Data privacy news covering regulations, GDPR, user data protection, privacy policies, and digital privacy rights developments.
ICE plans to renew its contract with Thomson Reuters at up to $25 million per year for five years, totaling $125 million, for access to its CLEAR database. The data includes personal information and license plate reader data, used to investigate voter fraud, immigration fraud, and identify unaccompanied minors. ICE has been buying data from Thomson Reuters since 2008.
This commentary argues that period tracking apps pose significant privacy risks, citing a Mozilla audit that found Stardust sends reproductive health data to third parties without clear disclosure. It contends that such surveillance is part of a broader trend of invasive data collection, urging users to be cautious.
A security researcher published a method to lift a client certificate from a Shark robot vacuum and use it to run root commands on other Shark vacuums in the same AWS region, exposing live camera feeds, stored home maps, and Wi-Fi credentials. The flaw remains unpatched despite being reported in March.
Columbus Police blocked four agencies with ICE 287(g) agreements from its Flock license-plate reader network after a Dispatch analysis revealed the data sharing. The city must manually monitor its 400-agency network for new ICE partnerships, as it has banned city resources for civil immigration enforcement since 2017.
Court filings reveal ICE improperly shared Medicaid data with data analytics firm Palantir, which operates an app used by agents to locate deportable noncitizens. The disclosure came in a motion by Democratic attorneys general suing over a data-sharing agreement between CMS and ICE.
Ernst & Young disclosed a data breach where an unauthorized third party accessed a support ticket system and downloaded client tax documents between March 28 and April 12. The firm detected the breach on April 23, secured systems, notified law enforcement, and is offering affected clients 24 months of identity monitoring.
Columbus police deny ICE accessed Flock data, but audit logs reveal Homeland Security Investigations made nearly 200 searches that could have included Columbus data during a 2025 pilot. CBP made over 3,500 searches on the network. Deputy Chief Myers said searches appeared due to Columbus being opted into the national network.
This commentary argues that the rise of AI transcription apps and devices is making always-on recording ubiquitous, which may kill spontaneous conversations and create a legal minefield. It questions whether the resulting audio landfill of transcribed meetings and personal interactions will actually be useful or just become unmanageable.
A proposed class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court accuses Toyota of using 'fingerprinting' technology to track visitors to Toyota.com even after they declined third-party cookies, violating California privacy law. The suit is part of a surge of litigation under the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
This commentary argues that AI-powered recording and transcription tools have become ubiquitous in professional and social settings, fundamentally altering norms around privacy and consent. The author contends that the default assumption of being recorded is reshaping how people interact, with implications for trust and authenticity in everyday conversations.