Consumer Privacy

Feb 23 2021

WPF comments to the US Federal Trade Commission regarding Everalbum proposal

The World Privacy Forum submitted comments to the US Federal Trade Commission regarding its proposed consent order regarding In the Matter of Everalbum, Inc. The FTC alleges that Everalbum misrepresented to its users the circumstances in which the company would utilize face recognition on its users’ photos. The Commission’s complaint also alleges that Everalbum utilized

Jan 23 2020

States That Publish Data Breach Lists: interactive infographic

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have enacted data breach notification laws. The first data breach law was passed in 2002 in California, and in 2018 the final two states, South Dakota and Alabama, passed their data breach laws. Some states require reporting of breaches to the

Jul 24 2019

Highlights of the FTC and DOJ Facebook complaint and order

While the $5 billion fine in the Facebook settlement has received a lot of attention, it is the compliance requirements that come with it that are of particular interest. Also noteworthy are the details in the complaint about how Facebook has handled facial recognition information and phone numbers.

Jun 11 2019

WPF Executive Director Pam Dixon to testify before US Senate on privacy, predictive analytics, and data brokers

Pam Dixon, WPF Executive Director, is testifying before the US Senate Banking Committee today on the topic of privacy, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, data brokers, and predictive analytics. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss our research and what we have documented about the privacy of Americans in a predictive analytics era,”

Dec 19 2018

WPF Statement on NYT revelations of Facebook data practices

WPF is issuing this statement in response to the New York Times article dated 18 December, 2018 regarding Facebook’s data practices. The article provides meaningful new information about the data management and privacy practices of Facebook.

National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...
Report: From the Filing Cabinet to the Cloud: Updating the Privacy Act of 1974

This comprehensive report and proposed bill text is focused on the Privacy Act of 1974, an important and early Federal privacy law that applies to the government sector and some contractors. The Privacy Act was written for the 1970s information era -- an era that was characterized by the use of mainframe computers and filing cabinets. Today's digital information era looks much different than the '70s: smart phones are smarter than the old mainframes, and documents are now routinely digitized and stored and perhaps even analyzed in the cloud, among many other changes. The report focuses on why the Privacy Act needs an update that will bring it into this century, and how that could look and work. This work was written by Robert Gellman, and informed by a two-year multi-stakeholder process.
COVID-19 and HIPAA: HHS’s Troubled Approach to Waiving Privacy and Security Rules for the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the U.S. health ecosystem in numerous ways, including putting pressure on the HIPAA privacy and security rules. The Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the privacy and security rules for the pandemic through the use of statutory and administrative HIPAA waivers. While some of the adjustments are appropriate for the emergency circumstances, there are also some meaningful and potentially unwelcome privacy and security consequences. At an appropriate time, the use of HIPAA waivers as a response to health care emergencies needs a thorough review. This report sets out the facts, identifies the issues, and proposes a roadmap for change.