ePrivacy Derogation, allowing providers of e-mail and messaging services to automatically search all personal messages containing material depicting child sex abuse and report suspected cases to the police. The European Pirates Delegation in the Greens/EFA group strongly condemns this automated mass surveillance, which effectively means the end of privacy in digital correspondence. Pirate Party MEPs plan to take legal action. Patrick Breyer (German Pirate Party Member of the European Parliament): “This harms children rather than protecting them”

Business & Government Intermediate read

Privacy-Focused Tech Companies Call for Ban on Targeted Advertising

DuckDuckGo, Vivaldi, Protonmail and others say "businesses can thrive without privacy-invasive practices" and advertising can be done without spying on users.

Individuals Simple read

Everyone should decide how their digital data are used — not just tech companies

Smartphones, sensors and consumer habits reveal much about society. Too few people have a say in how these data are created and used.

[Intermediate] Vestager Warns Apple Against Using Privacy, Security To Limit Competition

Europe's tech chief Margrethe Vestager on Friday warned iPhone maker Apple against using privacy and security concerns to fend off competition on its App Store, reasons CEO Tim Cook gave for not allowing users to install software from outside the Store.

[Intermediate] Colorado Passes Privacy Bill

The Colorado Legislature recently passed the Colorado Privacy Act (“ColoPA”), joining Virginia and California as states with comprehensive privacy legislation. The good news is that, in broad terms, ColoPA generally does not impose significant new requirements that aren’t addressed under the CCPA or VCDPA.

[Intermediary] The Data Delusion

The more collective the harm, the less people are protected and the less visible it is. The more the harm is individual, the more visible its impacts are and the more people are legally protected. If a person is discriminated against because of protected characteristics such as their age, gender or ethnicity, it will be visible to them and they will hopefully be in a position to seek redress. When a person is discriminated against due to an algorithmic decision, it is likely to be less visible and, currently, hard to seek redress.

[Simple] Privacy group targets website 'cookie terror'

Noyb, headed by well-known Austrian privacy advocate Max Schrems, is targeting companies which it says deliberately make it hard to opt-out of tracking cookies.

Individuals Simple read

Apple promoting Privacy (Video)

A compelling Apple ad promoting the new privacy feature for "Do not track" in iOS.

[Advanced] Privacy and COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

Vaccine passports are being considered by some governments and businesses as a means of allowing a return to something more closely resembling normal life. Canada’s Privacy Commissioners have decided to make a statement at this time in an effort to ensure that privacy is considered at the earliest opportunity as part of any discussions about vaccine passport development.

Business & Government Simple read

Apple robbed the mob's bank

Interesting perspective:

Apple has brazenly, in broad daylight, stormed into the Bank of Facebook, looted its most precious resource, and, camouflaged under the noble cause of giving privacy controls to the consumer, fled the scene.

Business & Government Intermediate read

96% of US users opt out of app tracking in iOS 14.5, analytics find

It seems that in the United States, at least, app developers and advertisers who rely on targeted mobile advertising for revenue are seeing their worst fears realized: Analytics data published this week suggests that US users choose to opt out of tracking 96 percent of the time in the wake of iOS 14.5.

[Intermediate] Podcast: Liberty. Equality. Data.

Leveling Playing Field between Humans and Algorithms: a conversation with Peter Cotton, Ph.D. (Stanford), who spent his 20+ years career leading AI and ML initiatives at major US banks.

[Simple] Facebook v Apple: The ad tracking row heats up

A new feature is being introduced to iPhones and iPads this week which is causing a huge rift between Apple and Facebook: It will allow device users to say no to having their data collected by apps.

[Simple] The Battle for AI Startups Will Change Privacy as We Know It

A bird’s-eye view of the corporate topography reveals that, even aside from the big tech titans, more and more companies are acquiring talented AI teams at ever faster rates. Not all AI applications are treated equally, however, and what’s telling is the data on the type of technology that’s being bought in these acquisitions, as it offers a window into how AI might significantly change certain industries in the coming years.

