Privacy News and Views for April 20

April 22, 2020 April 20, 2018 By Eric Stroshane 1 Comment

Featured:

Choose Privacy Week 2018: Explore, Learn, & Teach about Big Data
- Choose Privacy Week 2018 Webinar: A Practical Guide to Privacy Audits (Recording) (Slides)

Libraries and Privacy

Lessons from the Facebook fiasco: Apparently libraries may be learning all the wrong ones | Inside Higher Ed

Government Surveillance

U.S. top court rules that Microsoft email privacy dispute is moot | Reuters
Facebook may not sell the data it collects, but the state of Texas sure does | Houston Chronicle

Corporate Surveillance

Algorithmic Accountability: A Primer | Data & Society
Data is the new oil and Facebook is Standard Oil | The Hill
Google’s Facebook Copycat Moves Leave It More Exposed to Privacy Backlash | Bloomberg
Beyond Cambridge Analytica — The Surveillance Companies Infiltrating And Manipulating Social Media | Forbes
“Cambridge Analytica Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg”: Why the Privacy Crisis Is Bigger Than Facebook | Vanity Fair
App Permissions Don’t Tell Us Nearly Enough About Our Apps | Wired
Practical Approaches to Big Data Privacy Over Time | Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society
The Personal Data of 346,000 People, Hung on a Museum Wall | The New York Times

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook (Oy!)

Facebook knows a ton about your health. Now they want to make money off it. | The Washington Post
Facebook moves 1.5bn users out of reach of new European privacy law | The Guardian
- Facebook moves to shrink its legal liabilities under GDPR | TechCrunch
- Facebook to exclude billions from European privacy laws | BBC News
- Facebook is making a tiny change that will protect it from strict privacy laws | The Daily Dot
Facebook fuels broad privacy debate by tracking non-users | Reuters
Facebook Is Steering Users Away From Privacy Protections | Wired
- Facebook’s plain English privacy options are still worded so you’ll upload more personal data | The Mic
Facebook Is Creepy. And Valuable. | The New York Times
Facebook Looks To Ramp Up Outreach With Conservatives And Libertarians To Help Combat Privacy Rules | The Daily Caller
Your Facebook friends could be leaving you vulnerable to major privacy invasions | Vox
Facebook says it will help academics use its data. Here’s how that’s supposed to work. | Chronicle of Higher Education

Students’ and Minors’ Privacy

Privacy Self-Defense

Biometric Privacy

Facebook must face class action over facial recognition: U.S. judge | Reuters

Right to be Forgotten

Privacy Law and Regulation

California’s Consumer Right to Privacy Ballot Initiative – What You Need to Know | Lexology
Before Facebook, There Was GeoCities | Slate
Daily Read: Curing the Inequality of Privacy Protections | Constitutional Law Prof Blog
Commentary: How to Really Protect Your Digital Privacy: Move to Europe | Fortune

Encryption

Explaining the Crypto in Cryptocurrency | Investopedia
Surveillance Hawks Plan New Legislative Attacks on Encryption | The New American
Fired FBI director James Comey reveals how Apple and Google’s encryption efforts “drove me crazy” | Fast Company

This Week in Data Breaches

Medical Records of Texas Health Patients May Have Been Exposed in Data Breach | NBC5 / Dallas Morning News

