DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Google's controversial move to kill the web cookie just got delayed until 2025
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google delayed the removal of third-party cookies from Chrome again. AdvertisementGoogle is delaying its removal of third-party cookies on Chrome — again. Third-party cookies are small data files stored on a user's device. Related storiesIn January, Google experimented with phasing out cookies for 1% of Chrome users, which is about 30 million people. "We welcome Google's announcement clarifying the timing of third-party cookie deprecation," a CMA spokesperson told BI.

Persons: —, It's, hinging, Stephen Almond, Almond Organizations: Google, CMA, ICO, Service, Apple, Mozilla, Chrome, Markets Authority, Consumers Locations: aaltchek@insider.com

☆ Grindr shared the HIV status of users with ad firms, lawyers say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewA class action claim filed against LGBTQ+ dating and hookup app Grindr alleges that "potentially thousands" of UK app users had their private information, including HIV statuses, shared with third parties. The claim, lodged on Monday by UK-based law firm Austen Hays, accuses Grindr of breaching UK data-protection laws by sharing sensitive information with third parties without users' consent. Austen Hays alleges that the data breaches occurred before April 2018 and between May 2018 and April 2020, "although they may extend to further periods," it said. With more of us finding love and connections online, the risk of extremely personal data being shared and potentially monetized is growing. In an email statement sent to Business Insider, a Grindr spokesperson said: "We are committed to protecting our users' data and complying with all applicable data privacy regulations, including in the UK."

Persons: —, Austen Hays, Grindr, Chaya Hanoomanjee Organizations: Service, Business, Norwegian Data Protection Authority, Data

☆ NatWest ex-CEO infringed data rights of former Brexit party leader Farage, ICO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Britain's data watchdog said on Wednesday that former NatWest CEO Alison Rose infringed Nigel Farage's data rights when she discussed the former Brexit party leader's relationship with the bank with a BBC journalist. "We fully co-operate with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) in its assessment of any customer complaint but it would not be appropriate for us to comment on this individual case," a NatWest spokesperson said. The ICO said in its response to Farage's complaint about the incident, seen by Reuters, that in its view Rose shared "misleading information" and that Farage's rights were infringed as a result. Farage welcomed the response and said NatWest should cut Rose's notice pay and bonuses. "It would be an outrage if she walked away with a huge sum of money," Farage said on television channel GB News.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Alison Rose, Nigel, Coutts, Rose, Farage, Travers, Iain Withers, David Gregorio, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: NatWest, REUTERS, BBC, ICO, Reuters, Financial Times, Natwest, Thomson

☆ UK watchdog fines Equifax $13.4 mln for role in cyber breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Credit reporting company Equifax Inc. corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 8, 2017. The FCA said the hackers could also access the personal data of 13.8 million UK consumers because the data was stored on company servers in the United States. Equifax Ltd had outsourced data such as names, dates of birth, Equifax membership login details, partially exposed credit card details and addresses. "Few companies have invested more time and resources than Equifax to ensure that consumers’ information is protected," Remon said. "There were known weaknesses in Equifax Inc’s data security systems and Equifax failed to take appropriate action in response to protect UK customer data," it said.

Persons: Tami Chappell, rater Equifax, Equifax, Patricio Remon, Remon, Huw Jones, David Evans, Mark Potter Organizations: Equifax Inc, REUTERS, Financial Conduct Authority, FCA, Equifax, Europe, Commissioner's, Thomson Locations: Atlanta , Georgia, U.S, United States, Equifax

☆ Snapchat's AI chatbot may pose privacy risk to children, says UK watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | Thomson Reuters | Sachin Ravikumar Is A Correspondent For Reuters In London Covering General News Across The Uk. Over Nine Years At Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said if the U.S. company fails to adequately address the regulator's concerns, "My AI", launched in April, could be banned in the UK. "The provisional findings of our investigation suggest a worrying failure by Snap to adequately identify and assess the privacy risks to children and other users before launching 'My AI'", Information Commissioner John Edwards said. "My AI went through a robust legal and privacy review process before being made publicly available," a Snap spokesperson said. The ICO is investigating how "My AI" processes the personal data of Snapchat's roughly 21 million UK users, including children aged 13-17. Social media platforms, including Snapchat, require users to be 13 or over, but have had mixed success in keeping children off their platforms.

