Tag: Location Privacy

(Apr 18, 2019) A survey from consultancy firm Accenture found that 60% of Singaporean consumers would be willing to share significant personal information in exchange for more affordable and personalized banking products, Singapore Business reports. Specifically, the survey reported 87% of consumers would share details involving their income, location and lifestyle habit data for rapid loan approval. "Increasingly, consumers also want to share more of their personal data to make their lives easier and more int... Read More

(Apr 18, 2019) In an op-ed for Slate, Daniel Susser writes while professionals have taken an ethics-based approach to solving artificial intelligence concerns, it will not be enough to have a system that reflects human values, such as privacy and autonomy. Susser points to the European Commission's draft ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI and Microsoft's "AI Principles" as a couple of the positive steps but does not see such advisories creating change on their own. "Lists of 'ethical principles' are intentio... Read More

(Apr 18, 2019) Lime, an electric scooter rental company serving cities in the U.S. and Europe, seeks to balance user privacy and the company's access to location-based data. In an interview with The Verge, Lime Co-Founder Brad Bao addressed a recent battle between the city of Los Angeles and fellow scooter companies about access to vehicle- and user-location information. Instead of taking a side, Bao said his company plans to find a way to appease user and company needs. "It is a combination of things and the ... Read More

(Apr 15, 2019) Pointing to an Arizona case that demonstrated how law enforcement uses location data collected from cellphones as evidence, The New York Times reports on how surveillance technology is being incorporated by law enforcement and the privacy concerns that arise from doing so. Examining Google’s Sensorvault database, the article notes that it is just the latest example of how a person’s personal data is being used in new and unsuspecting ways. According to Google employees, the data includes detaile... Read More

(Mar 29, 2019) University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton and Universite de Montreal Professor Yoshua Bengio warned about the dangers of weaponized artificial intelligence, the Financial Post reports. Bengio said facial-recognition technology and other methods of surveillance could be used to identify targets and locations for drone strikes. Hinton said these AI capabilities need to be regulated; however, University of Guelph Associate Professor of Engineering Graham Taylor said that is not the c... Read More

(Mar 29, 2019) The Canada Border Services Agency broke down the benefits of the proposed Exit Information Regulations, News 1130 reports. The agency states in a report the Canadian government does not have access to information on who enters and exits the country. The CBSA notes the country could use the data in order to track individuals who may conduct illegal activities. The report also covers the Entry/Exit Initiative, which would be implemented should the Exit Information Regulations come into place. The ... Read More

(Mar 15, 2019) The U.S. Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring the collection of more accurate location data, Ars Technica reports. The “Z-axis” data, which carriers can gather via the barometric pressure sensors in a customer’s phone, would identify where a person is situated in a multi-story building in the event of a 911 call. The proposal, created by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, does not reference the word “privacy," nor does it reveal the privacy rul... Read More

(Mar 14, 2019) Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have accessed a database of license plate numbers to track individuals believed to be in the country illegally, The Washington Post reports. The database holds records of license plate numbers and vehicle locations captured from red lights and speed-limit cameras around the country. Vasudha Talla, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, said, “The ACLU’s grave concerns a... Read More

(Mar 14, 2019) Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., criticized wireless carriers for their poor privacy practices, MediaPost reports. Wyden wrote a letter to executives at AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile asking the companies to provide information about instances when location data was shared with third parties that obtained the information by means of deception. Wyden told the carriers they have a legal obligation to protect customers’ data and notify federal law enforcement of data breaches. “Given your companies'... Read More