Tools to help businesses prepare for GDPR compliance
The data processing landscape has seen huge changes since 1995, in May 2018 the EU is replacing the Directive with a new regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Enforceable from May 2018, organizations have had to take account of their responsibilities under the DPA for many years now.
Many have mature and well-considered data management policies in place that already address elements of the GDPR. Nonetheless, with the threat of significant penalties for data breaches under the GDPR it would be prudent to reexamine procedures and to consider how these can be enhanced to ensure compliance when GDPR comes into effect in May 2018.
Evernote issues yet another privacy policy statement: makes note snooping opt-in only
With the world so focused on privacy, Evernote should really not have been surprised when there was something of a backlash at an update to its privacy policy that said company employees would be able to access users' unencrypted notes.
Forced to clarify the situation, CEO Chris O'Neill issued an apology for any "confusion" and "angst" the announcement caused, but this was seemingly not enough. Faced with mounting pressure and criticism, the company admits it "messed up" and has now announced that employees will only be able to access notes if users opt-in to allow this. Furthermore, Evernote "will not implement the previously announced Privacy Policy changes that were scheduled to go into effect January 23, 2017".
Evernote clarifies its 'poorly communicated' angst-rousing privacy policy update
There has been great concern over the last day or so following an update to Evernote's Privacy Policy. The update said that Evernote employees might be able to access unencrypted notes as part of a human review of machine learning technologies. Users were unsurprisingly rather concerned, and there was much talk online of a mass exodus to OneNote and other alternatives.
In the face of a user backlash, Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill has issued an apology for any "angst we may have caused" and stressed that "privacy has always been at the heart" of the company. He concedes that the changes to the Privacy Policy were "communicated poorly"... but then managed to half-shift the blame for upset back onto users by saying the change "resulted in some understandable confusion".
Google agrees to change its email scanning systems to avoid a privacy lawsuit
The fact that Google scans the contents of emails sent and received through Gmail has been known for some time now. It's just one of the ways in which the company gathers information about users to help deliver targeted advertising. Faced with a lawsuit over the privacy implications of this technique, Google has agreed to change its scanning systems.
Before you check to see whether hell has indeed frozen over, this is hardly a dramatic change of heart for Google. The change is only very slight, and in practice it will make little -- if any difference -- to end users.
Starting next year, Evernote employees could access your unencrypted notes
Evernote has published an update to its Privacy Policy, revealing that as of 23 January 2017, employees will be able to access unencrypted notes. The change is being wheeled in because of the apparent failings of machine learning.
Perhaps more worrying is the fact that Evernote says that it is not possible to opt out of having employees possibly accessing your unencrypted notes. The only way to fully protect your privacy is to delete all your notes and close your Evernote account.
Protect yourself online with EFF's updated Privacy Badger 2.0
In the second decade of the 21st century, the blind excitement about the internet has worn off -- now users are aware of the dangers and are concerned about privacy. Cookies have been around for just about as long as web connections, but there are all manner of ways to track people and spy on online activity. This is something that Privacy Badger 2.0 aims to help with.
Coming from the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, the tool takes the form of a browser extension -- available for Chrome, Opera and Firefox. It blocks online trackers that can be used to monitor your activity, ensuring your privacy.
GDPR predictions for 2017
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is due to come into force on May 25, 2018. This means that IT teams have more than a year to audit their IT systems, check existing customer records and data, and ensure that these systems respect the new set of rules that will be in place.
However, the gap between intentions and actions can be a big one. So what do I predict will happen around GDPR in 2017?
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter join forces to fight terrorism
Terrorism is a daily threat to our freedoms. It is unfortunate, as we used to be able to go throughout our days without the thought of violence. Now, it dominates the news. Heck, when I am in Penn Station in NYC, I see soldiers with machine guns. Sigh.
Unfortunately, terrorists thrive on the internet too. Using social media and video platforms like YouTube, these evil-doers look to recruit new members while sharing propaganda. Today, Google announces that it is partnering with some major players -- Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter -- to fight online terrorism with a special database. The partners will look to protect user privacy in the process.
