Privacy

After a state Supreme Court suggestion, lawmakers amended the state’s biometric privacy law Thursday. If signed by the governor, the law would limit damages collection to when biometric information is collected or disclosed without consent.

State legislators have agreed on what should be done about protecting residents from artificial intelligence, and against the use of deepfakes in elections. Proposed laws taking action on each have gone to Gov. Jared Polis for his signature.

Hackers who breached Wichita, Kan., police and traffic records were able to access residents’ personal information, including names, Social Security numbers and driver's licenses. Since then, the city’s network has remained down.

The health-care network is doing restoration after a ransomware attack May 8 affected network systems tracking test results, procedures and medications. Ascension runs more than 350 hospitals and urgent care centers in Indiana alone.

While generative artificial intelligence is getting all the headlines, K-12 district leaders still rank cybersecurity, data privacy and staffing as bigger priorities, followed by training and funding.

In an effort to force collaboration on data privacy and online safety laws, two Congressional representatives propose doing away with part of a U.S. law that shields technology and social media platforms from liability for user-generated content.

Attorneys are asking Sacramento, Calif., officials to stop sharing automated license plate reader information with out-of-state law enforcement agencies that could use it to prosecute people seeking abortions or gender-affirming medical care.

Among its directives, the order from the Maryland county’s executive creates an AI task force that will be responsible for drafting strategies, use cases and priorities. “Digital access equity” is central to that work.

Video surveillance for security reasons is fairly common on college campuses, but as law enforcement increasingly uses facial recognition to identify suspects, protestors worry they could be targeted for expressing opinions.

The proposal is called the American Privacy Rights Act, and it aims to “make privacy a consumer right” and “give consumers the ability to enforce that right,” doing so at a pivotal moment.

Chief Privacy Officer, Washington

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming mainstream for public agencies. But as state tech leaders look toward the benefits of the technology in the coming years, they are also sounding cautionary notes.

The new technology, demonstrated Wednesday at the city’s international airport, verifies travelers’ identities by matching an ID to a photo taken at a TSA checkpoint. The system alerts on fraudulent or expired identification.

Nearly 2,800 patients at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester may have had files with personal and health information exposed, in what the hospital called a third-party “data security incident.” Those potentially affected will be notified by mail.

Lawmakers in both chambers of the Statehouse have been highly critical of bills that would safeguard residents’ data privacy online. Two competing proposals survive, albeit narrowly.

Lawmakers advanced data privacy legislation that supporters say would be unique in the U.S. in protecting individual privacy and limiting the type of digital information companies can collect and maintain.

Cyber attacks and the related expenses of identifying the incident, fixing it, notifying customers — and improving security — has become routine in the Vancouver, Wash., area. This in turn has sparked demand for cybersecurity professionals.

A court battle over a social media account highlights a larger issue. Even if our earthly affairs are in order when we die, privacy questions around who should own our data may be unanswered — and tough to resolve.