Privacy
Coverage of the way technology is changing the kinds of data state and local government collects about citizens, how it uses that data and the ethical and security implications of that. Includes stories about police body cameras, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, medical data, surveillance, etc., as well as privacy policy nationwide.
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The new technology, which the police department in Norwalk, Conn., recently launched, “makes things a whole lot easier,” its Chief James Walsh said. The software is an upgrade to officer cameras.
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The county Board of Commissioners has delayed a decision on whether to renew contracts for 30 surveillance cameras. Residents have voiced their objections and a commissioner has shared his concern.
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Automatic license plate reader technology gathers data and images for use by government agencies for law enforcement, and this bill prevents that data from being used by immigration authorities.
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A University of Massachusetts Amherst professor is collaborating with Gizmodo, the American Civil Liberties Union and other universities to make the Facebook Papers available to the public.
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If signed into law, House Bill 4778 would ban state agencies from using apps like Signal, Telegram and Whatsapp on government-issued devices to avoid Freedom of Information Act requirements.
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Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice mailed a letter to Portland's city attorney and police chief recommending that all uniformed officers wear body cameras. Questions remain about how the cameras would be used.
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After Gov. Mike Parson condemned a reporter for exposing a data leak on a state website, his administration will pay $800,000 to provide credit monitoring to 620,000 former and current teachers affected by the leak.
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A Federal Trade Commission report says the largest Internet service providers don't clearly inform customers about the many ways their data is used and often have "problematic interfaces" for customer data options.
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Making state history, Maryland now has a chief privacy officer in Laura Gomez-Martin and a chief data officer in Patrick McLoughlin. The appointments were announced yesterday by Gov. Larry Hogan.
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When COVID-19 broke out nationwide, the avalanche of related health data overwhelmed the federal government's outdated data infrastructure. More needs to be done if the country is to be ready for the next health crisis.
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Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act Working Group has recommended giving the Attorney General’s office new tools to enforce the privacy law as well as launching consumer education efforts.
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The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has a camera surveillance program that cities can participate in. City officials in Santee have agreed to join the program, but issues remain that may prevent participation.
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A report by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office says 6.3 million notices of data breaches have been delivered to state residents in 2021. This number eclipses the previous record of 3.5 million in 2018.
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Tampa International Airport is considering its post-pandemic future, with plans to incorporate emerging technologies such as electric air taxis, self-driving vehicles, facial recognition and contactless equipment.
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Despite the California Consumer Privacy Act taking effect last year, how data is collected and used in workplace settings is still largely unregulated — even when it comes to remote workers logging in from home.
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The chief of the Española Police Department in New Mexico says automated license plate readers can help detect stolen cars and license plates, but watchdogs have voiced concerns about possible misuses of the tech.
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Facebook, which recently rebranded itself as Meta, is doing away with its facial recognition system and the company will also soon delete the facial scan data of more than a billion users on the platform.
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The Michigan Senate gave approval Tuesday to a bill that would ban the use on state-issued phones of text messaging encryption apps that can be used to evade the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
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Hackers exploited a vulnerability in out-of-date Atlassian software used by the University of Colorado Boulder and compromised the data of about 30,000 people. No financial info or Social Security numbers were leaked.
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Earlier this month, UMass Memorial Health, a health-care system in Worchester, Mass., informed 209,048 patients that their private information may have been compromised due to an email-related data breach.
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The bill, which passed the Ohio Senate earlier this year, passed the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee yesterday. The legislation would make telecommunications fraud a fourth-degree felony.
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