Persons: Lucas Jackson, John Edwards, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Snapchat, Farouq Suleiman, Sachin Ravikumar, William James, Sarah Young, Louise Heavens Organizations: Inc, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Commissioner's, ICO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City , New York, U.S

☆ Snap AI chatbot investigation in UK over teen privacy concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Jake Piazza | In Jakepiazza | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Snap is under investigation in the U.K. over privacy risks associated with the company's generative artificial intelligence chatbot. If the ICO's provisional findings result in an enforcement notice, Snap may have to stop offering the AI chatbot to U.K. users until it fixes the privacy concerns. The AI chatbot, which runs on OpenAI's ChatGPT, has features that alert parents if their children have been using the chatbot. Other forms of generative AI have also faced criticism as recently as this week. Bing's image-creating generative AI has been used by extremist messaging board 4chan to create racist images, 404 reported.

Persons: John Edwards, chatbot Organizations: Commissioner's, ICO, CNBC, Washington Post

Media organizations including The Associated Press have requested the troopers' names. State public safety officials denied a request for the names by The Connecticut Mirror, which has a pending appeal before the Freedom of Information Commission. The judge said the union could appeal to the courts if the commission orders disclosure of the names. The union asked that the troopers’ names not be released until investigations are complete. The union says releasing the troopers' names before the investigations are complete could unfairly tarnish their reputations.

Persons: —, Rupal Shah, Shah Organizations: Connecticut State Police Union, of, Commission, Media, Associated Press, Connecticut, Information Commission, University of Connecticut Locations: MIDDLETOWN, Conn, Middletown

☆ Factbox: Scrutiny of iris-scanning crypto project Worldcoin grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Worldcoin has drawn criticism from privacy campaigners over its data collection. It has said the biometric data is either deleted or stored in encrypted form, and that it is "committed" to working with regulators. CNIL had previously said it was aware of the Worldcoin project and that the legality of its biometric data collection "seems questionable". GERMANYA German data watchdog has been investigating Worldcoin since late last year due to concerns over its large-scale processing of sensitive biometric data, it said. PORTUGALPortugal's data regulator, the CNPD, has inspected Worldcoin's local data collection operation and been in contact with the Bavarian data protection authority in Germany, a spokesperson said.

Persons: Annegret, Sam Altman, Altman, Worldcoin, CNIL, Elizabeth Howcroft, Tom Wilson, John Stonestreet Organizations: REUTERS, Agencia, Informacion Publica, Commissioner's, Communications Authority of, Data, Thomson Locations: cryptocurrency, Berlin, Germany, ARGENTINA, Argentina, Informacion, BRITAIN, FRANCE, Worldcoin's, GERMANY, Handelsblatt, KENYA, Kenya, Communications Authority of Kenya, PORTUGAL

☆ A hidden consequence of the gig economy is that workers keep asking customers for sex or dates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Businesses in food and parcel delivery often rely on large numbers of gig-economy workers. The UK's data watchdog found some of these workers are propositioning customers. "People have the right to order a pizza [...] without then being asked for sex," a watchdog said. A growing number of firms, particularly in delivery, transport, or logistics, rely on gig economy or contract workers. One consequence is that sensitive customer information, such as phone numbers and addresses, is accessible to casual workers.

Persons: Emily Keaney, Keaney Organizations: Service, ICO, Etihad Airways, Guardian Locations: Wall, Silicon, London

☆ Exclusive: Snapchat under scrutiny from UK watchdog over underage users
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Under UK data protection law, social media companies need parental consent before processing data of children under 13. Social media firms generally require users to be 13 or over, but have had mixed success in keeping children off their platforms. Snapchat declined to give details of any measures it might have taken to reduce the number of underage users. It also found Snapchat was the most popular app for underage social media users. However, other apps take more proactive measures to prevent underage children accessing their platforms.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Snapchat, Martin Coulter, Matt Scuffham, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Inc, Social, ICO, Ofcom, National Society for, Thomson Locations: U.S, Britain