[Simple] Nextcloud health app doesn’t sell your data

There is a whole wave of new apps becoming available that can store your electronic health records from hospitals or doctors. As health data is easy to monetize, these apps tend to be “free” for users – insurance companies are happy to pay for it. The Kailona app is here to offer a real alternative. It supports the standards used by doctors and hospitals to exchange data, and gives you the ability to decide who to give access, to what and for how long.

Individuals Intermediate read

Ad-free Private Search

Neeva, a Silicon-Valley-based startup building “ad-free private search”, without a public product yet, apparently has raised $77.5 million so far according to Crunchbase. They seem to have had the inside track at Greylock — good for them — with a very “fundable” entrepreneur at the helm, but nevertheless this is not a small amount for what must be pre-customer, pre-revenue or close to it focusing entirely on privacy with a $5/month subscription business model.

[Simple] A Day in the Life of Your Data

Apple is sharing a "A Day in the Life of Your Data" document that details how third-party companies can track user data across websites and apps.

[Intermediate] What’s Really at Stake with Vaccine Passports

What may appear to be temporary public health-related measures could risk embedding permanent digital identity infrastructure that threatens public life.

[Intermediate] Your digital identity has three layers, and you can only protect one of them

Your online profile is less a reflection of you than a caricature. It is shaped by technology companies and advertisers who make key decisions based on their interpretation of seemingly benign data points.

[Intermediate] Right to life of poor more important than elite class' privacy concerns

The Modi government submitted before the Supreme Court that right to life of millions of poor in the country through food, shelter and welfare measures was far more important than privacy concerns raised by the elite class.

[Simple] What a Gambling App Knows About You

Sky Bet, the most popular gambling app in Britain, compiled extensive records about a user, tracking him in ways he never imagined.

[Simple] What a Gambling App Knows About You

Sky Bet, the most popular gambling app in Britain, compiled extensive records about a user, tracking him in ways he never imagined.

[Intermediate] The UK is secretly testing a controversial web snooping tool

The Investigatory Powers Act, or Snooper’s Charter, was introduced in 2016. Now one of its most contentious surveillance tools is being secretly trialled by internet firms.

Individuals Intermediate read

Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea

Google is leading the charge to replace third-party cookies with a new suite of technologies to target ads on the Web. And some of its proposals show that it hasn’t learned the right lessons from the ongoing backlash to the surveillance business model: Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) is potentially the most harmful of those new technologies.
read also: article on TechCrunch, Github W3C - Improving Web Advertising Business Group, and Google's framing as Privacy Sandbox

[Simple] Clubhouse’s security and privacy lag behind its explosive growth

In recent months, the audio-based social media app Clubhouse has emerged as Silicon Valley's latest disruptive darling. The format feels familiar: part Twitter, part Facebook Live, part talking on the phone. But as Clubhouse continues to expand, its security and privacy failings have come under increased scrutiny—and left the company scrambling to correct problems and manage expectations.

[Simple] Data Privacy in the Crosshairs

But how do Americans feel about data privacy? According to Pew Research, they do not trust governments and companies to do the right thing with data. A 2019 survey found 81% of people feel they have very little or no control over data collected by companies, while 84% felt the same about government.

[Advanced] Privacy Without Monopoly: Data Protection and Interoperability

The problems of corporate concentration and privacy on the Internet are inextricably linked. A new regime of interoperability can revitalize competition in the space, encourage innovation, and give users more agency over their data; it may also create new risks to user privacy and data security. This paper considers those risks and argues that they are outweighed by the benefits. New interoperability, done correctly, will not just foster competition, it can be a net benefit for user privacy rights.

Individuals Simple read

They Stormed the Capitol. Their Apps Tracked Them.

This article argues that de-anonymizing the data "gets easier by the day," warning this latest data set demonstrates "the looming threat to our liberties posed by a surveillance economy that monetizes the movements of the righteous and the wicked alike."

[Simple] Tim Cook: Privacy and climate change are ‘the top issues of the century’

In an exclusive interview, Apple’s CEO talks about how privacy threats change behavior, tech’s role in igniting extremism, and why “Big Tech” is a misnomer.

[Simple] Gay Dating App "Grindr" to be fined almost € 10 Mio

In January 2020, the Norwegian Consumer Council and the European privacy NGO noyb.eu filed three strategic complaints against Grindr and several adtech companies over illegal sharing of users’ data. Like many other apps, Grindr shared personal data (like location data or the fact that someone uses Grindr) to potentially hundreds of third parties for advertisment.

