Articles from Around the Web

Discover the latest industry insights and developments with our News from Around the Web page. We curate feeds from a variety of reputable organizations, bringing you a comprehensive overview of relevant news and trends. Stay informed and connected with the most current updates from across the web.

OCR issues $300,640 fine over HIPAA Privacy Rule violations

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights fined New England Dermatology and Laser Center $300,640 for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule. The health center was found to have improperly deleted protected health information when it threw out specimen containers with labels carrying patient names, birthdates, dates of sample collection and name of the provider who took the specimen.

Op-ed: The lack of comprehensive privacy protection threatens US democracy

The U.S. is facing “creeping authoritarianism,” Thor Benson writes for Wired. Experts advocated for policymaking that fundamentally ingrains privacy in law so those mechanisms could not be abused by a future autocratic leader. He said some experts claim the American Data Privacy and Protection Act does not establish strong enough privacy protections for individuals.

EU advocacy group alleges Google sent unsolicited advertising emails to users

Austrian consumer advocacy group NOYB filed a complaint to France’s data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, over Google allegedly violating an EU court order, Reuters reports. The complaint alleged Google sent unsolicited advertising emails directly to its European Gmail users. If the CNIL were to rule against Google, the decision would only apply to French Gmail users; however, such a ruling could force Google to reevaluate its practices across the EU.

Whistleblower revelations put Twitter under US lawmaker scrutiny

The Wall Street Journal reports the whistleblower allegations against Twitter's lax cybersecurity practices have begun drawing scrutiny from members of U.S. Congress. U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the claims "may show dangerous data privacy and security risks" and the committee may "take further steps as needed to get to the bottom of these alarming allegations." Sens.

EU policymakers consider cross-border transfers vs. data localization

Two years removed from the Court of Justice of the European Union’s invalidation of Privacy Shield, a legal framework for lawful EU-U.S. data transfers is still in the works. While negotiations move forward, discussions are happening among EU policymakers about a potential shift toward data localization to help preserve digital sovereignty. Journalist Luca Bertuzzi reports on the reasons behind the data localization push.Full Story

Council of the European Union offers latest Data Act compromise text

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union released its latest compromise text for the proposed Data Act, Euractiv reports. The latest text offers changes to conditions for allowing public entities to demand access to privately held data. The proposal frees most EU institutions from requirements under the law and adds provisions to allow public sector bodies to use data from a private company in exceptional cases.

Brazil's Senacon fines Facebook 6.6M reals over Cambridge Analytica

Brazil's National Consumer Secretariat, the Senacon, announced a 6.6 million real fine against Meta's Facebook related to the 443,000 Brazilians swept up in the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Senacon said it overturned the case regarding "failures to inform about privacy settings" in July, but decided to bring the fine after Facebook did not recognize any wrongdoing.

Snapchat settles Illinois BIPA lawsuit; Meta settles user location data collection lawsuit

  • Snapchat agreed to a $35 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, The Verge reports. The lawsuit alleged Snapchat's filters violated BIPA by collecting and storing users’ biometric information without their knowledge or consent.

Startup's homomorphic encryption tool could allow for 'zero knowledge' advertising

A Paris-based startup may have developed the bridge between personal privacy and data protection, TechCrunch reports. Ravel Technologies built a tool that utilizes homomorphic encryption, which allows a company’s data to remain encrypted while the company works with third parties to process the data for their own purposes.