☆ Australia fines Facebook owner Meta $14 mln for undisclosed data collection
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, July 26 (Reuters) - An Australian court ordered Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META.O) to pay fines totalling A$20 million ($14 million) for collecting user data through a smartphone application advertised as a way to protect privacy without disclosing its actions. Australia's Federal Court also ordered Meta, through its subsidiaries Facebook Israel and the now-discontinued app, Onavo, to pay A$400,000 in legal costs to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which brought the civil lawsuit. Meta still faces a civil court action by Australia's Office of the Information Commissioner over its dealings with Cambridge Analytica in Australia. However, Facebook used Onavo to collect users' location, time and frequency using other smartphone apps, and websites they visited for its own advertising purposes, the judge Wendy Abraham said in a written judgment. ($1 = 1.4736 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Meta, Wendy Abraham, Abraham, Byron Kaye, Tom Hogue Organizations: SYDNEY, Meta, Facebook Israel, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, Cambridge, Australia's Office, Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Australia, Lincoln

"We note the launch of WorldCoin in the UK and will be making further enquiries," a spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office told Reuters. Worldcoin launched on Monday with two million users from its trial, with the crypto project scaling up eyeball-scanning operations in 20 countries, including at sites in London. Described on its website as a "new identity and financial network", the Worldcoin project assigns people who sign up a digital ID which it says would distinguish humans from artificial intelligence online. Its cryptocurrency, called the Worldcoin token, will be allocated to users who sign up in some countries, according to the website. The Worldcoin token initially rose after its launch on Monday, hitting a peak of $3.30, and on Tuesday was at $2.01 according to market tracker CoinGecko.

Persons: Sam Altman, Worldcoin, Elizabeth Howcroft, Tom wilson, Louise Heavens Organizations: Commissioner's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: London

☆ Sex scene with Florence Pugh in 'Oppenheimer' becomes latest target of India's Hindu nationalists
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Pugh stops during intercourse and picks up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s holiest scriptures, and asks Murphy to read from it. India’s film board gave “Oppenheimer” a U/A rating, which is reserved for movies that contain moderate adult themes and can be watched by children under 12 with parental guidance. In 2020, Netflix (NFLX) received significant backlash in India for a scene in the series “A Suitable Boy” that depicted a Hindu woman and Muslim man kissing at a Hindu temple. Ahead of the release of “Oppenheimer,” Murphy said he read the Bhagvad Gita in preparation. “I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring,” he told Indian film critic Sucharita Tyagi in an interview.

Persons: New Delhi CNN — Christopher Nolan’s, “ Oppenheimer ”, Robert Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Jean Tatlock, Pugh, Murphy, Uday Mahurkar, “ Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwig’s, Barbie, Vivek Agnihotri’s, ” Murphy, ”, Sucharita Tyagi, “, Oppenheimer, ” Oppenheimer Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Netflix, ISIS, Trinity Locations: New Delhi, India, Kerala, Indian

☆ The Question After Every Mass Shooting: How Much Do We Deserve to Know?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Elizabeth Williamson | More About Elizabeth Williamson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Shortly after the shooting, Colleen Murphy, executive director and general counsel of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission, received a call from a state legislator convinced that the filmmaker Michael Moore was seeking crime scene photos of the children. But Ms. Murphy told the lawmaker that her office, which fields all public records requests, had received no such inquiry. Some Sandy Hook families interpreted Mr. Moore’s remarks as “a horrific campaign to make the crime scene photos public,” Jennifer Hensel, whose 6-year-old daughter Avielle Richman died, wrote in The New Haven Register. “We cannot stand the thought of seeing the graphic depiction of our child’s death promoted to serve anyone’s political purposes.”Mr. Moore publicly clarified his view that no one should release photos without the families’ permission. Yet even today those requesting Connecticut homicide-related records must demonstrate that the release does not constitute an “unwarranted invasion of privacy.”

