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I wanna be the Henry Ford of tech lawsuits—turn this into a factory assembly line.
- Tim Libert, creator of webXray
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Welcome to Snippets 👋 Meta reached a landmark settlement with the state of Texas – to the dulcet tune of $1.4 billion – following a lawsuit alleging that Facebook's photo 'Tag Suggestion' feature violated a law regulating the collection and use of
biometric data.
In other news, a new tool lets users track down privacy violations on the web, the role of Chief Privacy Officer may be in decline, lawmakers are looking at a Section 230 exemption for deepfakes, and more.
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Meta agrees to $1.4 billion settlement over facial recognition
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Image: The Verge
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Meta has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with the state of Texas—resolving a 2022 lawsuit that alleged Facebook's ‘Tag Suggestions’ photo feature violated the Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier (CUBI) Act.
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- The feature, which was enabled by default, violated CUBI by collecting Texans’ biometric data, including their facial geometry, for two years after the law was passed.
- Facebook did introduce an On/Off toggle for tag suggestions and updated its facial recognition settings between 2017 and 2019, but didn’t stop automated facial tagging until 2021.
- This settlement is the first under CUBI and sets a new record for legal actions initiated by a single state.
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🎩 Meet Transcend at Black Hat in Las Vegas!
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Transcend is heading to this year’s Black Hat USA in Las Vegas from August 6-8. We're excited to learn from security leaders what’s top of mind when it comes to privacy and security, at a time when the two disciplines are converging more and more.
If you’re traveling to Vegas, we’ll have our notepads at the ready—we can’t wait to meet you and learn what’s top of mind within your organization. As an added bonus, we’re also giving away a pair of AirPods Max to one lucky winner!
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New tool shines light on privacy offenders
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Photo-illustration: Jacqui VanLiew; Getty Images
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With Big Tech continually finding new ways to collect troves of user data, ex-Google privacy engineer Tim Libert has built a tool meant to help users track privacy violations.
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- Called webXray, Libert’s tool lets users search for specific terms or websites in order to see who is collecting their data and/or sharing it with third parties.
- Premium tier subscriptions, mainly targeted towards lawyers and regulators, will have additional options to document and assess violations when pursuing legal action.
- WebXray is the culmination of efforts that began in Libert's university days and continued through his Google tenure, where his attempts to drive change were blocked by bureaucratic hurdles.
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Death of the CPO—boon or bust for privacy?
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Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Experts are warning the role of Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) may be in decline, following a slew of high-profile exits that include Keith Enright at Google, as well as privacy leaders at Pfizer, Mastercard, Zoom, and IBM.
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- Despite regulators’ warnings about the importance of privacy compliance, many companies are integrating privacy into other areas, such as product development or risk management.
- Some experts argue that eliminating or altering the CPO role could lead to reduced focus on privacy, increased regulatory scrutiny, and potential data protection risks.
- Others believe eliminating the role doesn’t necessarily signal a lack of seriousness, but rather that the risks have been brought under control with adequate internal mechanisms.
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- Irish DPC ‘surprised’ at Musk’s move to train Grok AI on user data.
- Explore a privacy-centric pinboard for browser notetaking.
- Strava’s new heatmap revealed a stranger’s home address.
- 74% of Americans think AI will ruin privacy.
- Apple Intelligence lets users access detailed privacy reports.
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Lawmakers considering deepfake exemption for Section 230
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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images
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House representatives Jake Auchincloss and Ashley Hinson have proposed a bill to end Section 230 protections for tech companies that fail to address “cyberstalking, intimate privacy violations, and digital forgeries.”
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- Called the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, the bill would amend Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which currently protects online platforms from being held responsible for content posted by their users.
- The bill would mandate that providers implement a process for handling sexual misconduct, establish a transparent reporting system, and address violations within 24 hours.
- Many of the bill’s provisions were modeled after the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which is expected to pass the Senate with overwhelming support—indicating it might become a common tool to create future privacy protections.
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Evaluating Apple’s claims about privacy on Safari
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Illustration by Elena Lacey/The Washington Post; iStock
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While Apple’s recent ads made bold claims about privacy on the Safari browser, the reality is a little less rosy—with one expert putting Safari's privacy protections in fourth place.
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- Unlike Chrome, Safari does not leave third-party cookies on by default. However, Safari isn't unique in this regard, as Mozilla Firefox and the Brave browser do the same.
- While cookies may be less prevalent on Macs and iPhones, Apple doesn’t shield its users from other tracking measures, like fingerprinting, as thoroughly as other browsers.
- While Safari’s incognito mode does offer partial protection against fingerprinting, the safeguard is rendered redundant if the website or internet provider logs the details of the browsing session.
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Transcend welcomes Krishna Bhat as Vice President of Product
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We're excited to share that Krishna Bhat has joined Transcend as Vice President of Product! In this role, he'll support our mission of fixing privacy for the enterprise.
He'll also oversee the Transcend product platform, which uniquely transforms how enterprises automate privacy tasks, understand and manage personal data, assess risks, and oversee AI systems. Learn more about what brought Krishna to Transcend below.
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Snippets is delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning by Transcend. We're the platform that helps companies put privacy on autopilot by making it easy to encode privacy across an entire tech stack. Learn more.
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