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Massive violations of US households data

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On April 30, 2019, vpnMentor published an article revealing that hacktivists Noam Rotem and Ran Locar discovered an unprotected database impacting up to 80 million American households (65% of US households). The 24 GB database was hosted by a Microsoft cloud server and included the number of people living in each household with their full names, their marital status, income bracket, age, date of birth and more. It included data of people over the age of 40. VpnMentor doesn’t know to which Read more [...]

U.S. Supreme Court deems that international organizations do not have “absolute immunity” when acting as private players in the market

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On February 27, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 affords international organizations the same immunity from suit that foreign governments enjoy today under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976. Jam et al. v. International Finance Corporation 586 U.S. __ (2019). This means that their immunity is not absolute and the international organizations may be called to answer in mass tort and class action lawsuits before U.S. courts. By Read more [...]

FTC’s investigation into Facebook data practices could result in a fine up to 5 billion, Facebook estimates

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On April 24, 2019, Facebook published its financial results for the first quarter, where it estimated a probable loss and recorded an accrual of $3 billion  in connection with an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission  (FTC).  The investigation could result in a penalty of up to 5 billion. The FTC began its investigation into Facebook’s mishandling of data after the New York Times reported in March 2018 that the information of 87 million users had been harvested by a British Read more [...]

EU Parliament resolution to create vast biometric database

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On April 16, 2019, the European Parliament informed that it decided to create the Common Identity Repository (CIR). The CIR will interconnect a series of data systems (listed below) into a gigantic biometric database containing data about EU and non-EU citizens to improve data exchange between EU information systems to manage borders, security and migration. After the formal approval of the Council, member states will have two years to adopt the new rules. The main elements of the new legislation Read more [...]

EDPS’s Guidelines on Article 6(1)(b) lawful basis for processing in online services open for comments until May 24

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On November 9, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted guidelines on the GDPR’s lawful basis for processing. In particular, the EDPB provided guidance on the “contractual necessity basis for processing personal data in the context of online services.” Guidelines 2/2019 on the processing of personal data under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR in the context of the provision of online services to data subjects.  The Guidelines are open for public consultation until May 24, 2019.   Photo Read more [...]