Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Friday that his office was suing TWC Product and Technology, the company which operates the Weather Channel’s smartphone app, which provides users with real-time weather information and forecasts. The City Attorney’s office alleged that TWC Product and Technology has been “covertly mining the private data of users and selling the information to third parties, including advertisers.”
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has declined to hear a case regarding the legality of Obama-era Net Neutrality rules–putting an end to a lengthy legal battle by declining to hear USTelecom’s appeal. The telecommunication industry group originally sued the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) under the belief that the FCC lacked the authority to impose public-utility, common-carrier obligations on broadband internet access service. Under the Obama-era rules, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were barred from blocking or throttling web content or creating the so-called internet “fast lanes.”
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee heard testimony today detailing the workings of data privacy laws in Europe and California–specifically the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)–amid a growing groundswell for Congress to work on a national data privacy law for the U.S.
A new report from The Century Foundation, a progressive think-tank, urges state law enforcement officials to take action on data privacy regulations in the absence of any substantial movement in that direction by the Federal government.
Even as Apple went public yesterday with a new mobile device operating system intended to close security loopholes that law enforcement agencies were using to access locked devices, one digital forensics firm said it found a workaround to bypass the new security features for a cost of about forty bucks.
California lawmakers on Thursday passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, one of the toughest U.S. laws governing data privacy. The legislation specifically targets information companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, and AT&T–many of whom are headquartered in California.
A new study finds that the public is warming up to the use of biometric identification technology, but remains wary of tracking applications and is looking to government to set standards in that area.
In a new report, the Brookings Institution examines how digital technology, mobile networks, and integrated solutions help officials in 17 global cities, including two U.S. cities, manage public safety and law enforcement.
St. Louis Alderman Terry Kennedy proposed a bill that would require law enforcement surveillance cameras and program plans to be reviewed by the Board of Aldermen in order to protect citizens’ privacy.
About 1 million people are expected to flock to Houston for 10 days of Super Bowl-related activities and more than 100 million people are expected to watch the Feb. 5 game on television. Officials have been working for more than a year to perfect a surveillance-based approach, more sophisticated than in past years, that includes surveillance cameras, overhead helicopters, and Houston police.
