Articles about Privacy

Companies back employee privacy but don't deliver it

employee snoop

In a new survey of over 1,200 IT and security practitioners 63 percent say it's important or very important to protect employees' privacy in the workforce, yet only 34 percent of organizations think they are effective or very effective in doing so.

The study, carried out by the Ponemon Institute for workforce cyber intelligence company DTEX Systems, also finds that most organizations have a difficult time balancing workforce privacy with the growing need to monitor employee engagement and internal risk, given the shift to remote work.

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Linux Foundation launches Open Voice Network

Speech recognition

Many organizations are now relying on voice assistant systems to handle enquiries, but just as with other forms of information it's important to protect the consumer and the proprietary data that flows through voice.

The Linux Foundation is launching an Open Voice Network, an open source association dedicated to advancing open standards that support the adoption of AI-enabled voice assistance systems.

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Facing the business challenge of open data [Q&A]

Digital data

We're all familiar with the term 'big data' but not perhaps with 'open data'. Open data is information that can be freely reused and distributed, it's often linked with mixing datasets too.

But what challenges does dealing with open data present for enterprises? We spoke to Mo Ladha, product manager at content services platform Hyland, to find out.

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Windows 10 users need to brace themselves for more irritating nags from Microsoft

Windows 10 laptop

Windows 10 users are not strangers to seeing annoying popups, ads and other irritants from Microsoft. The company has a long history of badgering people with nags about its services via pop-up messages and entries in the Start menu or taskbar. With an upcoming version of Edge, this is something that's set to continue.

In the latest dev build of Microsoft Edge, there is evidence that Microsoft is going to display a message to users inviting them to "make the web work for you". This is the company seeking permission from people to use their browsing histories and activities "to personalize Microsoft Edge and Microsoft services". In other words: telemetry.

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Majority of consumers don't trust 'big tech' with their data

Only a third of consumers trust 'big tech' companies more with their data compared to smaller, independent or local companies according to a new study from API management platform Axway.

The study of over 1,000 US adults finds 82 percent of consumers wish they knew what specific data companies have collected about them, and they have concerns that their online data may not be secure.

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US Amazon customers have a week to opt out of Sidewalk -- here's why you should

You've probably heard of Amazon Sidewalk, the company's home networking system. In fact Sidewalk is a bit more than that, it involves devices like Echo speakers and Ring doorbells becoming part of 'mesh networks'.

These networks will, says Amazon, simplify the process of setting up new devices, keep them online even when out of range of home Wi-Fi, and extend the range of tracking devices. However, customers have only a week to opt out if they don't want their devices to be enrolled in Sidewalk.

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New identity platform delivers biometric authentication and enterprise-grade tools

Verification and authentication provider Onfido is launching its Real Identity Platform, which adds a biometric face authenticator as well as new enterprise-grade security tools, including Onfido Private Key Encryption, to its existing identity verification suite.

Onfido Face Authenticate uses 3D Face Liveness Detection AI during user authentication. It's compatible with billions of iOS and Android devices, tablets and PCs.

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Who will scrutinize the scrapers?

Laptop collecting data

Web scraping allows the collection of data from third-party web sources. Data harvesting like this is one of the key pillars of the internet, but while it can be useful it also has the potential for harm.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2016 first brought this type of activity to the wider public's attention but, as of today, there is still no regulatory body to govern its widespread use.

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New app helps manage employee photo usage rights

fake identities

Ensuring consent for the use of digital assets can be a bit of a nightmare. But a new solution from FotoWare ensures that employee photos are only used with the full consent of the subject, freeing content creators and managers who can quickly review, and refresh consents if usage changes.

FotoWare's Consent Management offers mobile and email based signature collection, along with searching and filtering media based on consent status.

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32 percent of Americans are unaware of email tracking

Malicious email

A new survey from email service OnMail reveals that 93 percent of Americans think it's important that companies don't track their email, however, 32 percent don't know that leading email providers do it for advertising purposes.

Interestingly this view is remarkably consistent across age groups with 93 percent or more across all groups believing it's important that businesses don’t track the types of email you open.

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Audacity bows to public pressure and says it will NOT collect telemetry data from users

Perceived invasions of privacy never go down well, as many software developers have discovered. Microsoft has received quite a backlash in response to telemetry in Windows 10, and the recent announcement that the audio editor Audacity was planning to do the same prompted a fierce reaction from users.

Audacity's new owner, Muse Group, has bowed to pressure from users and privacy advocates, announcing that the planned telemetry collection will no longer be going ahead. The company is blaming "communication mistakes" and public "misunderstanding" for the negative response to its previous data collection announcement.

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Beyond Identity looks to a passwordless future

Login zero trust

The death of the password has been predicted for a long time, yet it remains the most common way of logging into systems.

Identity management company Beyond Identity is looking to solve what is one of the biggest challenges in IT security and aims to re-establish trust in authentication chains by finally eliminating passwords as the weakest link.

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Virtual room technology delivers secure customer interactions for the finance sector

One of the problems the finance and banking sector has had during the pandemic has been reduced branch access and the inability to hold face-to-face meetings.

Identity specialist OneSpan has introduced a technology called Virtual Room. Using this, financial institutions and their customers can digitally review and sign documents together without having to combine multiple tools and apps.

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The normalization of data leaks and the privacy paradox [Q&A]

privacy key

Is society becoming too accepting of data breaches? Do we claim to want more privacy but then continue to treat our own data in a cavalier fashion?

A recently leaked internal memo from Facebook revealed the company's plans to normalize data scraping leaks and change the way the public views these incidents.

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Audio editor Audacity has the audacity to add telemetry collection -- and users are not happy

Laptop collecting data

Whatever the reasons behind it, the inclusion of telemetry collection in software never goes down well -- as Microsoft knows all too well from the reaction to Windows 10 telemetry. Now, open-source audio editor Audacity has taken the decision to add such data capture into the software.

The development team stresses that telemetry exists solely to "identify product issues early", but there has already been quite a backlash. The sharing of data with Google and Yandex has not gone well.

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