Tag: USA

FTC says it will crack down on medical and location data sharing after abortion privacy concerns
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it will step up to protect the privacy of consumers in a post-Roe America, declaring the agency is “committed to fully enforcing the law” against illegal sharing of sensitive medical and location data.

Tech companies won’t say if they’ll give cops abortion data
Many of the biggest tech and social media companies in the world, including Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and Snapchat, have refused to clarify whether they would fulfill or deny law enforcement requests for data that related to investigations involving those seeking or providing abortions.

Talk therapy apps face new questions about data collection from senators
At the start of the pandemic, demand for talk therapy apps skyrocketed. Prominent players, like BetterHelp and Talkspace, saw their downloads nearly double throughout the first few months of lockdown in 2020. Now, lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are demanding details on how these companies protect the privacy of their users.

Hoe krijg je effectief een vonnis tegen een Amerikaans blogplatform?
Wat moet je doen als een raar figuur je belastert op WordPress, en na diens arrestatie een ander de blog overneemt? Een recent vonnis (dank, tipgever) laat zien hoe ingewikkeld dit kan zijn. De eiser in de zaak is een Nederlander die werkt als sales director in de visbranche, en al jaren te kampen heeft met bedreigingen. Daarbij werd ook een WordPress-blog ingezet, waarvan ondertussen de auteur in voorlopige hechtenis is genomen op verdenking van afpersing, afdreiging en bedreiging.

Lawmakers call for better Facebook user data oversight
Last week, Motherboard revealed that Facebook’s systems are designed in such a way that the company can struggle to track users’ data within its own systems, according to a leaked internal document. After Motherboard published the document, several U.S. and European lawmakers called for stronger oversight of the tech giant to make sure it complies with existing regulations, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and California’s Consumer Privacy Act, and even more government regulations to protect users’ privacy.

Facebook doesn’t know what it does with your Data, or where it goes
Facebook is facing what it describes internally as a “tsunami” of privacy regulations all over the world, which will force the company to dramatically change how it deals with users’ personal data. And the “fundamental” problem, the company admits, is that Facebook has no idea where all of its user data goes, or what it’s doing with it, according to a leaked internal document obtained by Motherboard.

EU en VS bereiken voorlopig akkoord over uitwisseling digitale data
De VS en de Europese Unie hebben een voorlopig akkoord bereikt over de uitwisseling van digitale data. De deal zou, indien deze definitief wordt, één van de hardnekkigste problemen tussen de twee economische grootmachten kunnen oplossen en de zorgen van bedrijven met activiteiten aan beide zijden van de Atlantische Oceaan met betrekking tot de bescherming van data kunnen wegnemen.

Chinese Spies Hacked a Livestock App to Breach US State Networks
The web based software known as the Animal Health Emergency Reporting Diagnostic System, or USAHERDS, serves as a helpful digital tool for state governments to track and trace animal diseases through populations of livestock. Now it’s turned out to be a kind of infection vector of its own—in the hands of one of China’s most prolific groups of hackers.

VS en VK waarschuwen voor wereldwijde spionagecampagne via zip-bestanden
De Amerikaanse en Britse autoriteiten hebben een waarschuwing gegeven voor een spionagegroep die wereldwijd doelen door middel van zip-bestanden aanvalt. De groep wordt MuddyWater genoemd en is gelieerd aan de Iraanse inlichtingendienst, zo stellen de FBI, het Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), de U.S. Cyber Command Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) en het Britse National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

Texas klaagt Facebook aan om inmiddels gestopt gezichtsherkenningssysteem
De procureur-generaal van de Amerikaanse staat Texas heeft Facebook-moederbedrijf Meta aangeklaagd, schrijft CNN. Volgens de staat heeft Facebook op illegale wijze gezichtsherkenningsdata van tientallen miljoenen Texanen verzameld.

Google in VS aangeklaagd voor het illegaal verzamelen van locatiegegevens
Vier Amerikaanse staten hebben Google aangeklaagd voor het illegaal verzamelen van locatiegegevens. Volgens de procureurs-generaal van het District of Columbia, Texas, Washington en Indiana misleidde en manipuleerde het techbedrijf gebruikers om toegang tot hun locatiegegevens te krijgen, onder andere door het bijna onmogelijk te maken om het tracken van de locatie te stoppen.

Kamala Harris is right: Bluetooth is a security risk
US Vice President Kamala Harris does not like to use wireless headphones or email because she considers them too much of a security risk, according to a Politico story that calls her “Bluetooth-phobic.”

US creditors can now DM debtors on social media
Debt collectors are now allowed to contact Americans on social media and by text message, according to new rules enacted by a US agency this week. The rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) opens the door for creditors to slide into the DMs of millions of Americans who have loans. Critics say the messages could be lost online or lead to invasions of privacy and a proliferation of new scams.

Senators urge FCC to fight surveillance threats to U.S. telecommunications networks
A group of five US senators on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deal with surveillance threats posed by foreign companies providing services to US telecommunications providers.

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. The letter, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and signed by eight other Democratic senators, was sent to FTC Chair Lina Khan Monday, calling on the agency to “begin a rulemaking process” on privacy.

Joe Biden to nominate facial recognition critic to FTC
President Joe Biden is expected to nominate privacy hawk Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission, as first reported by Axios on Monday. Bedoya is a professor at Georgetown University’s law school, focusing on privacy law.

Crime app Citizen rolls out fee-based tool for U.S. users to contact safety agents
U.S. crime alert app Citizen is launching its first paid feature, offering subscribers access to a live safety agent when they are in “stressful or uncertain situations”. Citizen uses crowdsourced content and police scanner traffic to notify users in the United States of local incidents. It has been criticized for promoting vigilantism, particularly after it posted a $30,000 reward to find a man wrongly suspected of arson in May.

Geen data meer naar de VS: wat zijn de gevolgen?
We maken gebruik van allerlei beschikbare marketingtools. Maar wat gebeurt er met onze data?