[Intermediate] Gartner: 6 Principles for Employee Privacy

Employers will likely collect more data as employees return to work, requiring risk management leaders to balance safety, productivity and privacy. (scary prediction: by 2025, 75% of conversations at work will be recorded and analyzed, enabling the discovery of added organizational value or risk.)

[Simple] WhatsApp Beaten By Apple’s New iMessage Privacy Update

Apple uses now privacy labels to inform users about some of the data types an app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them. And a picture comparing those privacy labels for different messaging apps (Signal, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messanger) is quite interesting.

[Simple] Singapore reveals Covid privacy data available to police

Singapore has admitted data from its Covid contact tracing programme can also be accessed by police, reversing earlier privacy assurances. Such an approach will erode public trust in future health responses and therefore impede their efficacy.

(Simple) Epidemiologist looks to the past to predict second post-pandemic 'roaring 20s'

Dr Nicholas Christakis writes that after this pandemic people will seek extensive social interactions and predicts a second “roaring 20s”. Will privacy concerns and willingness to share data also change after the current pandemic is over?

Transforming Data Flow Diagram for Privacy Compliance

In this paper, weprovide an explicit algorithm and a proof-of-concept implementation to transform Data Flow Diagrams into Privacy-Aware DataFlow Diagrams. Our tool assists software engineers in the critical but error-prone task of systematically inserting privacy checksduring design (they are automatically added by our tool) while still allowing them to inspect and edit if necessary.

Build trust in digital health

The rapid rollout of digital health approaches in the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has neglected to prioritize data privacy and is a missed opportunity for building users’ trust in these technologies for future outbreaks and quotidian healthcare.

And here another paper: "Patient trust must come at the top of researchers’ priority list"

All the Ways Slack Tracks You—and How to Stop It

From changing privacy settings to putting limits on those infuriating notifications, here’s how to take control of Slack.

The Coming Battle for Customer Information

A vintage article from 1997 about personal data in HBR: "As consumers take control of information about themselves, companies will have to pay for it."

Making context the central concept in privacy engineering

There is a gap between people’s online sharing of personal data and their concerns about privacy. Till now, this gap is addressed by attempting to match individual privacy preferences with service providers’ options for data handling. This approach has ignored the role different contexts play in data sharing. This paper aims at giving privacy engineering a new direction putting context centre stage and exploiting the affordances of machine learning in handling contexts and negotiating data sharing policies.

Contact-tracing data harvested from pubs and restaurants being sold on

Companies collecting data for pubs and restaurants to help them fulfil their contact-tracing duties are harvesting confidential customer information to sell.

Purism - Fund Your App

A real open-source OS for mobile phone that has no political stances?

The Data Dollar Store - A Data Shopping Social Experiment by Kaspersky Lab

Huge amount of white papers, researches and conferences had been conveying the same message that protecting personal data is important.

This genius idea of asking you to pay with your data in person makes it really "personal"!

OpenMined Privacy Conference (Day 1 Livestream)

Andrew Trask from the University of Oxford gave an amazing talk regarding privacy in context.

In South Korea, Covid-19 Comes With Another Risk: Online Bullies

The country’s extensive response has been praised around the world but has led to harassment and slander, raising questions about privacy protections.

Facebook testing the boundaries of privacy with Oculus Quest 2

It seems that when you report anything in VR-games, your headset data - including what you see and do - are transmitted to FB and they can do with it and keep it as long as they want. No restrictions.

How the Trump Campaign’s Mobile App Is Collecting Huge Amounts of Voter Data

The New Yorker on the mobile app for Donald Trump’s reëlection campaign, which was developed by the ad broker and software company Phunware, and how it gathers users’ data in an invasive way reminiscent of the methods of Cambridge Analytica.

Draft Consumer Privacy Framework for Health Data

The eHealth Initiative & Foundation (eHI) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) released A Draft Consumer Privacy Framework for Health Data. The Framework includes a description of the health data that warrant protection, as well as the standards and rules that should govern them.
Note that the Draft does not say whether the Framework will be CC-licensed so that un-audited community open source and non-commercial entities could still use it as a voluntary assertion without paying for the certification audits.

