Canada’s privacy commissioner will report Wednesday on the results of an investigation into whether the Tim Hortons mobile ordering app was improperly tracking users’ whereabouts without their explicit consent. The 23-month-long investigation came after National Post reporter James McLeod obtained data showing the Tim Hortons app on his phone had tracked his location more than 2,700 times in less than five months. Read full story here: Was Tim Hortons’ App Improperly Tracking Users? Privacy Commissioner To Decide | Global News
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Some Top 100,000 Websites Collect Everything You Type—Before You Hit Submit | Ars Technica
When you sign up for a newsletter, make a hotel reservation, or check out online, you probably take for granted that if you mistype your email address three times or change your mind and X out of the page, it doesn’t matter. Nothing actually happens until you hit the Submit button, right? Well, maybe not. As with so many assumptions about the web, this isn’t always the case, according to new research: A surprising number of websites are collecting some or all of your data as you type it into…
Read MoreYour Digital Footprint: It’s Bigger Than You Realize | c|net
A few years ago, Ken Crum started getting uncomfortable with how much of his life seemed to be online. The long-time computer programmer was particularly concerned by what companies appeared to know about him. The amount of personal information was mind-boggling to the 66-year-old Texan, who recently moved from Dallas to the small town of Weatherford. Data brokers were collecting his personal details. Social media was targeting ads at him. Then one day, after shopping at a local home improvement store, he got an email from the company asking how…
Read MoreClearview AI Aims To Put Almost Every Human In Facial Recognition Database | ARS Technica
The controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI reportedly told investors that it aims to collect 100 billion photos—supposedly enough to ensure that almost every human will be in its database. “Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in its database within a year, enough to ensure ‘almost everyone in the world will be identifiable,’ according to a financial presentation from December obtained by The Washington Post,” the Post reported today. There are an estimated 7.9 billion people on the planet. Read full…
Read MoreIRS Backtracks On Sketchy Facial Recognition Plan Following Public Outcry | Mashable
Activism, it turns out, still gets results. That’s the takeaway following a Monday morning announcement that the IRS intends to shift away from requiring Americans use a private facial-recognition service to verify their identities on the IRS website. The about face comes after sustained criticism from privacy experts, grassroots activists, and even elected officials. “This is big,” wrote Senator Ron Wyden Monday morning. “The IRS has notified my office it plans to transition away from using facial recognition verification, as I requested earlier today. While this transition may take time, the administration…
Read MoreToday Is Data Privacy Day. Here’s What You Need To Do To Secure Your Info | c|net
here’s no shortage of made-up national holidays. Among the fabricated celebrations: Houseplant Appreciation Day, Irish Coffee Day and Bubble Wrap Day. However, there is one such holiday actually worth observing: Data Privacy Day, which happens to be today. It’s a good reminder to check up on the safety of your personal data. The holiday began in the US and Canada back in 2008. It’s an extension of a European holiday marking 1981’s Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty on protecting privacy and data. Read full story here: Today…
Read MoreThe IRS Will Soon Make You Use Facial Recognition To Access Your Taxes Online | The Verge
he Internal Revenue Service will require people who access and pay their taxes online to enroll in a third-party facial recognition company starting this summer (h/t Krebs on Security). Even those who have already registered on IRS.gov with a username and password will have to provide a government ID, a copy of a utility bill, and a selfie to ID.me, the Virginia-based identity verification company. You’ll take a video selfie with whatever webcam or mobile device you’re using to sign up, which seems likely to cause problems for people with…
Read MoreApple Says It Will Refuse Gov’t Demands To Expand Photo-scanning Beyond CSAM | Arstechnica
Apple today said it will refuse any government demands to expand its new photo-scanning technology beyond the current plan of using it only to detect CSAM (child sexual abuse material). Apple has faced days of criticism from security experts, privacy advocates, and privacy-minded users over the plan it announced Thursday, in which iPhones and other Apple devices will scan photos before they are uploaded to iCloud. Many critics pointed out that once the technology is on consumer devices, it won’t be difficult for Apple to expand it beyond the detection…
Read MoreIs It OK To Ask About Someone’s COVID-19 Vaccine Status? Experts Weigh In | Global News
Nicole Hunt thought she was just making small talk with the next person in line when she asked whether he’d been vaccinated. But she soon found she’d run afoul of the shifting social mores surrounding this prickly question. Hunt said she and the stranger were waiting for ice cream when they started commiserating over how ready they were to be done with COVID-19 restrictions. Read full story here: Is It OK To Ask About Someone’s COVID-19 Vaccine Status? Experts Weigh In | Global News
Read MoreVaccine Passports Ignite Debate Over Privacy vs. Public Health | CBC News
As a steadily rising number of fully vaccinated Canadians emerge from hiding to test the gradual return to pre-pandemic normalcy, a conundrum looms: what to do about those who, for whatever reason, haven’t had a shot? Striking the proper balance between public health and personal freedom, and figuring out whether one must be relinquished to protect the other, will become increasingly key as the country reopens. Read full story here: Vaccine Passports Ignite Debate Over Privacy vs. Public Health | CBC News
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