Google's Trusted Contacts app lets you share your location with friends and family
Google is making it easy to share your location with your friends and family, introducing a new Android app, called Trusted Contacts, that lets select contacts know exactly where you are at any given time.
Google has designed Trusted Contacts so that if you do not manually accept a request within five minutes it will automatically share your location with that contact. This should come in handy when you are unable to pick up your smartphone or cannot hear it ring.
Apple letter all but confirms plans for self-driving cars and commitment to privacy
We've known (or at least believed) for some time that Apple has been working on some form of automated vehicle, but the company has remained tight-lipped about what it is up to. Now, however, a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the strongest official hint that Apple is working on something.
The letter -- written by Apple's Director of Product Integrity, Steve Kenner, back in November -- has just come to light, in it Apple praises NHTSA's policies on automated vehicles, and stresses the importance of machine learning, data sharing, and user privacy in ensuring the development and safety of such technologies.
Facebook is monitoring Roku and Apple TV streams to deliver targeted advertising
Internet users are accustomed to the idea of targeted advertising. Both Google and Facebook take into account the things you look for online, the things you look at, the people you are connected to, and so on, and use this information to pelt you with ads they think you will respond to.
Having been forced to stop using data gathered from WhatsApp to deliver targeted ads to social network users, you might think that Facebook would consider toning down its ad personalization. But you would be wrong. For the last few weeks, Facebook has been testing the delivery of targeted ads to Roku and Apple TV based on what people are watching.
The UK government's latest deluded idea: 'banning' underage sexting on social media
When the UK government is not busy looking for ways to invade internet users' privacy, it's looking for ways to restrict what they are able to do online -- particularly when it comes to things of a sexual nature.
The health secretary Jeremy Hunt has made calls for technology companies and social media to do more to tackle the problems of cyberbullying, online intimidation and -- rather specifically -- under-18-year-olds texting sexually explicit images. Of course, he doesn't have the slightest idea about how to go about tackling these problems, but he has expressed his concern so that, in conjunction with passing this buck to tech companies, should be enough, right?
The Internet Archive to set up Canadian mirror to stay out of Trump's reach
Many people are concerned about just what Donald Trump might do when he becomes president in 2017, and some of the biggest concerns lie in the fields of technology and the internet. Worried about what the arrival of President Trump could mean, the Internet Archive is collecting donations to fund a Canadian mirror of the site.
The Internet Archive of Canada will lie outside of the jurisdiction of the US government and is being built based on the idea that "lots of copies keep stuff safe". Currently based in San Francisco, a blog post by the Internet Archive makes reference to fears about greater online restrictions that could be put in place by the US.
The Snooper's Charter is now law, giving the UK some of the most extensive, invasive and draconian web surveillance powers in the world
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016, the Snooper's Charter, legalized spying: call it what you will, the UK now officially has some of the most extreme internet surveillance powers in the world. The Investigatory Powers Bill was today given royal assent, meaning it has now passed into law.
Unsurprisingly, there have been huge protests from privacy groups, and an online petition against the new powers has already gained more than 136,000 signatures. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 not only requires ISPs to store records of their customers' browsing history, but also make this data available to dozens of government agencies, and even permits state hacking of phones and computers.
Cold War 2.0: Russia is borrowing the Great Firewall of China to implement greater state censorship and control
The Great Firewall of China is a famous tool of censorship and state control of the internet -- and Russia wants to throw up its own version of the web filtering system. Russia already operates the so-called 'red web' which is used to not only monitor what Russian citizens are up to online, but also implementing blocks and filters such as the recent ban on LinkedIn.
But now President Putin wants to step things up a notch. Russia and China have become close allies in recent years, particularly in the field of state control of the internet, and there are plans to roll out even greater controls over what web users are able to do and access online, ostensibly from fears of an uprising against the government.
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