We are excited to launch a weekly newsletter for all the privacy-related news across the globe. We plan to classify our weekly newsletter into three parts namely Applause, Breaches and Current News (ABC’s) of Privacy news. For any feedback on our weekly newsletter, please feel free to send your valuable comments to social@onedpo.com.
Applause
Researchers rolling out privacy-preserving AI learning system for medical analysis
Researchers from Nvidia and King’s College London are debuting a new methodology for training neural networks that involve large quantities of high-quality data. Federated learning is used to train the datasets in multiple iterations at different sites rather than data from a single location.
For more info: https://www.zdnet.com/article/nvidia-kings-college-london-debut-privacy-focused-way-to-train-neural-networks/
Federal US privacy bill gains support of House Democrats
DelBene’s privacy proposal has obtained support from a majority of the U.S. House Democrats members. The bill would allow consumers to opt-out of the collection, storage and sharing of their data. It would require companies to get consumer approval for any use of sensitive data such as financial or health information and oblige companies to furnish “plain language” privacy policies.
For more info: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-15/centrist-democratic- lawmakers-back-pro-business-privacy-law
Breaches
Cyberattacks target nearly half of small businesses
Small businesses continue to experience the consequences of cyberattacks. They are advised by experts to adopt a list of strategies for combating cyber threats. But at the same time, attackers are getting more smarter, attacks are occurring faster.
For more info: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/13/cyberattacks-cost-small-companies-200k-putting-many-out-of-business.html
Hacker accessed financial info of 37K TransUnion Canada customers
TransUnion Canada, one of the biggest credit reporting agencies in the world, has reported some consumer credit files in Canada may have been accessed without authorization through the fraudulent use of a legitimate customer’s login credentials. Letters from TransUnion Canada have been going to possibly affected Canadians since mid-September.
For more info: https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/canadian-credit-reporting-agency-compromised-through-third-party/422576
Alberta hospital employees illicitly accessed 2K patient records
An internal investigation has found more than two thousand patient electronic health records were accessed without permission at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC). The majority belonged to emergency patients. More than 30 staff members were found to be involved in this breach.
For more info: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/privacy-breach-impacts-red-deer-hospital-patients-1.4624507
Current News
Brazil to create a single citizen database
The Brazilian government is planning to create a single citizen database, which is to be shared across public departments. It is expected to contain a wide range of personal information about the country’s population of over 200 million people. The objectives of the database include the improvement in public policy, as well as simplifying data sharing between government departments.
For more info: https://www.zdnet.com/article/brazilian-government-to-create-single-citizen-database/
Facebook plans to make money off of Libra
Facebook is currently working on an app called Libra, a sort of a wallet that can tightly integrate with the likes of WhatsApp and Messenger. Facebook will be able to see which people or businesses you’ve transacted with, through their apps. This might result in a loss of data privacy.