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The CSA Regulation would force digital service providers to become a privatized police force in all our online [...] messages…
- Ella Jakubowska, Senior Policy Adviser, European Digital Rights
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Welcome to Snippets! The Mozilla Foundation gave consumer privacy in the U.S. a "very creepy" rating in their first ever 'Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter' report, just in time for spooky season 🎃
Plus, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a warrant that compelled Google to turn over search term data, the European Commission has allegedly been running disinformation campaigns in support of the CSAR, Google is trialing an IP masking feature, and more.
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Creep-O-Meter says: Privacy not included
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The Mozilla Foundation released the inaugural edition of their ‘Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter’ digital privacy report. The 2023 results? A rather unflattering “Very Creepy.”
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- The system, which measures consumer digital privacy on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being the least private/most creepy) sets 2023’s score at 75.6.
- Mozilla attributes the score to increased consumer data collection, the inability to use connected devices offline, and complex privacy policies, some of which take up to five hours to read.
- Cars and mental health apps were among the worst offenders—100% of cars failed to meet Mozilla’s Minimum Security Standards and 40% of mental health apps received worse scores than in 2022.
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Apply to join the Privacy Pulse community 👋
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Privacy Pulse is an invite-only community where privacy professionals can crowdsource solutions to their biggest challenges, share or find a new role, and expand their professional network.
To make sure our community is valuable, thriving, and safe, we ask that everyone submit a brief application to join. All applications will be reviewed within 24 hours.
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Colorado court holds up search term warrant
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Illustration by Elena Lacey/The Washington Post; iStock
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After the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a warrant used to pull Google search term data in a 2020 arson case, defense attorney’s and civil liberty advocates are arguing this type of warrant could drag innocents into unconstitutional investigations.
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- In the 2020 arson case, Denver police issued a warrant demanding Google turnover information on individuals who had searched the address of the home where five people were killed.
- Though the Colorado court ruled that, given the circumstances of that case, the warrant was legal—the question of search term warrants’ broader constitutional validity remains.
- Experts note that, though search term warrants are still unusual, warrants for Google location data (used to identify individuals who were near a crime scene) are much more common.
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European Commission’s CSAR controversy continues
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ILLUSTRATION: ARTHOBBIT/GETTY IMAGES
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Researcher Danny Mekić is claiming the European Commission has been running targeted disinformation campaigns, as part of a push to pass the CSA Regulation (CSAR), which would eliminate end-to-end encryption in private messages.
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- Mekić’s interest was piqued after seeing a series of ads on X (formerly Twitter) promoting survey results suggesting a majority of EU citizens would support scanning of their private messages.
- Upon closer inspection, Mekić discovered the survey had misled participants, the findings were misrepresented, and that the ads had been paid for by the European Commission.
- The ads were targeted to the 7 EU countries that have opposed CSAR and may violate data protection laws by profiling recipients based on their religious and political beliefs.
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- Recapping a busy year in state privacy legislation.
- Facial recognition search engine PimEyes bans searches of minors.
- ClearviewAI narrowly avoided a £7.5m UK fine.
- Nym launched a $300 million fund to build Web3 security.
- WhatsApp is updating Chat Lock to hide sensitive conversations.
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Why a federal privacy law must precede AI legislation
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A House of Representatives’ Committee hearing on safeguarding data in the context of AI has reinforced the need to tighten privacy law as a prerequisite for AI legislation.
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- The subcommittee’s witnesses unanimously agreed that federal privacy legislation needs to ramp up—voicing support for the ADPPA’s data minimization conditions to help address AI risks.
- Amba Kak, Executive Director of the AI Now Institute, argued the volume of data companies collect poses risks to national security.
- FTC chair Jon Leibowitz argued for a federal statute, saying: "...most businesses are looking for direction. And unfortunately, they're not going to get too much direction from existing laws."
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Google to trial IP masking feature
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Google is set to test an opt-in privacy feature, IP Protection, that will enable Chrome users to hide their IP addresses with proxy servers.
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- Unlike third-party cookies, which can be rejected, IP tracking can reveal online activity, enabling advertisers to build user profiles and target them with location-based ads.
- IP addresses are still vital to direct web traffic, which Google’s new solution will account for by using proxies to keep the real address hidden from the domain.
- Using proxies to route traffic may make it difficult to thwart DDoS attacks—a major concern after the company reported record-breaking attacks between August and September.
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Key principles for ethical AI development
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As we harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI), it's crucial that AI creators and regulators consider, implement, and promote AI ethics at every step.
Read our latest guide to learn more about the ethical considerations for building responsible AI, including clear accountability frameworks, ethical data sourcing, and a shift left mentality within AI development.
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