Do You Really Need to Store That IoT Data?; Inside Counsel, August 7, 2017

Justine Young Gottshall, Inside Counsel; Do You Really Need to Store That IoT Data?

"Not only are companies collecting a massive amount of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT), they are storing it too. According to a survey of 1,000 enterprises conducted by 451 Research, 71 percent of enterprises are gathering IoT data and nearly half of the data generated are being stored. What the survey doesn't reveal is if companies are considering the legal implications of storing IoT data and preparing to deal with demands for that data from outside entities.

Some contend that the IoT is on the brink of changing life as we know it. According to Gartner, 20.8 billion objects will be connected to the internet by 2020. On their own, droves of these data-generating things will churn out an inconceivable amount of intriguing data about our patterns of behaviors."

Companies brace for European privacy rules; Axios, August 1, 2017

Sara Fischer, Kim Hart, Axios; Companies brace for European privacy rules

"U.S. companies are largely unprepared for what's about to hit them when sweeping new EU data laws take effect next year. The regulation — the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) — is intended to give users more control of how their personal data is used and streamline data processes across the EU. Companies that fail to comply with the complex law will face steep fines of up to 4% of their global annual revenue.

Why it matters: Europe has by far taken the most aggressive regulatory stance on protecting consumer privacy and will in many ways be a litmus test for regulating the currency of the data economy. It impacts a huge number of businesses from advertisers to e-commerce platforms whose data flows through EU countries. That means everyone from Google to your neighbor who sells shoes on eBay could be affected."

Ethics And Artificial Intelligence With IBM Watson's Rob High; Forbes, June 13, 2017

Blake Morgan, Forbes; Ethics And Artificial Intelligence With IBM Watson's Rob High

"Artificial intelligence seems to be popping up everywhere, and it has the potential to change nearly everything we know about data and the customer experience. However, it also brings up new issues regarding ethics and privacy.

One of the keys to keeping AI ethical is for it to be transparent, says Rob High, vice president and chief technology officer of IBM Watson...

The future of technology is rooted in artificial intelligence. In order to stay ethical, transparency, proof, and trustworthiness need to be at the root of everything AI does for companies and customers. By staying honest and remembering the goals of AI, the technology can play a huge role in how we live and work."

Israel firms urged to align with new EU privacy rules; The Times of Israel, June 7, 2017

Shoshanna Solomon, The Times of Israel; Israel firms urged to align with new EU privacy rules

"Personal data is any information relating to an individual, whether it relates to his or her private, professional or public life. It can be anything from a name, photo, email address, bank details, posts on social networking websites, medical information, or even a computer’s IP address...

The new EU rules will affect all organizations — whether in Israel or globally — that store or process personal data of European citizens. It doesn’t matter in which country the organization is based, said Ido Naor, a senior security researcher at cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab...

The new European rules may also prompt Israel to tighten its own privacy rules to align them with the new European norms, Tevet said."

How to Protect Your Privacy as More Apps Harvest Your Data; New York Times, May 1, 2017

Brian X. Chen, New York Times; How to Protect Your Privacy as More Apps Harvest Your Data

"Opt out for good

Deleting your app from your phone or computer often isn’t enough. You’ll remove data from the device itself, but not from the company’s servers.

If you’ve lost trust in a company, make the cleanest break possible: Delete your account. In the case of an app like Uber, for example, you can submit a request on the company’s website to have your account deleted. Similarly, with Unroll.me, you can log in to the site and click through the settings to delete your account.

Even after doing that, you will have to reconcile with the idea that the company will probably hold on to the information you have already shared.

“Data you’ve provided to the service as part of using the service is data that they can store and continue to use,” Ms. Sandvik said. “It falls under the terms of service.”

Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses; New York Times, March 26, 2017

Conor Dougherty, New York Times; Push for Internet Privacy Rules Moves to Statehouses

"Last year, Nebraska and West Virginia passed laws that limit how companies can monitor employees’ social media accounts, while legislators in Hawaii, Missouri and elsewhere are pushing similar bills for employees, as well as for students and tenants.

“More and more, states have taken the position that, if Congress is not willing or able to enact strong privacy laws, their legislatures will no longer sit on their hands,” said Chad Marlow, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Online privacy is the rare issue that draws together legislators from the left and the far right. At the state level, anyway, some of the progress has come from a marriage between progressive Democrats and libertarian-minded Republicans, who see privacy as a bedrock principle, Mr. Marlow said."

Senate votes to kill privacy rules meant to protect people's sensitive data from their Internet providers; Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2017

Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times; Senate votes to kill privacy rules meant to protect people's sensitive data from their Internet providers

"The rules, which have not yet gone into effect, require AT&T Inc., Charter Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and other broadband providers to get customer permission before using or sharing sensitive personal data, such as Web browsing or app usage history and the geographic trail of mobile devices.

Companies use consumer data to target advertising. Privacy advocates worry that Internet service providers are assembling detailed dossiers on their customers without their consent...

Republicans and broadband companies opposed the rules because they imposed tougher restrictions on high-speed Internet providers than on websites and social networks, which also collect and use such data."

Companies are making money from our personal data – but at what cost?; Guardian, 8/31/16

Jathan Sadowski, Guardian; Companies are making money from our personal data – but at what cost? :

"Data appropriation is a form of exploitation because companies use data to create value without providing people with comparable compensation...

In short, rampant practices of data appropriation allow corporations and governments to build their wealth and power, without the headache of obtaining consent and providing compensation for the resource they desire.

Data appropriation is surely an ethical issue. But by framing it as theft, we can lay the groundwork for policies that also make it a legal issue. We need new models of data ownership and protection that reflect the role information has in society.

In the Gilded Age 2.0, a laissez-faire attitude toward data has encouraged a new class of robber barons to arise. Rather than allow them to unscrupulously take, trade and hoard our data, we must reclaim their ill-gotten gains and reign in the data imperative."