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Ensuring our data can’t be used to keep us out of accessing critical services is the most important battle.
— Civil rights advocate KJ Bagchi
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Welcome back to Snippets 👋 Here's what's happening this week at the intersection of privacy and tech:
- Telegram has agreed to share data with the authorities when faced with a warrant or other legal request.
- An FTC study concluded that social and streaming platforms are engaged in "vast surveillance."
- The universal opt-out bill was vetoed in California.
- And so much more...
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Telegram agrees to share user data with authorities
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Reuters
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Encrypted messaging app Telegram updated its terms of service—now stating it will disclose users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities carrying search warrants or other legally approved requests.
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- The update comes after CEO Pavel Durov was detained by French authorities last month and charged with facilitating criminal activity on the platform.
- On Monday, Durov announced Telegram now has “a dedicated team of moderators” to address misinformation and child abuse material on the platform and said the updated disclosure policy is meant to “discourage criminals.”
- For some, the policy update has sparked concerns about muzzling dissidents, as one of Telegram’s key appeals has been its history of resisting government demands.
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Montana's Consumer Data Privacy Act: Your Compliance Checklist
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The Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA) will come into effect on October 1, 2024. With enforcement beginning next week, it's crucial that businesses affected by the law take immediate action to ensure compliance.
Read our comprehensive guide to learn who’s subject to Montana’s privacy law, what the law requires of businesses under its scope, and how it differs from other state laws. You’ll find a 7 step compliance checklist at the end.
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FTC study finds "vast surveillance" on social media
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Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
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A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study of nine social media and streaming services, including Meta, YouTube, X, and TikTok, has found that these sites sold more personal data to advertisers than users realized and failed to protect minors’ data.
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- According to the FTC, the study’s findings have reinforced the need to pass a federal privacy standard—with FTC chair Lina Kahn noting myriad concerns about the companies’ surveillance practices, including loss of freedom, identity theft, and stalking.
- Despite this study’s findings, other research linking social media to mental health issues, and numerous calls in Congress for stronger privacy protections, legislative attempts to regulate Big Tech have hit a wall.
- Many of the companies in the study argue they’ve corrected their practices, but with troves of data bought and sold through brokers, no easy opt-outs, and lack of restrictions for children, the FTC report deemed their self-regulation a failure.
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California vetoes bill to mandate universal opt-outs
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Radomianin / Wikimedia Commons
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have required internet browsers to honor opt out preference signals—a move that would have streamlined consumers’ ability to opt out of having their data collected and shared across the web.
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- In a letter to the State Assembly, Gov. Newsom expressed concerns about the untested opt-out signal’s effect on device usability, saying design considerations must be addressed before any regulatory changes are made.
- Newsom further noted that most browsers already provide an opt-out option or a downloadable plug-in to protect online privacy.
- The bill, fiercely opposed by Big Tech, would have impacted their data monetization practices, with potentially millions of users sending a universal, legally binding opt out to all businesses.
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Many privacy laws, few civil rights
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Ben Hovland for The Washington Post
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A new survey has revealed that, despite the growing patchwork of state privacy laws, 133 million people from racial and ethnic minorities live in states that don’t protect against discriminatory uses of personal data.
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- Of the 19 states to have passed comprehensive privacy laws, only two explicitly bar the use of personal data to discriminate on the grounds of race and sex.
- Without explicit protections, people of color could be refused access to job opportunities, health benefits, and other critical resources, noted KJ Bagchi, VP of the Center for Civil Rights and Technology.
- Earlier efforts to incorporate anti-discrimination language into privacy laws haven’t borne fruit, with Republican opponents citing federal protections already in place.
- Bagchi emphasized the urgent need for change, highlighting the rapid rise of AI and events like Meta’s settlement over allowing landlords to post discriminatory housing ads.
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Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses under the lens
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AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez
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With Meta’s poor data protection history and extreme reliance on ad revenue, privacy experts are concerned about how the tech giant will handle data captured by the Ray-Ban AI-powered smart glasses.
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- With built-in cameras, microphones, and multifunctional speakers, the glasses allow users to capture pictures and videos, listen to music from their phone, and give voice commands.
- Photos and videos captured by the glasses are sent to Meta’s cloud, where, in the company’s own words, they are processed, stored, and used for product improvement and AI training.
- While Meta has published guidelines on appropriate use of the glasses, issues like bystander data protection and consent are yet unaddressed—with privacy left largely to user discretion.
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Transcend Gives Enterprises New Ways to Drive Privacy-Compliant Growth 🚀
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To help collect end-users’ preferences and permissions, customers using Transcend Preference Management are able to leverage a powerful, customizable, and fully internationalized Preference Center—ensuring no tradeoffs between privacy and revenue-generating growth campaigns.
No matter where user choices are made, they are unified within Transcend to give a holistic view that can be audited and activated across the business. Learn more with our recent release!
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Snippets is delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning by Transcend. We're the platform that helps companies put privacy on autopilot by making it easy to encode privacy across an entire tech stack. Learn more.
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