Privacy – Page 6 – Follow To Know

Governments Could Track COVID-19 Lockdowns Through Social Media Posts | CNET

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020 mdbincbi

A research group scrapes more than 500,000 Instagram profiles in Italy to see if people abiding by the quarantine. The Italian government enforcing its nationwide lockdown measures to control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Your posts on social media have been harvested for advertising. They’ve been taken to build up a massive facial recognition database. Now, that same data could be used by companies and governments to help maintain quarantines during the coronavirus outbreak. Ghost Data, a research group in Italy and the US, collected more than half a…

Coronavirus Pandemic Changes How Your Privacy Is Protected | CNET

March 21, 2020March 21, 2020 mdbincbi

Data protection officials around the world are loosening rules on how your data can be used during the COVID-19 outbreak. Privacy protections around the world are getting lifted during the coronavirus outbreak. As the coronavirus pandemic gets worse, privacy commissioners are lifting data restrictions for health officials to keep track of the outbreak. A review of policy changes around the world shows that data protection agencies are prioritizing lives over privacy, and it could be a sign of what’s to come for the US. In Hong Kong, the city’s privacy…

How Apps Secretly Spy On You With Third-Party Trackers | Digital Trends

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 mdbincbi

The moment you install an app, it begins scavenging and pestering you for your data. It requests permissions to tap into your phone’s internals, asks you to register a handful of personal information — you know the drill. However, no matter how frugal and vigilant you are at each step, there’s still one way most apps end up covertly mining your data. Every app comes packaged with a range of what are technically called Software Development Kits (SDK). To understand these better, think of an app as a Lego house…

RCMP Acknowledges Using Facial Recognition Technology, But Won’t Say Where | CBC News

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 mdbincbi

The RCMP has for the first time acknowledged using controversial facial recognition technology that has raised privacy concerns, saying it was used in the Mounties’ efforts to crack down on online child sexual abuse. The force said it has used the technology in 15 child exploitation investigations over the past four months, resulting in the identification and rescue of two children. The statement also mentioned that “a few units in the RCMP” are also using it to “enhance criminal investigations,” without providing detail about how widely and where. “We are…

Google Knows What You Look Like. Here’s What It Means And How To Opt Out | CNET

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 mdbincbi

Google’s Face Match technology isn’t everywhere yet, but it’s always looking. Find out what’s happening with your face data and what you can do to stop it. Google’s largest smart display, the Google Nest Hub Max, includes a controversial feature that’s always watching. Face Match, the name Google calls the technology, keeps a digital eye out for faces passing by. When it recognizes yours, it displays content just for you: photos, messages, appointments and even how long of a commute you can expect. Read full story here: Google Knows What You Look…

‘I’m Appalled’: Lawyers Alarmed As Ottawa Gives More Powers To U.S. Border Officers At Canadian Airports | CBC News

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020 mdbincbi

Concerns are mounting over added powers Ottawa has granted U.S. customs officers to strip-search, question and detain U.S.-bound travellers — on Canadian soil. The changes are part of Canada’s new preclearance act, which the federal government says will enhance border security and make travel to the U.S. easier. But Pantea Jafari, an Iranian-Canadian immigration lawyer, fears it could make travel more difficult for her. Read full story here: ‘I’m Appalled’: Lawyers Alarmed As Ottawa Gives More Powers To U.S. Border Officers At Canadian Airports | CBC News

Opinion – How To Track President Trump | The New York Times

December 27, 2019December 27, 2019 mdbincbi

If you own a mobile phone, its every move is logged and tracked by dozens of companies. No one is beyond the reach of this constant digital surveillance. Not even the president of the United States. The Times Privacy Project obtained a dataset with more than 50 billion location pings from the phones of more than 12 million people in this country. It was a random sample from 2016 and 2017, but it took only minutes — with assistance from publicly available information — for us to deanonymize location data…

Google Has Access To Detailed Health Records On Tens Of Millions Of Americans | Ars Technica

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 mdbincbi

Google quietly partnered last year with Ascension—the country’s second-largest health system—and has since gained access to detailed medical records on tens of millions of Americans, according to a November 11 report by The Wall Street Journal. The endeavor, code-named “Project Nightingale,” has enabled at least 150 Google employees to see patient health information, which includes diagnoses, laboratory test results, hospitalization records, and other data, according to internal documents and the newspaper’s sources. In all, the data amounts to complete medical records, WSJ notes, and contains patient names and birth dates.…

Think Twice Before You Hand Your Phone To Police To Show Auto Insurance, Experts Say | CBC News

September 11, 2019September 11, 2019 mdbincbi

Ontario drivers should think twice about handing over their unlocked phone to a police officer to show electronic proof of insurance, privacy experts say. The province announced last week that Ontarians can now carry auto insurance information on their smartphones instead of relying on paper copies. Finance Minister Rod Phillips heralded the convenience that move will bring — but privacy watchdogs aren’t exactly doing back flips about it. Read full story here: Think Twice Before You Hand Your Phone To Police To Show Auto Insurance, Experts Say | CBC News