In an op-ed for Scientific American, Electronic Frontier Foundation Managing Director for Technology Gennie Gebhart and Media Relations Director Josh Richman write researchers are "inadvertently" covering for a "massive privacy invasion" by data brokers buying and selling location data. "Researchers must carefully consider whether such data make them accomplices to this dubious practice," Gebhart and Richman said.
European Parliament has the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act on its 12-15 June plenary agenda. Members will debate the proposal Tuesday and vote on a final position Wednesday. Parliament describes the proposal as "a risk-based approach" that establishes "obligations for providers and users depending on the level of risk the AI can generate." Debate on the proposal will be crucial after a prior agreement among EU political parties dissolved.
The U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy is spawning new consideration for potential legal liability against providers concerning insecure software deployments. The issue divides legal and cybersecurity professionals, as security incidents happen even with proper measures in place. Tilia Senior Security and Privacy Counsel Rafae Bhatti, CIPP/US, CIPM, explores the delicate balance required to roll out liability standards. Full story
Reuters reports Denmark's government wants to increase children's data protection standards. Changes to the current regime on children's data would include increasing the age for individual consent to 15 or 16 and requiring companies to get parental consent for minors under that age.
New Zealand's Deputy Privacy Commissioner Liz MacPherson urged businesses and organizations to enable two-factor authentication to protect the data they maintain. She said two-factor authentication is the "bare minimum" expected from entities that maintain or share personal data.
A Louisiana bill passed by lawmakers would require parental permission for minors to register for online accounts, The Wall Street Journal reports. Under the bill, which requires signature from Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., parents or guardians could also cancel a child's existing accounts as of 1 Aug. 2024. The Louisiana bill follows similar laws passed in Arkansas and Utah. "It clearly states that any contract involving an unemancipated minor entered into online without parental consent is relatively null," said state Rep.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Policy Deirdre Mulligan is being promoted to principal deputy U.S. chief technology officer, according to a White House memo reviewed by Axios. Mulligan takes over the role from Alexander Macgillivray, who left the post 7 June.
Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, called on TikTok to explain reports of its personal data being accessed by the Communist Party of China. The Garante gave the company 15 days to produce a response to the reports and outline how Italian and EU users' data is protected from alleged government access.Full story
Social engineering methods, such as pretexting, are becoming more common in cyberattacks, Axios reports, citing a recent report published by Verizon. From November 2021 to October 2022, Verizon found scammers used pretext methods, such as "emails, texts or social media messages that purport to be from a family member, boss or client," in 4.1% of security breaches. That figure more than doubled in Verizon's report the previous year.