Privacy

Municipal law enforcement has begun the physical device reprogramming process that will ultimately take its police scanner traffic off the air. A privacy advocate noted the need for greater transparency into government work.

Student privacy expert Ross Lemke says schools need more FERPA training, better cybersecurity and careful vendor vetting to prevent doing a “potential lifetime of harm” by failing to protect their data.

Lawmakers in several states are considering bills that would give residents more control over their data. A measure under consideration in Texas would formally recognize global privacy controls.

A federal lawsuit alleges that Google embeds hidden “tracking” technologies in its education products to follow students’ online activity as they use websites and apps, creating a “fingerprint” specific to each child.

At a workshop this week at the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference, student data privacy expert Linnette Attai said thorough data mapping and policy review are fundamental to data protection.

A new report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers highlights the large increase in the number of state CPOs. It also offers a blueprint for states or executives to create a privacy program.

Security experts are currently tuned in to FedRAMP program changes and the potential impact on the way businesses work with government agencies. Some outcomes from its emerging 20x initiative will likely take time to become clear.

Two bills propose cameras in areas with high numbers of accidents, and where construction is happening, to enforce speed limits. Current law prohibits using their use to gather evidence for a citation, in most instances.

The U.S. General Services Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, known as FedRAMP, will develop and implement a new approach to authorizations to make them easier and cheaper.

Data plays an essential role in governance, and a new report from the Open Technology Institute illuminates an urgent need for public-sector adoption of technologies that help enable secure use of data.

Most K-12 ed-tech leaders are responsible for overseeing student data privacy in their districts even though it’s not part of their job descriptions, and the Consortium for School Networking has resources to help them.

The City Council signed off recently on spending $240,000 for 32 automatic license plate reader cameras, and three surveillance cameras. Two members did, however, express concerns about privacy and surveillance.

The American Federation of Teachers and two other labor unions have sued the Education Department for violating federal privacy laws by granting DOGE access to the agency's data systems.

A bill from state Sen. Tom Umberg seeks to ensure companies collecting such information use it only for the purpose for which it was collected. Once that is done, the data must also be deleted.

Suspicious activity in July prompted an investigation with aid from third-party forensic specialists. Data belonging to around 4,500 residents, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers, may have been improperly accessed.

Longtime executive Ted Cotterill has stepped down as state chief privacy officer and general counsel to the Management Performance Hub. He helped shape the legislation that codified MPH in state law in 2017.

An ever-growing number of regulations and standards leaves many government cyber experts wondering if more guidelines necessarily equate to better cybersecurity.

As anger builds toward public-sector officials, at least one online privacy data company is reporting increased interest in its services. The company’s leader discusses his response to the current tension.