Maps where landlords may be using tech to spy on tenants

Landlord Tech Watch aims to track the deployment, usage, and testing of potentially discriminatory housing surveillance tech.

Building Collective Power to Refuse Harmful Data Systems

“Collective refusal” as an alternative for (or a complement to?) individual consent.

Individuals Simple read

In San Diego, ‘Smart’ Streetlights Spark Surveillance Reform

San Diego equipped 3200 of its street lights with cameras and sensors with no governance or oversight…. Smart Cities turned to Panopticon Cities…

Privacy Icons and Legal Design

Data ecosystem is rapidly shifting towards user-centric model. What factors affect how people perceive the value of their personal data?

Individuals Simple read

Open Letter on “confidential” dealings in Facebook case

Within hours of the new GDPR being applicable on 25 May 2018, the European non-profit organisation noyb.eu filed three complaints against the Facebook Group (including WhatsApp and Instagram). Since then, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has declared the contents of the extremely slow procedure “confidential” and asked noyb.eu not to discuss them in public.

Let’s Talk Privacy

We interviewed 41 people, from privacy experts to everyday people, to understand their views on privacy and the ways that different policies could impact their work (via MIT Media Lab).

In land of big data, China sets individual privacy rights

China's parliament is set to approve a new law enshrining individuals' right to privacy and protection of personal data.

Minnesota is now using contact tracing to track protestors

Minnesota officials say they’re using contact tracing to better understand who the protestors are and where they’re coming from.

“SARS-CoV-2 Tracking under GDPR” by noyb

In the wake of the Corona crisis, many governments and non-governmental institutions consider the usage of infection tracking systems to fight the pandemic. They float different ideas how these systems shall look like. While reviewing some of those ideas, noyb (European Center for Digital Rights) has prepared this ad hoc paper on legal requirements for virus trackingsystems.

7 Slack privacy settings you should enable now

The communications platform that many have come to rely on for both work and staying in touch with friends is, like most things online, a potential privacy disaster waiting to happen. And while you may not have a choice in whether you use the tool, you do have the option to lock its privacy settings down to mitigate any fallout before it's too late.

Controlling coronavirus with apps

Smartphone tracking of the pandemic - a help or a threat to privacy?

Princeton-Leuven Longitudinal Corpus of Privacy Policies

We are releasing a reference dataset of over 1 million privacy policy snapshots from more than 100,000 websites, spanning over two decades.

Business & Government Intermediate read

Leaked Reports Show EU Police Are Planning a Pan-European Network of Facial Recognition Databases

The proposal to link the EU’s facial recognition databases would likely connect them to the U.S. as well, in a massive consolidation of biometric data.

On Privacy versus Freedom

There’s been a rather interesting disagreement between two guys from Signal and Matrix recently. Many of the points they make relating to building competitive, privacy/freedom-protecting products and the difficulties are quite relevant. Here is the original post from Signal that lead now to the response from Matrix.

Business & Government Intermediate read

The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It

A little-known start-up helps law enforcement match photos of unknown people to their online images — and “might lead to a dystopian future or something,” a backer says.

Individuals Simple read

Privacy, Data, and the Consumer: What US Thinks About Sharing Data

As GDPR becomes the norm, are marketers able to walk the tight-rope of consumer data and privacy? Acxiom and DMA study consumers’ take on data sharing.

You Should Be Freaking Out About Privacy (Video: 12:15min)

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear? Think again. - An interesting video from the New York Times explaining why we should keep personal data seriously.

Fresh Cambridge Analytica leak ‘shows global manipulation is out of control’

An explosive leak of tens of thousands of documents from the defunct data firm Cambridge Analytica is set to expose the inner workings of the company. More than 100,000 documents relating to work in 68 countries that will lay bare the global infrastructure of an operation used to manipulate voters on “an industrial scale” are set to be released over the next months.

Cloud extraction technology: the secret tech that lets government agencies collect masses of data from your apps

Mobile phones remain the most frequently used and most important digital source for law enforcement investigations. Yet it is not just what is physically stored on the phone that law enforcement are after, but what can be accessed from it, primarily data stored in the Cloud.