Persons: Colleen Murphy, Michael Moore, Murphy, Moore, Columbine ”, Mamie Till, Emmett Till, Sandy Hook, Moore’s, ” Jennifer Hensel, Avielle Richman, Mr Organizations: Information Commission, Columbine, JET, New Haven Register, The Hartford Courant Locations: Colorado, Mississippi, Hartford, The Connecticut

The two pilots, however, would allow extensive information sharing between banks on large-scale financial crime, expand public-private data sharing initiatives and set up a similar platform to Britain's national fraud database for serious economic crime. The pilots could be formally launched by October when Britain's economic crime and corporate transparency bill, currently on its way through parliament, is expected to become law. This legislation aims to protect regulated firms from confidentiality rules if they share information to tackle economic crime, giving them the leeway to ramp up data sharing. One financial crime investigations lawyer, who declined to be named because of client sensitivities, said that information-sharing needed appropriate safeguards. The NCA told Reuters it was discussing the data sharing pilot with a number of banks to try and identify "actionable intelligence".

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Banks, Simon Fell, Iain Withers, Kirstin Ridley, Sinead Cruise, Jane Merriman Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Lloyds, NatWest, Reuters, HSBC, Barclays, Crime Agency, UK Finance, Home Office, NCA, Thomson Locations: Russia, Britain, Ukraine

☆ Facebook faces new allegations of gender discrimination in its delivery of job ads. Research by human rights group suggests it's a global concern
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Clare Duffy | Carlotta Dotto | Naomi Hirst | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

But Global Witness' research suggests that this results in job ads being targeted to users based on gender stereotypes. And in some cases, human rights advocates say, the biases that appear to be shown by Facebook's ad system may exacerbate other disparities. Global Witness targeted the ads to adult Facebook users of any gender who resided in, or had recently visited, the chosen countries. Certain roles were less strongly skewed — a package delivery job ad, for example, was shown to 38% women users in the Netherlands. In December, Real Women in Trucking filed its EEOC complaint alleging that Facebook's job ads algorithm discriminates based on age and gender.

Persons: Naomi Hirst, Clara Wichmann, Ashley Settle, Settle, Meta, Linde, Ireland —, Caroline Leroy, Blanvillain, Fondation des Femme, Pat de Brún, de Brún, —, Brún, Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Peter Romer, Friedman, " Romer, Facebook's, Hirst, Meera Senthilingam, Seth Fiegerman, Carlotta Dotto, Carolina Moscoso, Tal Yellin, Damian Prado, David Blood, Gabrielle Smith Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Global, Facebook's, des, UK, Human Rights, Commissioner's, Meta, US, Employment, Commission, Real Women, Trucking, Ad, Ireland, Fondation des, Amnesty, Employment Opportunity Commission, University of Southern, Real, Data Locations: Europe, France, Netherlands, Canada, United States, India, South Africa, United Kingdom, Indonesia, University of Southern California

☆ London court throws out lawsuit against Google over medical records
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Google on Friday defeated a lawsuit brought on behalf of 1.6 million people over medical records provided to the U.S. tech giant by a British hospital trust. The Royal Free London NHS Trust transferred patient data to Google's artificial intelligence firm DeepMind Technologies in 2015 in relation to the development of a mobile app designed to analyse medical records and detect acute kidney injuries. Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit Google and DeepMind were sued last year by Royal Free patient Andrew Prismall on behalf of 1.6 million people for alleged misuse of private information. Judge Heather Williams ruled on Friday that the case should not proceed, agreeing the case is "bound to fail". "I conclude that each member of the claimant class does not have a realistic prospect of establishing a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of their relevant medical records," she said in a written ruling.

☆ TikTok banned from school-owned devices on all Florida state universities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Chris Boyette | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

“Data privacy, particularly concerning student data and faculty research, is a critical priority for the State University System of Florida,” the Board of Governors said in a statement to CNN. Bans and regulations of Tik Tok in particular, and of social media sites in general, have been mounting. Utah also regulating useLate last month, the governor of Utah signed a bill which requires teens to get parental approval to use social media. Earlier this week, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates data, fined Tik Tok for a number of breaches of data protection law. CNN has reached out to each for comment.

