WhatsApp didn’t fully explain to Europeans how it uses their data as called for by EU privacy law, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said on Thursday. The regulator hit the messaging app with a fine of 225 million euros, about $267 million. Partly at issue is how WhatsApp share information with parent company Facebook, according to the commission. Read more about WhatsApp fined over $260M for EU privacy violations, failng to explain how data is shared with Facebook[…]

UK ISP Sky Broadband is monitoring the IP addresses of servers suspected of streaming pirated content to subscribers and supplying that data to an anti-piracy company working with the Premier League. That inside knowledge is then processed and used to create blocklists used by the country’s leading ISPs, to prevent subscribers from watching pirated events. Read more about Sky Broadband sends Subscribers browsing data through to Premier League without user knowledge or consent[…]

Apple on Friday said it intends to delay the introduction of its plan to commandeer customers’ own devices to scan their iCloud-bound photos for illegal child exploitation imagery, a concession to the broad backlash that followed from the initiative. “Previously we announced plans for features intended to help protect children from predators who use communication Read more about Apple stalls CSAM auto-scan on devices after ‘feedback’ from everyone on Earth – will still scan all your pics at some point[…]

Facebook, Netflix and Google have all received reprimands or fines, and an order to make corrective action, from South Korea’s government data protection watchdog, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC). The PIPC announced a privacy audit last year and has revealed that three companies – Facebook, Netflix and Google – were in violations of laws Read more about Facebook used facial recognition without consent 200,000 times, says South Korea’s data watchdog. Netflix fined too and Google scolded.[…]

[…] The new “Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China” comes into effect on November 1st, 2021, and comprises eight chapters and 74 articles […] The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said, as translated from Mandarin using automated tools: On the basis of relevant laws, the law further refines and perfects the Read more about China puts continuous consent at the center of data protection law[…]

Online researchers say they have found flaws in Apple’s new child abuse detection tool that could allow bad actors to target iOS users. However, Apple has denied these claims, arguing that it has intentionally built safeguards against such exploitation. It’s just the latest bump in the road for the rollout of the company’s new features, Read more about Apple’s Not Digging Itself Out of This One: scanning your pictures is dangerous and flawed[…]

In a new blog post for the International Monetary Fund, four researchers presented their findings from a working paper that examines the current relationship between finance and tech as well as its potential future. Gazing into their crystal ball, the researchers see the possibility of using the data from your browsing, search, and purchase history Read more about Your Credit Score Should Be Based On Your Web History, IMF Says[…]

Photos that are sent in messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram aren’t scanned by Apple. Still, if you don’t want Apple to do this scanning at all, your only option is to disable iCloud Photos. To do that, open the “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad, go to the “Photos” section, and disable the Read more about How to Stop Apple From Scanning Your iPhone Photos Before iOS 15 Arrives – disable photo backups. No alternative offered, sorry.[…]

Hamburg’s state government has been formally warned against using Zoom over data protection concerns. The German state’s data protection agency (DPA) took the step of issuing a public warning yesterday, writing in a press release that the Senate Chancellory’s use of the popular videoconferencing tool violates the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since Read more about Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s DPA warns state government – The US does not safeguard EU citizen data[…]

Most Spotify users are likely aware the streaming service tracks their listening activity, search history, playlists, and the songs they like or skip—that’s all part of helping the algorithm figure out what you like, right? However, some users may be less OK with how much other data Spotify and its partners are logging. According to Spotify’s Read more about How to Limit Spotify From Tracking You, Because It Knows Too Much – and sells it[…]

[…] an AI on your phone will scan all those you have sent and will send to iPhotos. It will generate fingerprints that purportedly identify pictures, even if highly modified, that will be checked against fingerprints of known CSAM material. Too many of these – there’s a threshold – and Apple’s systems will let Apple Read more about Apple’s iPhone computer vision has the potential to preserve privacy but also break it completely[…]