Facebook has offered a special exemption from its data handling practices to Schleswig-Holstein after the northern German state’s data protection commissioner complained about the online social network’s popular “like” button. Thilo Weichert, who leads the state’s data protection efforts, said in August that the site’s “like” button violated German privacy laws because it allowed Facebook…
Category: Laws
Wyden Pushes for Warrants for Govt. Geolocation Tracking
John Eggerton reports: As advertised, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), joined by new co-sponsor Sen. Ron Kirk (R-Ill.), Tuesday (Oct. 18) renewed his push for a bill introduced in both the House and Senate — the Geolocation Privacy Surveillance, or “GPS,” Act — that would make the government get a court’s permission before using geolocation from…
UK Information Tribunal Rules Properly Anonymized Personal Data Can Be Disclosed Under FOIA
On September 7, 2011, the United Kingdom Information Tribunal published a decision that appears to resolve the long-running uncertainty regarding the extent to which anonymized personal information may be disclosed under the UK’s Freedom of Information legislation. The UK’s FOIA was introduced and applicable to most of the UK in 2000, with equivalent law following for Scotland…
Many Failures: A Brief History of Privacy Self-Regulation in the United States
Bob Gellman and Pam Dixon have written a report for the World Privacy Forum: “Many Failures: A Brief History of Privacy Self-Regulation in the United States.” Here’s the summary of their report: Major efforts to create self-regulatory, or voluntary, guidelines in the area of privacy began in 1997. Industry promoted privacy self-regulation at the time…