California’s new privacy law, explained

The California Consumer Privacy Act gives Californians some control over their data, but only if they know how to take advantage of it.

EU court boost for activist in Facebook data transfer fight

EU regulators must make more effort to stop tech companies from transferring data to countries with weaker data-protection standards, an advisor to the European Union’s top court said Thursday. It’s the latest in a lengthy and complex legal case involving an Austrian privacy campaigner and Facebook.

Silicon Valley Is Listening to Your Most Intimate Moments

This is a great piece of reporting on what we've all known all along with voice activated devices. This time calling the contractors involved in listening to conversations.

I Took DNA Tests in the U.S. and China. The Results Concern Me

Privacy is big question, as governments seek access to DNA data.

Project Exograph

In Japan you can get € 1.800 per month if you give access to all your data 24/7. It is an experiment and lasts only one month, started November 25t. The only mention for requirements is that you stay in the house 8+ hours per day.

What’s a Digital Bill of Rights Without Enforcement?

Google and Facebook are backers of the Contract for the Web, which lists privacy as a core principle. But the companies continue to slurp up user data.

Tools Overview Online

This is actually a summary post from a discussion on Slack of valuable online resources for recommended tools by @teemu.rpoonen, @John W., @Sille, and @Iain. Please also note that Tools is one of the focus topics in 2020 for MyData.

Data Sovereignty, Privacy and Are You Being Misled? A checklist.

One important thing to note is that security/privacy issues are not just about personal data, but also culturally sensitive data, commercially sensitive data or intelligence sensitive data. It’s also important to note that while I mention some indigenous issues in this article this is not intended to be a criticism or to be patronising to any indigenous groups: all of the issues raised are widespread among many other types of organisations and to individuals of any background.

Business & Government Simple read

Quebec Will Force Uber to Share Your Trip Location Data

Privacy advocates are concerned that the new law can paint an unsettling picture of people's movements in Quebec.

How top health websites are sharing sensitive data with advertisers

Financial Times investigation reveals symptoms and drug names shared with hundreds of third parties including Google and Facebook.

UK Parliament: The Right to Privacy (Article 8) and the Digital Revolution inquiry

The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights published in the Third Report of Session 2019 'The Right to Privacy (Article 8) and the Digital Revolution'

New Privacy Bill In The U.S. Will Now Jail CEOs Who Lie About User Data

US Senator Ron Wyden has come out with a radical new privacy bill that will prevent tech giants from selling and misusing data by holding them accountable.

Google chief: I'd disclose smart speakers before guests enter my home

Rick Osterloh suggests house guests have the right to know smart speakers are in use before entering.

Empowering Students to Question Their Data Privacy

In higher education, we must work not only toward providing better security around student data but also toward educating students about the need to critically evaluate how their data is used and how to participate in shaping data privacy practices and policies.

Apple iOS 13: Is Facebook And Google’s Worst Nightmare Coming True?

Apple's updated operating system will now show you how often your location has been recorded and by which apps. It will do this proactively via a pop up, which shows a map of where you have been tracked, including the option to allow or limit it.

Silicon Valley is terrified of California’s privacy law. Good.

Silicon Valley is terrified. In a little over three months, California will see the widest-sweeping state-wide changes to its privacy law in years. California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) kicks in on January 1 and rolls out sweeping new privacy benefits to the state’s 40 million residents — and every tech company in Silicon Valley.

10 Best Secure Email Services to Project Your Privacy

Don't want your email service providers snooping on your emails? Here are the most secure email services that ensure your data remain private.

Business & Government Simple read

SMART CITY: Privacy (Video: 1:16min)

Google's sister company Sidewalk is proposing a large urban development project in Toronto - without any prior development experience. Privacy, privatization and governance concerns are worrying residents and government alike, despite a massive two-year lobbying campaign by Google. Ambiguous language in the proposal suggests that public spaces may not be so public, and that some of the most valuable land in North America may be handed over at a discount to one of the world's richest companies.

Blue Book: Privacy Design Strategies

We want to determine by ourselves which personal details we share with others, and how they are used. We don’t want everyone to know what we do or think. We don’t want our boss to know what we discuss with our friends. We don’t want our personal information to be misinterprete doutside the original context. In other words, we want some privacy please.

