Last week, European justice ministers, US officials, and privacy advocates set a new stage in the EU for privacy and data regulation debates. US officials and technology corporations overwhelmingly favor a more hands-off approach to privacy rules, as is evidenced by the absence of an omnibus privacy law in the United States, whereas privacy advocates and European officials favor a more regulated approach. By bringing the battle to Europe, consumer groups are looking for better footing upon which to fight their regulatory battles.
Domestic privacy news brought us some interesting articles from across the trade publication spectrum. CIO reported on the Senate Commerce Committee’s continued plans to investigate the world of data brokerage, focusing on nine firms and considering putting forth new legislation to regulate the industry. Also, Twitter released a new short-form video sharing feature, Vine, but immediately had to disable sharing due to a glitch that crossed user accounts, allowing them to view other peoples’ phone numbers and email accounts. Google made privacy headlines as well, announcing that the company “…requires an ECPA search warrant for contents of Gmail and other services based on the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prevents unreasonable search and seizure.” The statement followed the company’s biannual release of their Transparency Report.
U.S. firms, officials resisting Europe’s push for stronger digital privacy rules – The Washington Post – The push for strict new limits on how Internet companies collect and use consumer data in Europe has hit stiff resistance from U.S. industry groups and the Obama administration, dimming hopes that the effort could lead to expanded privacy safeguards for users worldwide.
EU data protection reforms: how the process works, and what the ICO is doing – ICO Blog – Put simply, the proposals could prove to be one of the biggest changes to data protection this country has ever seen. Against that backdrop it is no surprise that we’ve been monitoring events in Europe closely, looking at how the initial reform proposals, published by the European Commission in January 2012, might be brought into law.
In a French Case, a Battle to Unmask Twitter Users – NYT – A French court on Thursday told Twitter to identify people who had posted anti-Semitic and racist entries on the social network. Twitter is not sure it will comply. And the case is yet another dust-up in the struggle over speech on the Internet, and which countries’ laws prevail.
Proposed ‘privacy tax’ would penalize firms that profit from consumers’ data – NBC – A groundbreaking new “privacy tax” could stem companies’ abuse of consumer privacy, argues a report commissioned by the French government.
Big Data Brings Big Privacy Concerns – CIO – Wary of privacy implications of massive data collection systems, the Senate Commerce Committee plans to continue a probe of the industry, coinciding with a separate inquiry underway at the Federal Trade Commission.
Twitter Introduces Vine, a New Video Feature, but With Privacy Snags – NYT – On Thursday, Twitter introduced Vine, a new video sharing service, albeit with a few serious privacy hiccups.
Disney CEO rips ‘ill-informed’ Markey over ‘MagicBands’ criticism – The Hill – Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger sent a scathing letter to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday after the lawmaker questioned Disney’s plans to roll out a new technology used to track guests at its theme parks, calling Markey’s concerns “ludicrous and utterly ill-informed.
Google Tells Cops to Get Warrants for User E-Mail, Cloud Data – Wired – Google demands probable-cause, court-issued warrants to divulge the contents of Gmail and other cloud-stored documents to authorities in the United States — a startling revelation Wednesday that runs counter to federal law that does not always demand warrants.
Google report reveals continued rise in US government requests for data – The Guardian – Transparency report shows officials bypassing judicial approval under controversial Electronic Communications Privacy Act
