AFP Relax reports: China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country’s information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls. In September, China’s industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on “safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of…
Category: Govt
The California DMV Is Making $50M a Year Selling Drivers’ Personal Information
Joseph Cox reports: The California Department of Motor Vehicles is generating revenue of $50,000,000 a year through selling drivers’ personal information, according to a DMV document obtained by Motherboard. DMVs across the country are selling data that drivers are required to provide to the organization in order to obtain a license. This information includes names,…
NYPD Pulls Fingerprint Database Offline Due to Ransomware Scare
Dark Reading reports: The New York Police Department (NYPD) pulled its LiveScan fingerprint tracking system offline after a ransomware virus spread to 23 machines connected to the database over the weekend. The incident began on October 5, when a contractor installing a digital display at a Queens police academy plugged in an infected NUC mini-PC,…
Privacy Lapses Could Be Part of Google, Facebook Antitrust Cases
Ben Brody reports: Antitrust authorities probing Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have struggled with scrutinizing companies whose products are popular and free. Now they may have a solution: Use privacy as a test. As the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Congress and the states investigate whether internet companies are flouting antitrust laws, academics and even some…