In this week’s Privacy News summary…
“What does RadarCOVID not do?” a promotional video for Spain’s contact-tracing app asks. The answer: while navigating the country’s decentralised healthcare system, it does not locate users, identify them, record personal details, or send data.
Without a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 1 million people worldwide, countries around the world have unleashed such technology to help break the chain of infections.
Some governments’ contact-tracing tools use location data. But that tool is not available under European privacy laws in countries like Spain. Instead, they use Bluetooth to generate anonymous codes logging proximity between people’s phones.
Source & full story: Reuters
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged five Chinese and two Malaysian men with hacking more than 100 companies.
The two Malaysian businessman “conspired” with two of the Chinese hackers to target the video games industry in particular, the DoJ said.
They would obtain in-game items and currencies by fraud, hacking or other means, and sell on the digital items for real money, it added.
Both Malaysian men have been arrested.
The five Chinese men were “fugitives” in China, the DoJ added. The US does not have an extradition treaty with China.
The other three Chinese hackers targeted software developers, computer makers, social media companies and others, the indictment said.
Game over….
Source & full story: BBC News
YouTube faces £2.5BILLION landmark legal battle for allegedly breaching the privacy of millions of British children.
YouTube is facing a landmark legal battle for allegedly breaching the privacy and data rights of millions of British children – potentially saddling its parent firm Google with a £2.5 billion bill.
Documents claiming the company has harvested the data of users under 13 without consent, then sold it to advertising companies in breach of both UK and EU law, have been lodged with the High Court, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
It is understood that Google will strongly dispute the claim. One of its arguments is that the main YouTube platform is not intended for those under 13, who should be using the YouTube Kids app, which incorporates more safeguards.
The case, which was lodged in July and is the first of its kind in Europe, is being brought by privacy campaigner Duncan McCann
Google is also expected to point to a series of changes that it introduced last year to improve notification to parents, limit data collection and restrict personalised adverts.
The case, which was lodged in July and is the first of its kind in Europe, is being brought by privacy campaigner Duncan McCann.
If successful, he believes damages of just £500 would be payable to those whose data was breached.
Source & full story: DailyMail
The details of more than 18,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus were published online by mistake by Public Health Wales. The health body said the data of 18,105 Welsh residents was viewable online for 20 hours on 30 August.
Most cases gave initials, date of birth, geographical area and sex, meaning the risk of identification was low, Public Health Wales (PHW) said.
However 1,928 people in living in communal settings were more at risk.
Nursing home residents or those living in supported housing also had the name of their place of residence published, meaning the risk, while still considered low, was higher.
The incident was the result of “individual human error” when the information was uploaded to a public server searchable by anyone using the site.
PHW said the information had been viewed 56 times before it was removed but there was no evidence so far that the data had been misused.
What is Public Health Wales doing about the data breach?
Source & full story: BBC News
Privacy concerns have been raised over revelations that the NHS wants to include all the alcohol consumption of pregnant mothers on their children’s medical records.
Women who have only a single glass of wine in their first week of pregnancy will have it recorded, regardless of their consent, under new proposals put forward by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
This would include women who have a drink before knowing that they are pregnant.
Nice have been conducting a consultation with the proposed guidelines in England and Wales. They have already been adopted in Scotland.
The purpose is to identify children at risk of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which can cause physical and behavioural problems.
Source & full story: Evening Standard
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