Joseph Cox reports: The Secret Service never actually checked whether people gave proper consent to be tracked by a mobile phone location monitoring tool, despite claiming the data was collected with peoples’ permission, the agency admitted in an email obtained by 404 Media. The email undermines the Secret Service’s and other U.S. federal agencies’ justification…
Massive VW Group Data Leak Exposed 800,000 EV Owners’ Movements, From Homes To Brothels
Thanos Pappas reports: Many people worry about hackers stealing their personal data, but sometimes, the worst breaches come not from shadowy cybercriminals but straight from the companies we trust. According to a new report from Germany, the VW Group stored sensitive information for 800,000 electric vehicles from various brands on a poorly secured Amazon cloud—essentially leaving…
Texas hits data brokers for not registering, underscoring a larger privacy problem
Suzanne Smalley reports: Data broker registries are now operative in four states but many do not register, a fact which makes it difficult for authorities to track their business practices and alert consumers to their operations. Texas sent violation notices last Monday warning six businesses that they must register with the state or face fines of…
HHS Barred From Enforcing Abortion Privacy Rule Against Doctor
Mary Anne Pazanowski reports: A Texas doctor doesn’t have to comply with a federal privacy rule that protects reproductive health-care information from unauthorized disclosures, a federal judge in the state said. Carmen Purl demonstrated that she’s likely to win on her claim that the US Department of Health and Human Services exceeded its statutory authority…