Privacy News: October 13
A roundup from around the web.
We had Danielle Citron's new book The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity, and Love in the Digital Age in the October 6 Privacy News. Here's a good short video from her apperance on ABC News last night, where she talks about topics including post-Roe privacy threats and privacy as a civil right. I completely agree with her that pregnant people in states that criminalize abortion shouldn't have to become digital security experts to protect themselves ... but alas, as she points out, that's the world we live in. Digital Defense Fund's Guide to Abortion Privacy is a great resource – está disponible en español.
Protect your privacy and your phone number with Firefox Relay
Tony Amaral-Cinotto on The Mozilla Blog (blog.mozilla.org)
Mozilla's new Firefox Relay gives you a new phone number to give out in those situations where you have to provide a phone number but don't want to share your real one. Phone calls and texts are relayed on to your regular number, and your replies keep your phone number masked. It's $48/year or $5/month.
First Illinois Biometric Privacy Trial Ends in BNSF Loss
Skye Witley on Request a Free Demo (news.bloomberglaw.com)
Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is one of the few privacy laws that allows class action suits. Most companies sued under BIPA wind up settling if they can't get the case dismissed. But after truck drivers sued BNSF Railway for collecting their fingerprints without consent, the company decided to fight it ... and lost, when a jury awared the 45,000 trick drivers a $228 million judgment.
Amazon
At the Digital Doorstep
Aiha Nguyen and Eve Zelicksonon, Data & Society (datasociety.net)
A deep dive into changing nature of delivery work as a result of increased doorstep surveillance, focusing on Amazon's "Fleet drivers" (aka gig workers). From the introduction:
The doorstep has emerged as the new physical locale of consumption — the threshold at which purchased products become personal property. In this transformation, the porch has become a contested space: it is at once private property and, for delivery workers, their workplace. The growing popularity of Ring and other networked doorbell cameras has normalized home and neighborhood surveillance in the name of safety and security. But for delivery drivers, this has meant their work is increasingly surveilled by doorbell cameras and supervised by customers. The result is a collision between the American ideals of private property and the business imperatives of doing a job.
Tour Amazon’s dream home, where every appliance is also a spy
Geoffrey A. Fowler on washingtonpost.com
Here’s everything Amazon learns about your family, your home and you
All the Data Amazon’s Ring Cameras Collect About You
Matt Burgess on WIRED (wired.com)
The popular security devices are tracking (and sharing) more than you might think.
And ...
Companies in the UK Are Mining Users’ Personal Data to Place Billboard Ads
on vice.com
A new investigation reveals that in the UK, the billboards watch you.
Home Office accused of privacy law breach by seizing phone
byKarin Goodwin on The Ferret (theferret.scot)
The Home Office used location data from an international student’s mobile phone to detain him for allegedly breaking his visa conditions, The Ferret can reveal.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
on USAJOBS (usajobs.gov)
This position is part of the, The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The incumbent will be responsible for management and execution of business activities, critical support services, and long-range strategic planning for several critical resource related support functions across the agency.
Legal Analysis: No non-material damages for GDPR violations?
on noyb.eu (noyb.eu)
Advocate General Sánchez-Bordona issued his Opinion on CJEU case C-300/21 (UI v. Österreichische Post AG), the first of several preliminary ruling requests on the topic of damages for GDPR violations
The Lawfare Podcast: The Supreme Court Takes On 230
Jen Patja Howell on Lawfare (lawfareblog.com)
The Supreme Court has granted cert in two cases exploring the interactions between anti-terrorism laws and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Myanmar: The social atrocity: Meta and the right to remedy for the Rohingya
on Amnesty International (amnesty.org)
Beginning in August 2017, the Myanmar security forces undertook a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims. This report is based on an in-depth investigation into Meta (formerly Facebook)’s role in the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Rohingya.
Mactaggart appointed to CPPA Board
on International Association of Privacy Professionals (iapp.org)
Californians for Consumer Privacy founder Alastair Mactaggart has been appointed to the California Privacy Protection Agency.
Alarming: Court of Justice may severely limit enforcement of European’s privacy rights
on noyb.eu (noyb.eu)
The Advocate General of the CJEU has issued a non-binding opinion, aiming to limit one of the last potential avenues for users to enforce their privacy rights under the GDPR.
Some EU Websites Make You Pay to Reject Cookies—the US Could Be Next
The A.V. Club on Gizmodo (gizmodo.com)
Want to protect your privacy? A cookie paywall on a single site could cost you €75 a year.
Privacy Advocates Say NYC’s Fix for the ‘Digital Divide’ Is a Hyper-Surveillance Mess
Karl Bode on vice.com
Millions of dollars and ample public masturbation later, LinkNYC still hasn’t fixed the city’s stubborn digital divide or the privacy issues raised half a decade ago.
Push to scrap Australia privacy exemptions for political parties due to risk of data breaches
Sarah Martin on The Guardian (theguardian.com)
Digital Rights Watch says cyber-attacks on political parties in 2019 narrowly avoided a breach that would have caused ‘unimaginable damage’
Police Quietly Obtain Private Location Data with a Checkbook and not a Warrant
Freddy Martinez on pogo.org
Law enforcement’s new location tracking tool raises unique Fourth Amendment concerns
The redress mechanism in the successor to Privacy Shield: On the independence and effective powers of the DPRC
Kenneth Propp, Peter Swire, and Théodore Christakis on International Association of Privacy Professionals (iapp.org)
This article looks at certain specific aspects of the signal intelligence redress mechanism established by the U.S. legal reforms.
Twitter is asking users to enter their birthdate to view sensitive content
Ivan Mehta on TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
Twitter is ramping up its efforts to filter to prevent under 18 users from viewing sensitive content by asking users to verify their birthdates.
EDPB adopts “wish list” of procedural aspects, first EU data protection seal and a statement on digital euro
European Data Protection Board (edpb.europa.eu)
New York’s First Chief Privacy Officer Works to Build State Strategy
Lauren Harrison on GovTech (govtech.com)
Chief Privacy Officer Michele Jones outlined how New York state is formalizing its strategy to protect residents’ data at the NASCIO Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
NZ privacy advocates: Laws need revamp to reflect biometric surveillance realities
Jim Nash on BiometricUpdate.com (biometricupdate.com)
The nation’s approach to privacy and biometrics must be more nuanced than a government-independent regulator proposed in August.
UK Children’s Privacy Protection Comes of Age
Anna Blest on JD Supra (jdsupra.com)
The Age Appropriate Design Code (“AADC”) - more commonly known as the Children’s Code - has been heralded as the world’s first code to protect...
New York lawmaker wants internet privacy protections for kids
Nick Reisman Spectrum News 1 Central NY (spectrumlocalnews.com)
Ads targeting kids would be banned.