WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

In the unregulated world of social media, the FTC has become the de facto enforcer of privacy. Snapchat is the photo sharing service that promised customers their photos and videos would automatically self-destruct. On Thursday, they admitted to the FTC that photos don’t actually disappear forever. As part of the FTC settlement, Snapchat agreed to be monitored by an independent auditor for the next 20 years.
And it’s not just Snapchat that should be concerned about privacy and security violations. Next week, 27 Data Protection Authorities from around world, including many EU DPAs and the FTC, will start an online sweep of apps. They’ll becomparing actual app functionality with what the app makers advertise the app will do with the data it collects.
Last night, the House voted to end bulk metadata collection. Is it because they realized the NSA can’t accurately track their data? Not likely. Some think this revised act —USA Freedom Act— might enhance U.S. surveillance capabilities.
The White House’s latest release of the “Big Data: A Technological Perspective” report is bringing back the discussion of a national data breach standard. What do you think about a 24- or 72-hour notification period to report and notify parties of a data breach? Some proposals suggest a 60-day period is more realistic.
We called it first! Privacy ramifications of consumer generated and health data are a serious concern at the FTC. They tested health apps and found that sensitive consumer information is potentially at risk when data is sent to third-party companies.