EU's data watchdog calls for total ban on tracking ads. WhatsApp rewrites its Europe privacy policy after a record €225 million GDPR fine. Hacking fingerprints is affordable and simple, says Kraken Security. Lawmakers push for federal data privacy law after report revealed Amazon is gutting state legislation. Clearview AI told it broke Australia’s privacy law, ordered to delete data. Privacy Startup Nym Technology Raises $13 Million in Series A Funding Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz. Plus, the latest in privacy-enhancing tech!
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EU's data watchdog calls for total ban on tracking ads
The European Data Protection Board has warned that an upcoming EU digital law can put individuals’ fundamental rights and freedoms at risk, calling on legislators to implement stricter regulations on targeted advertising by the big internet and social media firms. In a statement, the EDPB said that online targeted advertising should be regulated more strictly in the Digital Services Act (DSA) in favour of less intrusive forms of advertising that do not require any tracking of users’ data.
WhatsApp rewrites its Europe privacy policy after a record €225 million GDPR fine
WhatsApp has rewritten its privacy policy for European end users after being handed a record 225 million Euro fine by Irish data protection regulators earlier this year. The new policy includes additional detail about how the Meta-owned company collects and uses customer data, how it is stored, and when it is deleted. The messaging app also said it had added more detail on why they share data across borders as well as the legal bases for processing users' information.
Hacking fingerprints is affordable and simple, says Kraken Security
Hacking fingerprints is affordable and simple, that's according to a new report by Kraken Security Labs. All that's needed is a bit of wood glue, a laser printer, and an acetate sheet - all of which are easily attainable and affordbale. Apparently, the steps are simple enough that virtually anyone could pull them off, provided they have the motivation to do so, which is a pretty frightening thought.
Lawmakers push for federal data privacy law after report revealed Amazon is gutting state legislation
Several US lawmakers are calling for Congress to pass Federal data privacy legislation in the wake of reports that Amazon has reportedly undermined such bills in 25 US states over the past several years. Reuters reported that confidential documents show that the retail giant pushed to kill privacy bills in several states by increasing political donations, or lobbyied to have amendments put into the bills. In one example, it was noted that Amazon actually drafted the privacy legislation for the state of Virginia, which was eventually passed.
Clearview AI told it broke Australia’s privacy law, ordered to delete data
Australian authorities have determined that controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI broke national privacy laws when it covertly collected citizens’ facial biometrics and incorporated them into its AI-powered identity matching service — which it sells to law enforcement agencies and others. The Australian decision follows a similar determination made by the Canadian government.
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The latest in privacy-enhancing technology
Privacy Startup Nym Technology Raises $13 Million in Series A Funding Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz
Blockchain startup Nym Technology has raised $13 million in a funding round that puts its valuation at about $270 million. The three-year-old Switzerland-based company uses mixnet, where node operators are rewarded with tokens to mix internet traffic and make it harder for adversaries to get information at the highest level, including nation-state level mass surveillance operations like the NSA.
Zenity raises $5M to help secure low-code/no-code applications
Zenity raises $5M to help secure low-code/no-code applications. Zenity argues that as employees start building their own applications and adopt tools like robotic process automation (RPA), this new class of applications also opens up new avenues for potential breaches and ransomware attacks.
Zenity co-founder and CEO Ben Kliger said “companies are heavily adopting low-code/no-code, without realizing the risks it employs nor their part in the shared responsibility model.”
Panther and Velas Partner To Deliver Blazing Fast Private DeFi Experience
Panther Protocol, the end-to-end privacy solution, and Velas, the blockchain company are joining forces in a new strategic partnership. Velas is building an open-source suite of products and services and aims to combine the best qualities of centralized solutions such as a UX and speed, with the trustless new paradigms of decentralized solutions.
Digitisation of courts brings privacy concerns. But India lacks right to be forgotten
In India, the right to be forgotten has become a buzzword. Since the European Court of Justice decision in the Google Spain case in 2014, there has been a growing debate about the nature of this right and its consequences for individuals, companies, and the Indian legal system.
IoT anomaly detection startup Shield-IoT lands $7.4M
Shield-IoT, a provider of AI-driven security and monitoring technologies for large-scale IoT networks has announced that it has raised a $7.4 million series. Cisco has forecast that the number of IoT devices worldwide will reach 14.7 billion by 2023, up from 6.1 billion in 2018, as internet connectivity increasingly becomes the norm for both commercial and consumer products. At the same time, 88% of security professionals report feeling underequipped when it comes to securing connected IoT and industrial IoT devices, according to a recent survey from cyber firm Tripwire.
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