Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, fined a utility company after receiving consumer complaints it processed "out-of-date personal information," which the company used to activate "unsolicited contracts." Axpo Italia was ordered to pay a 10 million euro fine for illegally processing personal data of more than 5,000 customers.Full story
The European Data Protection Board will hold a plenary meeting 27 Oct. regarding a potential binding decision on an enforcement action by Norway's data protection authority, Datatilsynet, against Meta for alleged illegal use of targeted advertising.
With a background in the private and public sectors, ZoomInfo's Chief Compliance Officer Simon McDougall, CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, said he has witnessed first-hand, on both sides, privacy's massive community of practitioners working to try to do the right thing day in and day out. McDougall tells IAPP Associate Editor Jennifer Bryant about his time at the U.K.
European Parliament agreed to a draft proposal to combat child sexual abuse material, Euractiv reports. The proposal would require digital platforms to detect and report CSAM.
The National Association of State Chief Information Officers saw the number of privacy officers double from four years ago as more states tackle comprehensive and targeted privacy legislation, StateScoop reports. The nascent position often puts its members in the role of educating state officials on complex and ever-changing standards to keep them in compliance.
Norway's data protection authority, Datatilsynet, will hold a sandbox seminar for two artificial intelligence-related privacy projects 14 Dec. One project from the Norwegian Police Academy and the University of Agder would develop an AI tool to identify child grooming through language analysis. Another from the developer Mobai aims to develop a facial recognition tool for banking services.Full story
The New York Times reports on the race to develop stronger encryption techniques as the field of quantum computing continues to advance. The technology could bring substantial change to the medicine and artificial intelligence fields by reducing the time and power needed to run complex simulations, but it poses a major risk to privacy and data security.Full story
Nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center's "2023 Business Impact Report" showed 73% of 551 U.S.-based small and medium-sized businesses were impacted by a data breach this year, Infosecurity Magazine reports. Breach preparedness was high among respondents at 85%, but less than 50% adopted cybersecurity best practices, including multifactor authentication, mandatory password strength and authorized employee access.Full story
NPR reports on a retelling of George Orwell's "1984" in a new Sandra Newman novel. The author received permission from the Orwell estate to pen "Julia," which depicts telling of the dystopian society from the view of Julia Worthing, the significant other of Orwell's main character Winston Smith.Full story
Brazil's data protection authority, the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados, and Nigeria's Data Protection Commission were admitted into the Global Privacy Assembly. The appointments were announced 20 Oct. during a closed session at the 45th Global Privacy Assembly in Bermuda.