FBI issues rare alert warning parents of privacy risks with smart toys

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a rare alert to parents about “smart toys,” that is, those that connect to WiFi, and may contain microphones, sensors, and other information-gathering capacities. The alert states that these kinds of toys could pose risks to childrens’ privacy and safety.  The alert, issued 17 July, 2017, states: “Smart

Data Visualization: Nations with Electronic Voter IDs — middle and lower income countries

This interactive map displays the presence of voter IDs, including biometric voter IDs, in middle and lower income countries globally. Voter IDs in this dataset were distinguished as much as possible from general identification. The raw dataset used to create the map data originates from the World Bank.

Some Online Loan Applications Endanger Consumers

Have you ever filled out an application online for a “loan matching service”? If so, you have to hope that you didn’t fill out an application on one of the websites operated by a company called Blue Global. They ran websites like autoloansusa.com, loanmarketplace.com, moneytoday.com, 247loan.com, 100dayloans.com, and others. Court documents released this week by the US Federal Trade Commission reveal that after the company collected consumers’ financial information, it sold most of that information to non-lenders, including SSNs, bank account numbers, and …

In Memoriam: Joseph Alhadeff

I note with sadness the passing of Joseph Alhadeff over the Memorial Day weekend. Joseph was a thoughtful and important person in the privacy world who has left behind a substantial body of work and a legacy of privacy thought of the utmost quality. Joseph was deeply knowledgeable about privacy and technology, and he was unafraid