Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sued General Motors and subsidiary OnStar for selling customer data to third-party data brokers, who then sold it to insurance companies. Griffin argued GM's nonconsensual practices "deceived consumers" in violation of Arkansas' Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is seeking research proposals the next cycle of its Contributions Program which will focus on "exploring smart devices and privacy." Researchers have until 24 March to submit proposals detailing smart devices' collection and use of personal data and the legislative efforts that could be made to better protect individuals' privacy when using these devices. Full story
France's data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, announced its compliance group that focuses on connected cars will dedicate its enforcement efforts to vehicles' on-board cameras. The CNIL will also look to meet with stakeholders to develop guidance on the use of dashcams as "on-board cameras are likely to infringe on the right to privacy of the persons filmed."Full story
Latvia's Data State Inspectorate issued guidelines for data protection impact assessments. The guide focuses particularly on preassessment considerations, the legal assessment and details around various procedural steps. Full story
The Wall Street Journal reports on how a former Disney employee's downloading of an AI software led to a hack that exposed his credentials and hundreds of communications from the company's Slack account. A lack of two-factor authentication on a password manager helped exacerbate the hack and the employee lost their job after the incident.Full story
Recent developments out of the Trump administration are raising concerns regarding a potential challenge of the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Baker McKenzie Partners Brian Hengesbaugh and Lukas Feiler, CIPP/E, discuss potential impacts on the legality of the DPF and practical considerations around EU-U.S. transfers privacy professionals should keep top of mind.Full story
The 25 Feb. U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's nominations of Mark Meador, as Federal Trade Commissioner, and Michael Krastios, as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, showed signs there is room for bipartisanship on significant technology issues, such as children's online safety, AI and quantum technology research and antitrust enforcement.
Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority issued guidance on increasing security among cloud service providers and data centers. The guidelines recommend operators implement "risks assessment, business impact analysis, business continuity planning, and cybersecurity measures" to bolster data security and improve cyber resiliency.Full story
Norway's data protection authority, Datatilsynet, published an FAQ regarding the state of lawful EU-US data transfers following several U.S. developments under the Trump administration. Datatilsynet covered specifics around the adequacy determination under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and how adequacy could be impacted by the removal of U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board members.Full story
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner laid out its strategy for encouraging and regulating the wider adoption of more secure digital identification verification systems. The agency said it will examine unsafe practices outside the country's ID system and create privacy guidelines to help groups comply with legal requirements.Full story