Tag: Privacy-Enhancing Technology

(Jun 14, 2019) The New York Times reports Stanford University computer scientists are warning about the consequences of a race to control what they believe will be the next key consumer technology market: virtual assistants. The group received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to create a virtual assistant that allows users to avoid giving personal information while maintaining some independence from technology companies. Computer Systems Designer Monica Lam says the group is concerned vi... Read More

(Jun 13, 2019) The Future of Privacy Forum and the Israel Tech Policy Institute have, for more than a year, considered the creation of a group in which privacy technology vendors, investors, academics and companies in various industries can meet and establish relationships with one another. Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky, CIPP/US, however, felt the idea came into existence a little prematurely. Companies were focused on their compliance efforts with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, and... Read More

(Jun 11, 2019) Data has become an imperative component of business, from operational decision-making to artificial intelligence product development. However, amid ethics scandals and near-constant privacy concerns, corporations and researchers are questioning long-accepted data harvesting and research practices. “The reason we think the ethical review process is critical is there’s a wide range of testing and collecting that’s falling in the gap,” Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky said. Meanwhile, a... Read More

(Jun 11, 2019) Data privacy software company Privitar announced it has received $40 million in a Series B funding round. The funding round was led by global venture capital firm Accel. As a result of the new round of funding, Accel Partner Seth Pierrepont will join Privitar’s board of directors. “The world is increasingly aware of the importance of protecting private information and privacy engineering is becoming intrinsic to the way organizations manage and share data,” Privitar CEO Jason du Preez said. “Thi... Read More

(Jun 6, 2019) AdExchanger gathers the reaction of several CEOs to Apple's new privacy-focused logon button for apps. When Apple announced they were launching a privacy safe logon with iOS 13 as a way for users to sign in without being tracked, several advertisers took notice. With the forthcoming iOS 13, users will not have to sign in with the same email address; rather, Apple will generate a different email for every app or service that person uses as a way to prevent third parties from connecting a real ema... Read More

(Jun 5, 2019) At a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing Tuesday, government and law enforcement representatives testified on the ways they are using facial-recognition technologies to aid in criminal investigations. Lawmakers expressed concern and — at times, dismay — that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has not implemented recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office in 2016 for the FBI's facial-recognition technology protocols. They also noted alarming ... Read More

(Jun 5, 2019) CNET reports that Mozilla Firefox now blocks website cookies that let advertisers and publishers track users around the web. The feature, called Enhanced Tracking Protection, will block third-party cookies by default in newly installed versions of Firefox and will be available to already installed versions in the coming months. “People feel increasingly vulnerable,” Firefox Senior Vice President Dave Camp wrote in a blog post. “We believe that in order to truly protect people, we need to establi... Read More

(Jun 4, 2019) Recent privacy features unveiled by Apple will be included on its new mobile operating system, iOS 13, that will be released this fall, The Wall Street Journal reports. The features are highlighted by an anonymous login system that allows a user to access an app without disclosing personal information. “It’s a fast, easy way to sign in without all the tracking,” Apple Software Chief Craig Federighi said. According to TechCrunch, Apple has also requested that developers exclude third-party tracki... Read More

(May 31, 2019) We know, there's lots of privacy news, guidance and documentation to keep up with every day. And we also know, you're busy doing all the things required of the modern privacy professional. Sure, we distill the latest news and relevant content down in the Daily Dashboard and our weekly regional digests, but sometimes that's even too much. To help, we offer our top-five, most-read stories of the week.  1. Privacy Perspectives: Encryption, redaction and the CCPA, by Steve Toew 2. Westin Research:... Read More

(May 31, 2019) Google announced new policies for Chrome extensions and changes to the Google Drive application programming interface, all part of Google’s Project Strobe initiative launched last year, TechCrunch reports. Extension developers will only be permitted to request access to the data needed to implement their feature. Google is also requiring extension developers that handle user-provided content and personal communication to post privacy policies. Changes to the Drive API include limiting third-part... Read More