Online privacy
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Cybersecurity High-Risk Series: Challenges in Protecting Privacy and Sensitive Data
Federal systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The GAO has made 236 recommendations in public reports since 2010 with respect to protecting cyber critical infrastructure. Until these are fully implemented, federal agencies will be more limited in their ability to protect private and sensitive data entrusted to them. In September 2022, GAO's review of 24 agencies found that most had generally established policies and procedures for key privacy program activities.
Rep. Duncan (R-SC) Re-introduces TELL Act to Protect American Data from the Chinese Communist Party
Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) introduced H.R. 742, the TELL Act (Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the US Act), to protect American data from the Chinese Communist Party. This legislation allows the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to endorse rules that allow Americans to know if their data has been compromised by China and if it is being stored, transferred, or exposed to China or companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
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FTC Enforcement Action to Bar GoodRx from Sharing Consumers’ Sensitive Health Info for Advertising
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken enforcement action for the first time under its Health Breach Notification Rule against the telehealth and prescription drug discount provider GoodRx Holdings Inc., for failing to notify consumers and others of its unauthorized disclosures of consumers’ personal health information to Facebook, Google, and other companies. In a first-of-its-kind proposed order, filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, GoodRx will be prohibited from sharing user health data with applicable third parties for advertising purposes, and has agreed to pa
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Gonzalez v. Google LLC: i2Coalition files amici brief with US Supreme Court
On January 18, 2023, the i2Coalition filed an amici brief with the US Supreme Court in Gonzalez v.
Charter Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results
Charter Communications reported financial and operating results for the three and twelve months that ended December 31, 2022. Fourth quarter residential Internet customers increased by 92,000, compared to an increase of 172,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2021. Spectrum Internet delivers the fastest speeds in Charter's footprint. Charter offers Spectrum Internet products with speeds up to 1 Gbps across its entire footprint.
Congress Must Halt Big Tech’s Power Grab
Big Tech has far too much power. Ahey have a chokehold over essential channels of communication and commerce, allowing them to be gatekeepers to the digital world. They vacuum up a trove of personal information about users—what they see, hear, read, think and buy. And they distort the “marketplace of ideas.” Congress must act quickly to prohibit the tech giants from unfairly leveraging their dominance into more markets. This doesn’t mean rewriting the antitrust laws but rather taking these three steps:
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Republicans and Democrats, Unite Against Big Tech Abuses
The American tech industry is the most innovative in the world. I’m proud of what it has accomplished, and of the many talented, committed people who work in this industry every day. But like many Americans, I’m concerned about how some in the industry collect, share and exploit our most personal data, deepen extremism and polarization in our country, tilt our economy’s playing field, violate the civil rights of women and minorities, and even put our children at risk.
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Data Protection Commission announces conclusion of two inquiries into Meta Ireland
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced the conclusion of two inquiries into the data processing operations of Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (“Meta Ireland”) in connection with the delivery of its Facebook and Instagram services.
Facebook parent Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle Cambridge Analytica suit
Facebook parent Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the social media giant gave third parties access to user data without their consent. It is the “largest recovery ever achieved in a data privacy class action and the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action,” said Keller Rohrback L.L.P, the law firm representing the plaintiffs. The class action lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy firm linked to former Pre
Microsoft Fined $64 Million in France Over Advertising Cookies
France’s privacy watchdog fined Microsoft for not making it easy enough for users of its Bing search engine to reject cookies used for online ads, as part of a broader increase of enforcing Europe’s privacy laws. France’s data-protection regulator, the CNIL, fined a Microsoft subsidiary in Ireland 60 million euros, equivalent to almost $64 million. The company hadn’t—until earlier in 2022—offered users the option to reject so-called cookies alongside the button to accept them, the regulator said.