☆ Australia may inadvertently fuel cyber crime, says data theft victim service
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SYDNEY, April 5 (Reuters) - An Australian government-backed service for victims of identity theft blasted a plan to toughen privacy laws amid an explosion of online data theft, saying it would spur compromised companies to pay ransom and invite more hacking. IDCare, a non-profit that helps internet crime victims, said by making it easier for regulators to fine companies for poor data security and failing to criminalise ransom payment, Australia may inadvertently fuel a cyber-crimewave. Canberra raised the maximum fine to A$50 million ($34 million) from A$2.2 million for companies that fail to stop data theft after the first major attack in October, when some 10 million customer accounts at No. DEMAND SPIKESince Australia made it compulsory for companies to report data breaches in 2018, IDCare's submission said community demand for its services had rocketed. ($1 = 1.4806 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Praveen Menon and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TikTok Fined $15.8 Million by U.K. Regulator for Misuse of Children’s Data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.K. authorities have fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds, equivalent to $15.8 million, for breaching the country’s data-protection laws, including the misuse of children’s information. The social-media platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., failed to get consent from the parents of children on its platform and didn’t do enough to remove underage users, the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office said Tuesday.

☆ UK watchdog fines TikTok $16 mln for 'misusing children's data'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain's data watchdog said on Tuesday it had fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) for breaching data protection law including by using the personal data of children aged under 13 without parental consent. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) estimated that TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its platform in 2020, even though it sets 13 as the minimum age to create an account. TikTok did not abide by those laws," UK Information Commissioner John Edwards said. Children's data may have been used to track and profile them, potentially presenting them with harmful or inappropriate content, he added. ($1 = 0.7996 pounds)Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Muvija M, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TikTok fined $16 million in UK for misusing kids' data as scrutiny of Chinese-owned app intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok has been fined £12.7 ($15.9) million by U.K. privacy regulators for failing to protect children's data, in a fresh blow to the Chinese-owned app as it faces heightened scrutiny from regulators. The U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement Tuesday it was fining TikTok for "a number of breaches of data protection law, including failing to use children's personal data lawfully." The ICO had previously proposed fining TikTok £25 million for the privacy violation in question. It comes amid calls for the app to be banned in the U.S. over national security concerns, and after administrations in the U.S., U.K. and several other countries prohibited the app from government-issued devices.

☆ Google asks London court to throw out lawsuit over medical records
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Google (GOOGL.O) asked London's High Court on Tuesday to throw out a lawsuit brought on behalf of 1.6 million people over medical records provided to the tech giant by a British hospital trust. The Royal Free London NHS Trust transferred patient data to Google's artificial intelligence firm DeepMind Technologies in 2015 in relation to the development of a mobile app designed to analyse medical records and detect acute kidney injuries. Google and DeepMind were sued last year by Royal Free patient Andrew Prismall on behalf of 1.6 million people for alleged misuse of private information. However, Prismall's lawyer Timothy Pitt-Payne said in court filings that every claimant "had their patient-identifiable medical records transferred ... and therefore suffered the same loss of control". "Every wrongful transfer of medical records merits an award of damages," he added.

☆ YouTube child data gathering faces UK scrutiny after complaint
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Britain's information regulator said on Wednesday it would look into an official complaint accusing Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) YouTube of illegally collecting data from millions of children. McCann said in a statement that YouTube should change the design of its platform and delete data it had been gathering. A spokesperson for YouTube said it had taken steps to bolster child privacy with more protective default settings, and made investments to protect children and families by launching a dedicated kids app and introducing new data practices. "We remain committed to continuing our engagement with the ICO on this priority work, and with other key stakeholders including children, parents and child protection experts," the YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. Britain's Children's code requires providers to meet 15 design and privacy standards to protect children, including limiting collection of their location and other personal data.

☆ UK markets watchdog says 'synthetic data' can aid choice, innovation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog said on Thursday it will push ahead with plans to make available "synthetic data" to help increase innovation and choice in financial services following a consultation last year. Data privacy laws make it harder for third-party companies to access data on customers held by long-established banks and insurers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year published a consultation paper on synthetic data. "Based on the feedback to the Call for Input and previous research, our current position is that synthetic data can potentially make a significant contribution to beneficial innovation in UK financial markets," the FCA said in a statement on Thursday. "We will continue to engage loosely with the ICO to explore opportunities for data sharing in financial services within he bounds of UK data protection regulation," the FCA said.

Search resuls for: "Information Commission"

25 mentions found