Saja Hindi reports: Social media ads sometimes seem to know a little too much about you — where you shop, the products you buy or what websites you’ve been frequenting. Big tech companies store this information about consumers, and it’s long been fueling a debate about how to balance data privacy with letting businesses cater…
Category: Laws
Two New Laws Restrict Police Use of DNA Search Method
Virginia Hughes reports: New laws in Maryland and Montana are the first in the nation to restrict law enforcement’s use of genetic genealogy, the DNA matching technique that in 2018 identified the Golden State Killer, in an effort to ensure the genetic privacy of the accused and their relatives. Beginning on Oct. 1, investigators working…
UK: Health workers ‘fear that flagging child abuse will breach data laws’
Fiona Hamilton, George Greenwood, and Paul Morgan-Bentley report: Health professionals are failing to tell police about child rape victims because they fear it will breach data protection requirements, one of the country’s most senior police officers has said. Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, said the failure to share information…
The Privacy Act Project: Revisiting and Revising the Privacy Act of 1974
Pam Dixon and Bob Gellman write: The Privacy Act of 1974 is an orphan. At a time when privacy is a hot legislative topic just about everywhere, almost no one has examined the Privacy Act, one of the oldest information privacy laws in the world. The act reflects the technologies of the 1970s, like ancient…