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Privacy Spotlight: FTC Big Data Event

Big Data and its potential for inclusion and exclusion was on center stage this past September as the FTC held a day-long workshop with experts from industry, technology, privacy, civil liberties, and academia. World Privacy Forum's Executive Director Pam Dixon, a panelist at the event, spoke about Big Data and privacy, emphasizing several key points, including the need for statistical parity, fairness, and the need for keeping existing consumer protection regulation.

Video: Dealing with medical identity theft in Health Information Exchanges

Medical identity theft happens when another person uses your identity to acquire medical goods or services. The problem is that when this occurs, the imposter's medical treatment gets put into your medical files. If your imposter has a different medical condition than you do, then your medical file can contain errors. It is important to correct errors in your medical file that occur as a result of medical identity theft. One of the potential challenges with exchanging your medical records in a health information exchange is that if medical identity theft happens, the erroneous file can be spread far afield through the HIE. Here's how to begin approaching the challenges.

Consumer Alert -- Home Depot data breach info: how to sign up for free credit monitoring

If you have purchased items with a credit or debit card at the Home Depot from April 2014 onward, your credit and debit cards have been subject to a security breach. Home Depot is offering one year of free credit monitoring through All Clear ID Pro. Because there is already known fraud stemming from this breach, WPF encourages breach victims to sign up for the free credit monitoring. Here's how to sign up ….

Public Comments: WPF files comments on proposed national identity standard, recommends changes

The World Privacy Forum filed technical comments on the IDPV National Standard Project today, offering key privacy recommendations on the proposed standard, Requirements and Implementation Guidelines for Assertion, Resolution, Evidence, and Verification of Personal Identity, version 5.3.1. WPF analyzed the proposed standard carefully, and sees the need for several changes to the standard to improve consumer privacy. In our comments, the intent is to help create a standard that increases security, trustworthiness of identities, and identity credentials while protecting individual privacy.

Consumer Tips - Facebook Privacy Guide: Finding and using Privacy Shortcuts

Facebook has a "privacy shortcut" menu that gives you quick access to key privacy settings. You may have missed this feature, because it is behind an icon, and not everyone clicks through every icon. It's worth finding the Privacy Shortcuts, though, because you can quickly check the privacy of your status posts, view how your page looks to the public, see what you're tagged in, block users, and other things. Here are some tips on where you can find the privacy shortcuts on desktop and mobile.

Video: Correcting and amending medical records in an HIE

HIE stands for “Health Information Exchange.” We encourage all patients to request a copy of their medical records and check for errors, whether on paper or digital. If you have received a copy of your medical record from your doctor and you find mistakes or errors, it is a good idea to correct those files as soon as possible with that health care provider. It's also important to see if incorrect information has been circulated into a Health Information Exchange, and get it corrected there as well. See more ….

California consumers get new smartphone remote lock law, plus tips for iPhone users

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law today that requires smartphone phone manufacturers to put a “kill switch” (remote lock) in phones, and to turn it on by default. Lawmakers have stated that they see this as an important way to reduce smart phone crimes. For consumers, it’s a way to prevent our personal information from getting into the wrong hands when we misplace, lose, or otherwise are missing our smartphones. Apple users can already use Find My iPhone as a remote lock. See more ...

Video: Do I have to give permission for my medical information to be in a Health Information Exchange? (Health Information Exchange Series)

This video is part 3 of a 14-part WPF video series on health privacy and health information exchanges. Many patients may be surprised to learn that a health care provider does not need your permission to share your medical information for treatment purposes within an HIE, just as a doctor does not need permission to send your records via fax to another doctor for treatment purposes. This is true even if your health record is going to a doctor you have never met before. See more ….

Freshly Updated Security Freeze Resource Page

We have updated our Resource Page on Security Freezes. A security freeze is a little-known but important tool to help fight identity theft problems. A security freeze (sometimes called a credit freeze) lets you stop the disclosure of your credit report by a credit bureau. Currently, the three credit bureaus are allowing all consumers nationwide to set a security freeze for a fee. Some state laws allow for free security freezes. More ...

Video: HIE versus Fax… (Health Information Exchange Series)

This video is part 2 of a 14-part WPF video series on health privacy and health information exchanges. Doctors have been using fax machines to send and exchange patient records for years. We know that an HIE allows medical records to be shared electronically between health care providers. But how does an HIE differ — really — from faxes? What changes, beyond the obvious?

WPF Comments about Privacy and Big Data: Ethical Framework and Rights Essential

The World Privacy Forum filed comments with the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to its Request for Comments about big data, privacy, and the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. The White House Big Data report recognized that Big Data “raises considerable questions about how our framework for privacy protection applies in a big data ecosystem” and has the potential to “eclipse longstanding civil rights protections in how personal information is used in housing, credit, employment, health, education, and the marketplace.” This is among our concerns as well, and our comments focused on understanding big data's benefits while drawing attention to where there are significant privacy risks that need to be addressed.

Consumer Alert: Be aware of unauthorized in-app charges

First, we heard about consumers saddled with unauthorized in-app purchases made by children via Apple's iTunes store apps. Now we are learning that Amazon account holders were also burdened with unauthorized in-app purchases by children, in this case, also to the tune of millions of dollars. It is worth taking the time to ensure children cannot ring up unlimited charges via apps. Using parental controls wisely can be a big help with this.... (Consumer tips)