Privacy & New Media

EPIC

Nov. 5, 2020

California voters this week approved Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act, with 56% of voters supporting the measure. EPIC previously published an analysis of Proposition 24, nothing that the measure “would make some important improvements to privacy protections for California residents, particularly through the establishment of a California Privacy Protection Agency.” In 2018, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), the first comprehensive consumer privacy law enacted in the United States. Proposition 24 significantly changes the CCPA. EPIC has also published a resource to help California residents exercise their rights under the CCPA.

The content in this post was found at:
<https://epic.org/2020/11/california-voters-pass-califor.html>

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EPIC

Nov. 10, 2020

EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil rights, and consumer organizations have released a policy framework for the Biden Administration to protect privacy and digital rights for all Americans. “Without laws that limit how companies can collect, use, and share personal data, we end up with an information and power asymmetry that harms consumers and society at large,” the groups said. “Individual, group and societal interests are diminished, and our privacy and other basic rights and freedoms are at risk.” The ten recommendations include: 1) recognizing privacy and surveillance as racial justice issues; 2) establishing algorithmic governance and accountability to advance fair and just data practices; 3) encourage enactment of a baseline comprehensive federal privacy law; 4) the establishment of a U.S. Data Protection Agency; and 5) bringing consumer, privacy, and civil rights experts into key government positions.

The content in this post was found at:
<https://epic.org/2020/11/epic-coalition-release-data-pr.html>

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EPIC

Sept. 29, 2020

Individuals alleging that a landlord discriminated against them by using a tenant-screening algorithm will face a higher burden of proof under a new rule that went into effect last Thursday. The rule creates a defense to a discrimination claim under the Fair Housing Act where the “predictive analysis” tools used were not “overly restrictive on a protected class” or where they “accurately assessed risk.” Last October, EPIC and several others warned the federal housing agency that providing such a safe-harbor for the use of algorithms in housing without imposing transparency, accountability, or data protection regulations would exacerbate harms to individuals subject to discrimination. The agency did modify its rule following comments from EPIC and others, removing a complete defense based on use of an “industry standard” algorithm or where the algorithm was not the “actual cause” of the disparate impact. But the final rule simply replaces the word “algorithm” with “predictive analysis” and includes vague “overly restrictive” and “accurate assessment” standards. The Alliance for Housing Justice called the rule “a vague, ambiguous exemption for predictive models that appears to confuse the concepts of disparate impact and intentional discrimination.”

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<https://epic.org/2020/09/new-housing-regulation-limits-.html>

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EPIC

March 19, 2020

The Department of Justice has released the 2019 FOIA Litigation and Compliance Report which details the DOJ’s efforts to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA across federal agencies. DOJ updated the Guide to the Freedom of Information Act, with recent court decisions. The DOJ report also summarizes agency guidance, including the application of Exemption 4 after the Supreme Court expanded the definition of “confidential” information. On that issue, EPIC filed an amicus brief in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media telling the Supreme Court that access to commercial records is critical for government oversight. EPIC celebrated Sunshine Week with the 2020 EPIC FOIA Gallery, highlighting important EPIC FOIA work from the past year, including EPIC’s case for the release of the Mueller Report, EPIC v. Department of Justice.

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<https://epic.org/2020/03/doj-releases-2019-foia-litigat.html>

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PEW Research Center
Brooke Auxier 
May 4, 2020

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has brought privacy and surveillance concerns to the forefront – from hacked video conferencing sessions to proposed government tracking of people’s cellphones as a measure to limit and prevent the spread of the virus. Over the past year, Pew Research Center has surveyed Americans on their views related to privacy, personal data and digital surveillance.

Here are 10 key findings that stand out.

more

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<https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/05/04/how-americans-see-digital-privacy-issues-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak/>

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Epic
May 26, 2020

Through a government records request EPIC has obtained the contract between North Dakota and ProudCrowd, LLC for the Care19 contact tracing app launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The one-year software license agreement between ProudCrowd and North Dakota provides the state use of the contact tracing app and use of server space. According to the state, the Care19 app generates a random ID number for each user when it is tracking users’ movements. North Dakota’s privacy policy states that the location data is kept private (not sent to third parties) and stored securely on ProudCrowd servers. The state has not explained why it would store private health data on a storage system not controlled by the government. But a recent report indicates that the Care19 app sends location data and a unique user identifier to Foursquare and a software bug tracking company called Bugfender. The app also sends the phone’s advertising ID to Google. ProudCrowd states that it will update the app and its privacy policies in the future. EPIC has told Congress that private companies must establish privacy safeguards for digital contact tracing.

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https://epic.org/2020/05/epic-obtains-north-dakota-cont.html

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Epic
June 11, 2020

Amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racist policing, three major technology firms said this week that they would abandon or prohibit law enforcement agencies from using their facial surveillance technologies. On Monday, IBM announced that it would no longer offer “general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software” and that it opposes the use of such technology for “mass surveillance, racial profiling, [and] violations of basic human rights and freedoms.” On Wednesday, Amazon said it would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using its facial surveillance software for one year and urged Congress to “place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology.” And on Thursday, Microsoft reiterated that it will “not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology.” EPIC has launched a campaign to Ban Face Surveillance and through the Public Voice coalition gathered the support of over 100 organizations and many leading experts across 30-plus countries. An EPIC-led coalition has also called on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to recommend the suspension of face surveillance systems across the federal government.

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https://epic.org/2020/06/tech-companies-pull-back-on-fa.html

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