Public Comments

Sep 30 2016

United States’ Postal Service “Informed Delivery” plan puts consumers at risk

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.

Sep 29 2016

WPF asks Office of Management and Budget to re-evaluate plan to request social media account information on entry/exit forms; requests pilot study

The World Privacy Forum filed comments today with the US Office of Management and Budget regarding a US Customs and Border Protection agency proposal to request social media account information from arriving and departing travelers on entry/exit forms. Earlier this year, WPF wrote comments to CBP directly and urged the agency to drop its proposal to request social media profile information from travelers on these key entry/exit forms due to procedural and policy concerns.

Aug 22 2016

WPF urges US Customs and Border Protection to change course on asking for social media accounts

The World Privacy Forum filed comments today with the US Customs and Border Protection agency regarding a proposal to request social media account information from arriving and departing travelers on entry/exit forms. WPF urged CBP to drop its proposal to request social media profile information from travelers on these key entry/exit forms. The entry forms in question

Apr 15 2016

WPF’s comments to the FDA on cybersecurity, urges increased attention to privacy

The World Privacy Forum submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration in response to its request for public input on its draft guidance on the cybersecurity of medical devices. The privacy considerations for medical devices is significant. Because there are a large number of stakeholders in the life cycle of cyber medical devices, the stakeholders are subject

Apr 04 2016

WPF files comments on US government proposal on confidentiality of drug/alcohol patient records, urges revisions

The World Privacy Forum commented on an important proposal to make changes to the existing rules regarding the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records. The proposal is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. These proposed rule changes are important, as the current

Report: The Geography of Medical Identity Theft

This new WPF report finds that medical identity theft is still a crime that causes great harms to its victims, and that it is growing overall in the United States; however, there’s a catch. The national consumer complaint data suggests that the crime is growing at different rates in different states and regions of the US, creating medical identity theft “hotspots.” These hotspots are important for patients, policymakers, and healthcare stakeholders to know about so as to address potential risks.
A Failure to Do No Harm: India’s Aadhaar biometric ID program

WPF has conducted original research on India's Aadhaar, a national biometric ID system, including field research in India during 2010-2014. WPF has published the original research in a peer-reviewed journal, Nature-Springer, and in Harvard-based Journal of Technology Science. The research found that systemic challenges to data protection and privacy exist in the Aadhaar system, challenges which do have potential remedies. Key lessons can be learned for both the US and the EU as biometric systems grow in popularity.
National IDs Around the World — Interactive map

About this Data Visualization: This interactive map displays the presence...