[ad_1] Are you frustrated with websites trying to dodge around the EU’s cookie consent laws by forcing you accept cookies just to view anything? So is the EU. The European Data Protection Board has published (via TechCrunch) new guidelines saying that “cookie walls” violate EU data protection law. Consent has to be “freely given,” the […]
Category: Privacy
UK will begin testing its COVID-19 tracking app this week
[ad_1] As previously reported, the UK will break from the Apple-Google “decentralized” approach. Instead, the NHS’s technology group NHSX chose a centralized model, in which a list of contacts made via Bluetooth signals will be stored on users’ devices as anonymous tokens. If a user has symptoms or tests positive, the contacts can be submitted […]
Apple and Google tell health departments their privacy requirements for coronavirus tracking
[ad_1] The system, which Apple and Google are calling exposure notification, involves anonymous Bluetooth keys exchanged between phones to track potential contact with the coronavirus causing COVID-19. The companies are collaborating on an interoperable API which should be released this month. But the two tech giants won’t be the ones building the actual apps — […]
Australia exposed data for over 774,000 migrants
[ad_1] Carelessness with data is dangerous as a general rule, but it’s particularly damaging when it affects vulnerable groups. The Australian government is facing criticism after its home affairs department left the personal details of over 774,000 existing and would-be migrants exposed online. As The Guardian observed, the country’s SkillsSelect digital platform made it all […]
India requires all workers to use its COVID-19 tracking app
[ad_1] Like in other countries, widespread adoption of contact tracing apps could prove vital to curbing the spread of the new coronavirus. They might reduce or eliminate the need for further lockdowns while humanity waits for a vaccine. However, governments have generally shied away from requiring these apps, in part to assuage fears they might […]
Senate bill would set privacy requirements for COVID-19 tracking
[ad_1] This would theoretically prevent Apple, Google and government agencies from collecting more data than they should, or funnelling it into the hands of marketers and others who might abuse it. However, privacy advocates are concerned it doesn’t do enough and might even worsen consumer safeguards. Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Sara Collins claimed that the […]
Utah pauses Banjo’s AI surveillance after learning of owner’s racist past
[ad_1] Utah is putting its AI surveillance system on ice after learning of its creator’s background. The state has suspended (via Salt Lake Tribune) Banjo’s contract after learning from a OneZero report that company head Damien was part of the Dixie Knights of the Ku Klux Klan as a teenager and joined the racist group’s […]
UK’s NHS won’t use Apple-Google approach to COVID-19 tracking
[ad_1] Another potential drawback, is that the centralized approach may eat up more power. Apple’s solution lets the contact tracing happen in the background, but the UK’s app has to be woken up every time the device detects another nearby device running the same software, BBC explains. By choosing the centralized approach, the NHS is […]
Israel barred from COVID-19 phone tracking without new legislation
[ad_1] While the phone tracking hasn’t been detailed in earnest, it’s believed to involve anti-terrorism tech from the Shin Bet domestic security agency. The tracking was used to enforce quarantines, flagging infected people who left home. The government isn’t happy with the decision. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz claimed the technology made a “critical contribution” to […]
Australia rolls out COVID-19 tracking app with privacy concerns
[ad_1] Germany, meanwhile, is going in the opposite direction. The country has ditched its centralized approach to COVID-19 tracking, based on Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), in favor of a “decentralized architecture” that only stores contact data on devices. this more closely resembles the approach Apple and Google will take when their beta tracing tools […]