Privacy Transformation - Issue 94
PRIVACY
Data Protection Commissioner hits back at ‘ludicrous’ critics
Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon has hit back at “ludicrous” comments from critics who complain her office has been too slow to rein in companies, including Facebook.
EU to develop Covid-19 vaccine ‘pass’ amid divisions over issue
The European Commission is to propose a “digital green pass” that would facilitate travel within the bloc by allowing people to demonstrate they have been vaccinated or have tested negative for Covid-19.
EU must overhaul flagship data protection laws, says ‘father’ of policy
Europe’s flagship data protection laws are already out of date and must be heavily revised for a post-pandemic world, said a member of the European parliament who spent years drafting the measures.
Can Sir Tim Berners-Lee save our privacy?
‘Every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watching you.’ – a 'nasty little song', as Sting himself called it, about a romance turned creepy, but also a grim if fitting description of what most of us know by now: that our lives, including our moods and movements, spending habits, fitness and fears are almost continually tracked, recorded, and analysed. Our data is scraped for profit and, often, for hidden purposes. Privacy is undoubtedly under heavy attack today.
Opinion: Cross-Border Data Protection After Brexit – Brexit Institute
From a data protection perspective, Brexit manifestly represents a step backwards for the UK. The UK is leaving a space where personal data has freely circulated since 1995, where companies are subject to uniform rules and where national data protection authorities cooperate in a coordinated manner.
SECURITY & TECH
UK NCSC - Weekly Threat Report
The NCSC's weekly threat report is drawn from recent open source reporting.
Data Protection Commission intervened over school's 'rather extreme' facial recognition plan
The Data Protection Commissioner says using facial recognition to track school attendance would be a “rather extreme” move.
Facebook Is Considering Facial Recognition For Its Upcoming Smart Glasses
Facebook Vice President Andrew Bosworth told employees that the company is evaluating the legal and privacy issues around facial recognition for its upcoming wearable gadget.
ENFORCEMENT
Data watchdog close to decisions on fines in up to seven ‘Big Tech’ investigations
The State’s data-privacy watchdog expects to share draft decisions on possible fines arising from up to seven investigations into big tech companies with other European regulators this year.
Facebook will pay $650 million to settle class action suit centered on Illinois privacy law
Facebook was ordered to pay $650 million Friday for running afoul of an Illinois law designed to protect the state’s residents from invasive privacy practices.
More on the latest GDPR enforcement news can be found on:
RESOURCES
Podcast: Privacy engineering and design
Concepts like “privacy engineering” and “privacy by design” have been in the privacy lexicon for several years, but do we all know or agree about what they mean? What is a privacy engineer?
EDPS: Data protection is non-negotiable in international trade agreements
The EDPS published today his Opinion on two proposed agreements between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK): the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and an agreement on the security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information.
CONTRIBUTE
Have an interesting article, book, video, podcast or other data protection or privacy resource that you would like to share with fellow privacy practitioners? Feel free to drop me a note.