ILI Student Blog

The Israeli government attempted to transfer information to local authorities that would enable them to track the identity of people who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. These health data transfers from the Health Ministry to local governments were approved by the Knesset last month, but last Tuesday, the High Court of Justice ruled them unconstitutional.…

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen dropped a Trump Administration proposal to reform global digital tax rules to include a “safe harbor” provision that would have allowed tech companies to opt out of a global tax regime. Even if a global deal is not reached, there may be a European-wide one.…

The International Network of Civil Liberties Organisations released a report on facial recognition technologies across the world. It uses stories from 13 member organizations to highlight discrimination and the impact on rights. The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers must be treated as workers.…

Clubhouse, the audio-based social networking app, has faced a host of privacy issues. Clubhouse is facing regulatory/legal issues in Germany, apparently linked to its collection of contact information and its GDPR compliance. Part of the issue seems to be linked to its creation of shadow profiles for people for who have not joined the app but whose personal information was contained in the contacts uploaded by others.…

Global Privacy Control is a global internet browser opt out that sends a general signal for users wanting as little data collection and sharing as possible. The GPC standard will let users signal that they don’t want services to share their data with third-party data brokers, and will give users a way to protect their data after it’s been collected and ensure personal information doesn’t travel too far.…

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) investigation into Amazon Ring doorbell reveals egregiously lax privacy policies and civil rights protections. Lawmaker found Ring has no evidentiary standards for law enforcement to request video footage, no compliance mechanisms to ensure footage of children isn’t collected The hot new COVID tech is wearable and constantly tracks you.…

Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate sued Netflix because Sherlock Holmes is portrayed in Enola Holmes as compassionate, a portrayal of Sherlock Holmes that only took place in the final 10 books which are still under copyright. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has filed freedom of information petitions against the Israeli army and Israeli police to find information about their use of facial recognition.…

Apple has been hit with an antitrust complaint by the Interactive Advertising Bureau in France over its planned privacy settings which will limit the ability of app developers to track users unless the users give explicit consent. (Link) A proposed ban on facial recognition by police agencies and companies in Portland, Oregon has been complicated by an individual’s development of a facial recognition system that would identify police officers, a system which would be allowed under the new bill.…

The University of Miami has recently come under scrutiny for its alleged use of facial recognition technology to target students participating in protests. The University has denied that it utilizes such technology, although it admitted to the use of video surveillance.…

ILI Research Fellow Salome Viljoen wrote a piece for the Phenomenal World blog, critiquing ‘propertarian’ and ‘dignitarian’ approaches to data ownership.  Google is providing data to law enforcement agencies based on keyword search warrants. Albert Fox Cahn of PRG and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project ( S.T.O.P.) …