The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a rare alert to parents about “smart toys,” that is, those that connect to WiFi, and may contain microphones, sensors, and other information-gathering capacities. The alert states that these kinds of toys could pose risks to childrens’ privacy and safety.  The alert, issued 17 July, 2017, states: “Smart

The Global Risk Report 2017 from the World Economic Forum cites threats to global economic wellbeing ranging from natural disasters and large scale involuntary migration to — this year — risks arising from a “growing cyberdependency.” Specific risks the report calls out in this category are cyberattacks, data fraud and theft, critical infrastructure breakdown, and  “adverse

At Biometrics 2016 in London, I gave a keynote presentation on the state of biometrics policy and privacy, with suggestions for further work. Several aspects of that presentation have garnered follow-up requests, including requests for more information about my discussion of the “Fishbone Model” of biometric template security, a model I like very much and have

The US Postal Service’s new Informed Delivery system has the potential to impact every household in the United States that receives mail. It’s important, and there are plenty of privacy issues. The World Privacy Forum wrote extensive comments to the United States Postal Service warning it about certain consumer privacy and security risks of its Informed Delivery service. Here’s more information about Informed Delivery, and why it may create new phishing risks.

This coming Thursday, WPF Executive Director Pam Dixon will give a keynote speech on health privacy and security, “The New Healthcare Fraud Continuum.” Based on her latest research in health privacy, this talk will be Dixon’s first talk about the new fraud continuum, what it is, how it operates, what it means to providers and patients,