i3 - January/February 2020 - 16

Tech

By Murray Slovick

New
Emphasis on
Privacy and
Data Security

 T 

he data protection world was busy in 2019. In July,
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Facebook
$5 billion for inappropriately sharing information
belonging to 87 million users with the now-defunct British
political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. In September,
the FTC fined YouTube $170 million in the largest penalty
ever levied for violations of the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA), which imposes restrictions on the
use of personal data associated with children ages 12 and
under. According to the law, digital platforms that collect data
from young users are required to have their parents' consent
and parents must be given the option to opt out of having
their children's information shared with third parties.
Data security is now even more important with the advent of the Internet of
Things (IoT). As connected devices
exchange data with servers across networks (e.g., local area networks, cellular
networks and internet service providers),
entry points could be exploited by
enabling unauthorized access and misuse of personal information.

Responding to Criticism

These companies, however, have taken
steps to improve their privacy issues.
Apple and Google now require people to
opt in to take part in the accuracy program. Amazon adjusted its privacy settings
for Alexa after backlash. And Google's Nest
devices now come with physical switches
to turn off cameras and mics.
16

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

Nonetheless, privacy problems
continue. Researchers from Security
Research Labs (SRLabs) recently created apps hiding malicious code that
could leave Google and Amazon smart
speakers exposed to hackers. SRLabs
researchers were able to compromise
the data privacy of users by requesting
and collecting personal data, as well as
eavesdropping on users.
SRLabs developed an app giving
a fake error message which sounded
as if it had closed, while it actually
continued operating, even transcribing everything the user said.
Fortunately, this was not exploited
and SRLabs shared its findings with
both Amazon and Google before
making them public.

Tech giants Apple, Facebook, Google
and Microsoft have called for a federal
data privacy law. In a letter to congressional leaders, Business Roundtable
CEOs urged policymakers to pass a comprehensive national data privacy law that
strengthens protections for Americans.
Over 50 chief executives including
Amazon's Jeff Bezos; Best Buy's Corie
Barry; Cisco Systems' Chuck Robbins;
and IBM's Ginni Rometty signed an
open letter to lawmakers asking for a
federal privacy bill, arguing that consumers may not understand rules "that
may change depending upon the state in
which they reside."
And in a letter sent to Congressman
Ben Ray Lujan, CTA suggested a federal
approach that increases privacy protections and allows the U.S. to remain the
world leader in innovation.
In October, Senator Ron Wyden
(D-OR), proposed legislation ("Mind
Your Business Act") to bring serious
punishments for companies that violate
people's data privacy, including larger
fines and potential jail time for CEOs.
The bill is based on three basic ideas:
consumers must be able to control their
own private information; companies
must provide more transparency about
how they use and share data; and corporate executives should be held personally
responsible for protecting personal information. The bill imposes tough criminal
and civil penalties for knowingly or willfully certifying a false statement in an
annual data protection report.
Privacy will be front and center in
2020, too. The California Consumer
Privacy Act (CCPA), was signed into law
on June 28, 2018, and took effect on
January 1. The law provides new privacy
benefits to California's 40 million residents, granting consumers a right to
know what information companies have
on them, a right to have that information deleted and the right to opt-out of
the sale of that information.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Jing Jing Tsong/Theispot.com

A T EC H TO WATC H
i3 - January/February 2020

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