Category Archives: california privacy act

Geico data breach opens door to unemployment scams

Posted on by

Over the course of six weeks earlier this year, fraudsters repeatedly stole driver’s license numbers from a database maintained by Geico. Now, the motor vehicle insurer is warning customers that the scammers could apply for unemployment benefits using the pilfered data. “If you receive any mailings from your state’s unemployment agency/department, please review them carefully and contact that agency/department if there is any chance fraud is being committed,” Sheila King, a manager for data privacy at Geico, wrote in a breach notice letter posted to the website of California’s attorney general on April 15. The perpetrators of the breach used personal information on Geico customers that they acquired elsewhere to access Geico’s sales system and steal the driver’s license numbers, according to King. Geico has taken “additional security enhancements” to guard against fraud on its website in light of the incident, King added. It was unclear how many people were […]

The post Geico data breach opens door to unemployment scams appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Geico data breach opens door to unemployment scams→

Zoom hit with class-action lawsuit for sharing user data with Facebook

Posted on by

A California man on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit against Zoom, alleging the video conferencing service illegally shared user data with Facebook. With its popularity surging during the novel coronavirus pandemic, Zoom “has failed to properly safeguard the personal information of the increasingly millions of users” that use the app, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint accuses Zoom of violating the California Consumer Privacy Act, which requires companies to give consumers notice when they collect and use their personal information. Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit cites a report last week from Vice News, which found that Zoom’s iOS app had been using a Facebook login feature to send the social media giant details on Zoom users. Those details included the model of a user’s device, their phone carrier, and what time zone they were in, the report said. After the Vice story was published, […]

The post Zoom hit with class-action lawsuit for sharing user data with Facebook appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Zoom hit with class-action lawsuit for sharing user data with Facebook→

Microsoft says it will apply California privacy law across the country

Posted on by

Microsoft on Monday said it would apply the privacy protections stipulated in a relatively stringent California law to customers across the U.S. in an effort to push other states to adopt similar measures. “We are optimistic that the California Consumer Privacy Act [CCPA]— and the commitment we are making to extend its core rights more broadly — will help serve as a catalyst for even more comprehensive privacy legislation in the U.S.,” Julie Brill, Microsoft’s chief privacy officer, wrote in a blog post. The CCPA, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2020, gives Californians the right to know the personal data companies are collecting on them, and the ability to stop that data from being sold to third parties. The law is controversial. An independent assessment warned that complying with the law would initially cost companies $55 billion. The Internet Association, a trade group of big tech companies that includes […]

The post Microsoft says it will apply California privacy law across the country appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Microsoft says it will apply California privacy law across the country→

It’s time for Congress to act on Facebook’s privacy policies. Here’s how.

Posted on by

It seemed as though, after years of privacy scandals, Facebook had finally gotten the message. After its founder hinted at a shift to a privacy-oriented model in a blog post earlier this year, the company elaborated at F8 this week by unveiling its new look, FB5, that includes features such as encryption, reduced permanence and secure data storage. This might sound promising — but it’s not yet time to let Facebook off the hook. If the recent announcement that Facebook stored hundreds of millions of users’ passwords in plaintext for years is any indication, Facebook’s external reorientation has a lot of work to do to make up for its ongoing internal privacy failures. Facebook already has a wealth of personal data on you, far beyond phone numbers, message content or photographs. New ID Experts research is showing that the platform’s users – as many as 68% of them – aren’t happy with that fact. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the social media giant may […]

The post It’s time for Congress to act on Facebook’s privacy policies. Here’s how. appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading It’s time for Congress to act on Facebook’s privacy policies. Here’s how.→