A hacker forum claimed UnitedHealth Group paid the "Blackcat" ransomware group USD22 million to recover the company's stolen personal health data, Reuters reports. UnitedHealth did not comment on the alleged ransom payment and said it was focused on its investigation and restoring sensitive data.Full story
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to reinstate the state's ban on Tiktok, MediaPost reports. Montana's law attempting to ban TikTok was halted after the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled the ban "likely violates the First Amendment and represents an unconstitutional attempt to regulate interstate commerce."Full story
The Virginia General Assembly passed a pair of bills to amend children's privacy provisions in the state's Consumer Data Protection Act. Senate Bill 361 prohibits nonconsensual collection, use or sale of data belonging to minors known to be under 18.
Privacy professionals and security teams should stay abreast of the U.S. Department of Justice rulemaking process for U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order barring data brokers from transferring sensitive data to "countries of concern," IAPP Managing Director, Washington, D.C., Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, CIPP/US, CIPM, writes.
The European Commission issued a formal request for information to Meta under the Digital Services Act. The Commission is seeking information regarding Meta's subscription based no-advertising service, specifically Facebook and Instagram's advertising practices, its recommendation systems and risk assessments for the subscription model.
The European Commission held a meeting 4 March with European Data Protection Board Chair Anu Talus and data protection authorities from the 15 countries that have an adequacy agreement in place with the EU. The meeting focused on common themes in their data protection laws, areas for cooperation for enforcement matters and the benefits of the safe, free flow of data.Full story
The California Privacy Protection Agency's data broker registry is now live. The registry is part of the California Delete Act, which empowers the agency to develop a one-stop-shop mechanism for state residents to request the deletion of their personal information held by data brokers registered in the state.
Brazil's data protection authority, the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados, has extended the comment period for rules on anonymization and pseudonymization and data subject access rights. Those deadlines are now 14 March and 3 April, respectively.Full story
South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission launched an investigation into Worldcoin after it collected iris and facial scans at 10 locations.
Israel's Privacy Protection Authority issued a policy guide for public and private entities considering the use of biometric technology in the workplace. The document explains how the data can be collected and how it should be used.Full story