A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago found the BNSF Railway Company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, awarding $228 million to truck drivers who filed the lawsuit, CBS News reports. The court determined the company violated the privacy of 45,000 drivers by implementing a driver fingerprint system without obtaining written consent.Full Story
A blog by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada discusses various aspects of synthetic data, how it compares to other deidentification techniques, pros and cons, and more.
Today the IAPP unveiled the 2022 edition of the "Privacy Tech Vendor Report." The sixth installment of the report features 364 vendors across 13 product categories. The latest version of the report once again reveals a robust market compared to the 44 vendors listed in the original report in 2017. The submission period has closed for the latest edition of the IAPP Privacy Tech Vendor Report.Full Story
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office opened a consultation on draft guidance related to employment practices and data protection. The ICO will release drafts on various topics in stages and the draft of guidance for employers monitoring workers is now available for public input. “The draft guidance aims to provide practical guidance about monitoring workers in accordance with data protection legislation and to promote good practice,” the ICO said. The consultation closes Jan.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta appointed Californians for Consumer Privacy founder Alastair Mactaggart to the California Privacy Protection Agency Board. Mactaggart is a co-architect of the California Consumer Privacy Act and driving force behind the California Privacy Rights Act, which mandated the formation of the CPPA. Mactaggart, whose duties begin immediately, replaces board member Angela Sierra, who begins a new role as a member of California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board.
The EDPB urged the European Commission to harmonize procedural aspects to promote “strong and swift enforcement” of the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The regulators sent the European Commission a “wish list” of procedures that include “investigative powers of data protection authorities” and “procedural deadlines.” The EDPB also adopted the first European Data Protection Seal under Article 42(5) of the GDPR.
France’s data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, adopted an action plan to help political candidates and parties comply with data protection legislation. The CNIL detailed its work, noting an increase in reports, with 45 investigations of data-related complaints following the 2022 presidential and legislative elections.
In a piece for Brookings’ TechTank, former U.S. Federal Trade Commission Public Interest Technology Fellow Zander Arnao discusses data portability on video-sharing platforms and says policymakers can make it happen.
Biometric Update reports on the latest developments involving biometric passports.
In an explanatory note published by the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the department’s secretary of state, Michelle Donelan, noted progress between the U.K. and U.S. toward an adequacy agreement. She welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order implementing the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. The DCMS said the U.K. “intends to work expediently” to review its improved safeguards and new redress mechanism, formally consult the U.K.