Popular animated avatar creator app Boomoji, with more than five million users across the world, exposed the personal data of its entire user base after it failed to put passwords on two of its internet-facing databases. The China-based app developer left the ElasticSearch databases online without passwords — a U.S.-based database for its international customers; and […]
View More A popular ‘boomoji’ app exposed millions of users’ contact lists and location dataCategory: General Data Protection Regulation
Feds like cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech and so should antitrust agencies
Thibault Schrepel Contributor Share on Twitter Thibault Schrepel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Economic Law at Utrecht University and a reviewer at the Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy. While statements and position papers from most central banks were generally skeptical of cryptocurrencies, the times may be changing. Earlier this […]
View More Feds like cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech and so should antitrust agenciesUber’s bill for 2016 breach and cover-up rises by $1M+ on EU fines
The legal bill for Uber’s 2016 data breach, which affected some 57 million customers, revealing names, email address and phone numbers, has increased by more than a million dollars. Two months ago the ride-hailing giant agreed to pay $148M to resolve legal inquiries pertaining to the breach in the U.S., with that settlement covering all 50 states and […]
View More Uber’s bill for 2016 breach and cover-up rises by $1M+ on EU finesGoogle faces GDPR complaint over “deceptive” location tracking
A group of European consumer watchdogs has filed a privacy complaint against Google — arguing the company uses manipulative tactics in order to keep tracking web users’ location, for ad-targeting purposes. The consumer organizations are making the complaint under the EU’s new data protection framework, GDPR, which regulators can use to levy major fines for […]
View More Google faces GDPR complaint over “deceptive” location trackingFacebook appeals UK data watchdog’s £500k Cambridge Analytica fine
Facebook has said it will appeal against a £500,000 penalty issued by the UK’s data watchdog this summer following a lengthy investigation into the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal. Facebook told the regulator an estimated one million UK users were among the 87M of its users whose private data was harvested by Dr. Aleksandr Kogan and his company […]
View More Facebook appeals UK data watchdog’s £500k Cambridge Analytica fineHow a small French privacy ruling could remake adtech for good
A ruling in late October against a little known French adtech firm that popped up on the national data watchdog’s website earlier this month, is causing ripples of excitement to run through privacy watchers in Europe who believe it signals the beginning of the end for creepy online ads. The excitement is palpable. Impressively so, […]
View More How a small French privacy ruling could remake adtech for goodUN warns over human rights impact of a ‘digital welfare state’
The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has raised concerns about the UK’s rush to apply digital technologies and data tools to socially re-engineer the delivery of public services at scale, warning in a statement today that the impact of a digital welfare state on vulnerable people will be “immense”. He has […]
View More UN warns over human rights impact of a ‘digital welfare state’Cognigo raises $8.5M for its AI-driven data protection platform
Cognigo, a startup that aims to use AI and machine learning to help enterprises protect their data and stay in compliance with regulations like GDPR, today announced that it has raised an $8.5 million Series A round. The round was led by Israel-based crowdfunding platform OurCrowd, with participation from privacy company Prosegur and State of […]
View More Cognigo raises $8.5M for its AI-driven data protection platformChildren are being “datafied” before we’ve understood the risks, report warns
A report by England’s children’s commissioner has raised concerns about how kids’ data is being collected and shared across the board, in both the private and public sectors. In the report, entitled Who knows what about me?, Anne Longfield urges society to “stop and think” about what big data means for children’s lives. Big data practices […]
View More Children are being “datafied” before we’ve understood the risks, report warnsEurope’s parliament calls for full audit of Facebook in wake of breach scandal
The European Parliament has called for a full audit of Facebook following a string of data breach scandals — including the Cambridge Analytica affair. MEPs are urging the company to allow European Union bodies to carry out a full audit to assess data protection and security of users’ personal data, following the scandal in which […]
View More Europe’s parliament calls for full audit of Facebook in wake of breach scandalUK watchdog hands Facebook maximum $500K fine over Cambridge Analytica data breach
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has confirmed that it has hit Facebook with a maximum $500,000 ($645,000) fine around the way it mishandled user data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year. The ICO announced its intention to hand Facebook the fine back in July and it said today that it had not changed […]
View More UK watchdog hands Facebook maximum $500K fine over Cambridge Analytica data breachAudit Facebook and overhaul competition law, say MEPs responding to breach scandals
After holding a series of hearings in the wake of the Facebook -Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal this summer, and attending a meeting with Mark Zuckerberg himself in May, the European Union parliament’s civil liberties committee has called for an update to competition rules to reflect what it dubs “the digital reality”, urging EU institutions […]
View More Audit Facebook and overhaul competition law, say MEPs responding to breach scandals