In a letter to nearly 24 data brokers, a group of 10 lawmakers asked a series of questions about the companies' privacy practices, including whether they collect data on consumers' health, locations, purchase history or application use, MediaPost reports. The lawmakers said "existing laws do not sufficiently protect Americans' data from misuse" and enacting a national privacy law is a "top priority."Full Story
A WhatsApp user posted on Twitter that the encrypted messaging app allegedly accessed his cellphone's microphone while he was sleeping, the Daily Mail reports. The publication reviewed posts on customer service boards and Reddit, in which users complained WhatsApp accessed their microphones, going back five years. In response, a spokesperson from WhatsApp parent company Meta claimed the user experienced a bug within the Android operating system.
Spain's data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, published a guide for cryptographic systems as a data protection security measure in partnership with the Spanish Association for the Promotion of Information Security and Spanish Professional Association for Privacy.
Google will soon unveil the next generation of its search engine with an artificial intelligence chat feature, CNN reports. The new feature allows users to enter a query into the main search bar and receive an AI-generated response in a pop-up, along with traditional search results. The new Google Search will first launch in the U.S. to a limited number of users who will be granted access in the coming weeks, the company said.Full Story
Following reporter visits to abortion clinics in California and Florida, The Washington Post found Google did not delete location data "in any consistent way," despite promises it would "proactively delete" such sensitive user data. Reporters also discovered Google did not delete search histories related to abortions and kept location data tied to that specific search.
The IAPP announced the launch of its IAPP AI Governance Center, which aims to support privacy professionals and emerging artificial intelligence governance professionals grappling with the technology's intricate challenges. The center, approved unanimously by the IAPP Board of Directors, will work to provide the resources, networking, training and certification needed to respond to current and future risks in this field. In the coming weeks, the IAPP will also launch a new newsletter collecting the latest developments on AI governance issues. IAPP President and CEO J.
Fortune reports a whistleblower is alleging Google violated the EU General Data Protection Regulation by illegally maintaining job candidate data. Contractor Mohamed Maslouh filed complaints with the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office and Ireland's Data Protection Commission. While Google said it implemented a global automatic deletion tool last year, its rollout ended in the fall and the company was potentially noncompliant with the GPDR for four years.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner are investigating the Latitude Financial breach that exposed data of millions of customers, Stuff reports. OPC Deputy Privacy Commissioner Liz MacPherson said this is the first joint investigation by the agencies.
The Ibero-American Data Protection Network, the RIPD, launched a coordinated action against ChatGPT. The RIPD said the service could put "the rights and freedoms of users in relation to the processing of their personal data" at risk, noting concerns including legal grounds for data processing, transfer of data to third parties without consent and adequate data protection measures.
France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, announced Clearview AI is required to pay a 5.2 million euro penalty for delayed compliance with a prior order from the regulator. Clearview received a 20 million euro fine over EU General Data Protection Regulation violations from the CNIL in October 2022. The initial order stated Clearview had two months to comply and would pay 100,000 euros per day after the compliance deadline.