Page 2 - Data Privacy

US Census Bureau chief defends new privacy tool, calls it 'best solution'

The US Census Bureau's chief is defending a new tool meant to protect the privacy of people participating in the statistical agency's questionnaires against calls to abandon it by prominent researchers who claim it jeopardises the usefulness of numbers that are the foundation of the nation's data infrastructure. The tool known as differential privacy was selected as the best solution available" against efforts by outside groups or individuals to piece together the identities of participants in the bureau's censuses and surveys by using third-party data and powerful computers, US Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said in a letter last week. Concerns about privacy have grown in recent years as cyber-attacks and threats of personal data being used for the wrong reasons have become more commonplace. Several prominent state demographers and academic researchers had asked the statistical agency in August to abandon using differential privacy on future annual population estimates, which

Data regulation provision to be included in new Digital India Act

The government plans to include data regulation provisions in a new Digital India Act, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday. While speaking at an event at Foreign Correspondent Club on 5G, Chandrasekhar said the recently issued draft of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) focuses on the protection of data of Indian citizens. It (DPDP) does not intend to appoint a regulator and create regulation for the data ecosystem. That is down the road when we create a new bill for Digital India Act. This is a bill which narrowly focuses on data protection of consumers, Chandrasekhar said. The government has issued a draft of a new data protection bill after it withdrew the previous version of the bill from the Lok Sabha in August citing several overlapping rules in the modified version of the bill. Talking about 5G, the minister said that the next-generation technology is based on open technology ecosystem which provides India with an opportunity to

India's digital personal-data protection bill puts privacy at risk

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is a more forceful attempt to legislate a Chinese-style surveillance state in the world's largest democracy

Best of BS Opinion: Protecting data privacy, the FTX fraud, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Protecting data privacy

The new Bill, though better, gives govt too much discretion

60% in survey report personal data breach by their loan service provider

Four out of 10 in LocalCircles study point finger towards insurance providers or banks

India proposes easier cross-border data transfers under new privacy law

India has defended stricter regulations citing the need to safeguard users' interests in a country that has more than 760 million internet users

Govt likely to release new draft of data protection bill for public comment

The government is likely to release new draft of data protection bill for public comments in a week, according to two government sources. The government had in early August withdrawn the personal data protection bill, which was first presented in late 2019. "The draft is expected to be issued in a week for public comment," an official source told PTI. Union telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the joint parliamentary committee which went through the original draft suggested 88 amendments to a bill of 91 sections, which led the government to decide that there was "no option" but to withdraw the original bill completely. He added that a lot of changes had taken place during the Covid pandemic, leading to newer learnings, which had to be incorporated in the laws. Non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) had said that the Data Protection Bill 2021 gave large exemptions to government departments, prioritises the interests of big corporations, and did not adequatel

NITI Aayog seeks clarity from Centre on Digi Yatra's data privacy

NITI Aayog seeks that the rules related to deletion of other information collected from the passengers must be clearly set out in Digi Yatra's policy

Samsung's new 'Maintenance Mode' to keep users' data safe while servicing

Tech giant Samsung has introduced a "Maintenance Mode" feature for Galaxy devices with One UI 5 installed, which will protect users' personal data during servicing of the phone

Telegram founder warns users to stay away from WhatsApp yet again

Founder Pavel Durov claimed that the company has been keeping the user's data under surveillance for the past 13 years

Australian hacker who breached 10 mn people's data concealed their identity

The computer hacker who stole personal data of almost 10 million customers of a telecommunications company in one of Australia's worst privacy breaches used techniques to conceal their identity, actions and whereabouts, police said on Friday. Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough, who heads cyber investigations, said the international probe, that includes the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, into the Optus cyberattack last week would be long and complex. "You can be assured that our very clever and dedicated cyber investigators are focused on delivering justice for those whose personal information has been compromised, Gough said. The government blames lax cybersecurity at Optus, Australia's second-largest wireless carrier, for the theft of current and former customers' personal information. Cybersecurity Minister Clare O'Neil described the crime as quite a basic hack. She said Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, also known as Singte

Google to notify users if their personal information appears in Search

Google on Thursday said that starting early next year, it will notify users if their personal information like phone number, email and home address appear in Search results

Algo Rhythm: AI presents significant privacy concerns, says survey

36% believe that rigorous data localisation requirements must be in place

Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter grilled for privacy, moderation failures

The US Senate Homeland Security Committee grilled executives from Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter over privacy and moderation failures on their respective platforms in recent years

Internet service providers drop legal challenge to privacy law in US

One of the strictest internet privacy laws in the United States has withstood a legal challenge, as a group of telecommunication providers has dropped its bid to overturn the Maine standard. Maine created one of the toughest rules in the nation for internet service providers in 2020 when it began enforcing an opt-in web privacy standard. The law stops the service providers from using, disclosing, selling or providing access to customers' personal information without permission. Industry associations swiftly sued with a claim that the new law violated their First Amendment rights. A federal judge rejected that challenge, but legal wrangling continued. The groups, which include the country's biggest telecommunications providers, filed to dismiss the lawsuit on Sept. 2, said Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey. Frey said the state's privacy law held up despite the efforts of an army of industry lawyers organized against us, and now other states can follow Maine's lead. Maine's Legislatu

Personal info of Akasa Air's passengers leaked, airline informs CERT-In

Akasa Air had on August 7 launched commercial flight operations by operating its first service on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route using B737 Max aircraft

Ransomware cyber attacks spike to over 1.2 mn per month in H12022

The volume of ransomware threats detected spiked to more than 1.2 million per month between the January-June period, a report revealed

Twitter tells Shashi Tharoor-led panel it follows strict data privacy

Twitter has told a parliamentary panel that follows it follows strict data safety standards and most of the employees do not have access to user data

Delhi HC dismisses Whatsapp, Meta appeals against CCI investigation

Regulator says social media network's user policies are opaque and not based on consent