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Guidelines for Private Online Searching & Browsing Julie Oborny
There are few options for searching without being tracked. To search anonymously from home requires tech-savvy and money. This is something many people do not have. Libraries should help any user access information anonymously. Guidelines A group of library privacy experts created the following guidelines. Use them to bolster your efforts. Starting a Computer or Wi-Fi Session Offer Guest User Options: Allow users to log in to public computers and Wi-Fi without using their personal library card. This can be facilitated through the use of guest passes. Do not require identification or keep logs of users who check out a guest pass or sign in as a guest. Avoid Paper Sign-up Sheets: Do NOT have paper sign-up sheets for the computers. If there is no other option, practice the following: Staff should always be in control of these paper sign-up sheets Only require the minimum amount of data needed for reserving a computer. Shred paper sheets at the end of the day. Filtering Software No Logging: Filtering software should not log user activity. Ensure and verify that this is not happening on filtered computers. Guest Passes: If disabling logging is not possible, offer a guest pass at no charge. Age Data: Do not capture proof of age when removing filters. Just verify. Erasing Computer Sessions Public Computers: Set public computers to load a fresh computer image after each user session. Software example: Deep Freeze. End sessions automatically if the user forgets to log out at the end of a session. Circulated/Loaned Devices: Reset or reimage borrowed devices at point of check-in. Examples of devices: laptops, tablets, and other mobile devices. Session Logs: Do not store logs of users’ computer or Wi-Fi sessions for longer than 24 hours. Delete computer reservation and Wi-Fi session logs that contain personal information. Include this practice as a closing activity. Do not collect information about user activity during a public computer or Wi-Fi session. Activity examples: applications used and web browser activity. Printers: Clear the print queue for the print management system daily. Physical Protections Physical Space: Arrange the physical library space for privacy. People should be able to use personal technology without observation. If security cameras are required inside the buildings, optimize for privacy. Check to make sure they are not pointed toward screens or other places where they may record library use. Privacy Screens: Provide easily accessible privacy screens. These screens should be available for any user who needs one. If possible, install privacy screens on all public computers. Shredding: Shred print-outs left at the printer. Provide access to shredders for users. Browsers & Search Tools Default Search: Set DuckDuckGo as the default search for all browsers. Default Browsers: Set the default browser on computers to Brave or Firefox. Anonymous Search with Tor: Install the Tor browser on all public access computers. Provide guides for users about how to use Tor for anonymous searching. Training For Users Guides: Provide guides to users who wish to remain anonymous online. Examples: Personal Accounts: Do not log in to any personal accounts during the entire session. Examples: Google Amazon Facebook Learning Management Systems Private vs. Public: Treat school or work cloud-document services as public record. Don’t use these services to keep track of sensitive information. Search Tools: Use a privacy-focused search engine, such as DuckDuckGo. Mobile Browsers: Download privacy-focused browsers on mobile devices. Examples: Firefox Focus Brave Tor DuckDuckGo Tech Help: Assist users in installing encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal. Programs: Device Settings: Teach users how to turn off the following on their devices: Personalized advertising or ad tracking (iOS and Android) Location sharing Unused and unnecessary app permissions VPNs: Teach users about virtual private networks (VPNs): How to pick one. Refer to https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-you How to install one. This depends on the VPN. How to use one. This depends on the VPN. Attendance: Allow people to attend these training programs anonymously. Alternatives: Provide digital and physical resources for those who are unable or unwilling to attend in person. Example: https://sec.eff.org/ For Staff New Hires: Include privacy training as part of new-hire onboarding. Ongoing: Have regular privacy training for library workers. State Laws: Review state laws on confidentiality of library use data. Do this with all library workers. Communication: Share updates on changes in privacy issues. Do this especially for state and national laws.
Data Privacy Week – January 24-28, 2022 Stacy Tomaszewski
This year, the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCSA) has expanded its Data Privacy Day to a week! Data Privacy Day started in 2008 as a North American complement to Data Protection Day in Europe. The purpose of Data Privacy Week is to help “spread awareness about online privacy and [educate] citizens on how to manage their personal information and keep it secure” and to “ [encourage] businesses to respect data and be more transparent about how they collect and use customer data.”
Book review of ‘Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care’ Virginia Dressler
“Data, I’ve found, is becoming like the weather; it’s something that almost anyone can talk about.” Cyber Privacy by April Falcon Doss is a timely title on so many key issues around data privacy in the online world– And Doss is well-positioned to write on this topic, with her thirteen years working at the NSA and later working in a private sector practice focusing on cyber-security and privacy issues. I found this title to be a thoughtful and well-written perspective, primarily centered on the U.S.