GDPR

GDPR fines of over $1.1bn in Q3 2021

Total GDPR fines for Q3 2021 amounted to over $1.1bn. Twenty times higher than the combined total of Q1 and Q2 in 2021, and triple the amount handed out in 2020. 

European Parliament wants to ban facial recognition in public spaces

The European Parliament wants a permanent ban on the use of automated facial recognition in public areas and at border crossings. Parliament also wants a ban on private facial recognition databases, social scoring systems of citizens and behavioral data-based ‘predictive policing’. A resolution calling for this was passed with 377 votes in favour, 248 against … Read more

Norwegian privacy regulator not on Facebook due to privacy risks

The Norwegian privacy regulator Datatilsynet has decided on the basis of research not to create a Facebook page because the privacy risks for users are too great. To the best of its knowledge, the regulator is the first organization to have carried out a risk analysis and a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) into the … Read more

Dutch parliament approves roll out of Corona App for access control in society

The introduction of a corona QR-ticket necessity for access catering, theaters and events with the exception of terraces will be implemented on the 25th of September in The Netherlands following EU countries like France and Italy. The members in favour have great concerns about security, privacy, freedom of choice but think the measure is proportionate … Read more

How T-Mobile, with of 40 million users affected by the databreach, was hacked?

According to the CEO the bad actor leveraged their knowledge of technical systems, along with specialized tools and capabilities, to gain access to our testing environments and then used brute force attacks and other methods to make their way into other IT servers that included customer data. Compromised information includes customer names, addresses, Social Security … Read more

Data Brokers Know Where & Who You Are!

In the USA 10 major data brokers have data on individuals’ demographic characteristics (from race to gender to income level) and political preferences and beliefs (including support for the NAACP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the National LGBTQ Task Force), and on current US government and military personnel. Several of these firms also market: Americans’ geo-locations. … Read more

New standard contractual clauses for data transfers outside of the EU/EEA

Today the Commission issued modernised standard contractual clauses under the GDPR for data transfers from controllers or processors in the EU/EEA (or otherwise subject to the GDPR) to controllers or processors established outside the EU/EEA (and not subject to the GDPR). These modernised SCCs will replace the three sets of SCCs that were adopted under … Read more

EDPS investigates use of Amazon’s and Microsoft’s services by EU authorities

The European privacy regulator EDPS is launching two investigations into the use of Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services by EU authorities. The reason is the invalidity of the Privacy Shield treaty between the EU and the United States. The European regulator states that when using the tools and services of major service providers, personal data … Read more

Ransomware pandemic gets AXA

Cyberinsurance giant AXA said that it would no longer be writing policies to cover ransomware payments. Now AXA in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Phillippines have reportedly been hit… by a ransomware attack. The ransomware gang posted on its website over the weekend that it had stolen 3 terabytes worth of data, including: customers’ … Read more