Privacy Policy of Brella.io

This year the MyData conference team offer to use the networking app Brella (available in the App Store & Google Play) with the joincode: MyData2019. But you should read the Privacy Policy of Brella.io since a few people felt not overly comfortable with the terms. It states: 'Our legitimate interest (for attendees) to manage and develop our customer & attendee relationships and further develop our business operations. You have a right to opt-out of direct marketing each time we provide marketing to you.'

UK Gov request for user data from government website sparks alarm

Privacy campaigners question urgency of move and motives of PM and Dominic Cummings

How Menstruation Apps Are Sharing Your Data

A shocking report about period tracker apps. Not only for ladies.

2019 Privacy Tech Vendor Report

The privacy tech vendor market continues to mature as more organizations around the world adopt products and services that help automate and streamline necessary functions for the privacy office and enterprise as a whole.

App attempts a rare trick in China: Online Privacy

In a country where privacy protections are considered weak and anything-goes data collection has become the norm, Chinese tech entrepreneur Yang Geng stands out. His service, LeakZero, helps people surf the web anonymously, protect passwords and send encrypted messages. By design, he can’t find out the names of the app’s users or even know how many there are. It doesn’t have a so-called ‘back door.’

Privacy matters because it empowers us all

Don’t just give away your privacy to the likes of Google and Facebook – protect it, or you disempower us all.

Tech Killed Privacy: Can Policy Save it?

Governments need to start treating people like citizens, not consumers, and enact laws that protect citizens’ rights to privacy over a business’ right to profits.

Watch 'The Great Hack' Trailer

They took your data. Then they took control. The Great Hack uncovers the dark world of data exploitation through the compelling personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal. In select theaters and on Netflix July 24.

It's not that we've failed to rein in Facebook and Google. We've not even tried!

This is an incredible article by Shoshana Zuboff, the Harvard Professor that wrote 'The Age of Surveillance Capitalism'. I strongly recommend you to read it as what she says also is related to what's being done in MyData. What she says is very much the essence of what we have to tackle.

Blinding Identity Taxonomy

The UK Parliament's Human Rights Committee on protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information.

The New Wilderness

The need to regulate online privacy is a truth so universally acknowledged that even Facebook and Google have joined the chorus of voices crying for change.

Apple launches Sign in with Apple button

Apple announced a new Sign in with Apple button as part of its iOS 13 announcements and is marketing this as a privacy-secure sign-in option.


Questions Asked

[Intermediate] Data Sovereignty Now Survey

It’s your data… but are you bothered? How many of us really think about all the data we are producing, or what happens to it? And what does data sovereignty mean to you? Please spare a few minutes of your time to help us learn from one another by sharing your opinions in this anonymised survey on this important topic.

How do you train a personal AI?

If a benefit of PersonalAI is privacy, where do you get the training data from? @Iain and @Oguzhan Gencoglu joined the discussion and many interesting points were raised as well as current solutions referenced.


Tools
BigID

BigID aims to transform how enterprise protects and manage the privacy of personal data.

Contextual Consent

Make your third-party embeds privacy-enabled and deliver a better compliance experience for your users.

Cyber Chronix

Cyber Chronix is a game to understand data protection rights and raise awareness on privacy risks.

D-ID

D-id provides identity protection services - identity theft protection aligned with GDPR face recognition instructions. Our anti facial recognition technology provides the best identification protection while the protected photo looks no different to the human eye.

Data Detox Kit

Everyday steps you can take to control your digital privacy, security, and wellbeing in ways that feel right to you.

Ethi

Control what big tech knows about you

Fawkes

Image “Cloaking” for Personal Privacy

Idka

The collaborative social platform that puts privacy first.

Mine

Discover where your personal data is and manage your digital footprint. You decide where your data should or shouldn't be, and we'll make it happen.

Panther Score

Panther tells you who to trust and why instantly.

PrivicyPal

Take control of your data, investigate your risks and exposure, find out who has data on you, what kind, and where it is located. And do something about it!

Revue

Revue is an editorial newsletter tool for writers and publishers.

Schluss

Schluss is an app that puts you back in control of your personal information.

Your Digital Self

Keep safe in a digital world.