Privacy newsletter - May 19, 2020

Welcome to the latest edition of the Privacy Insider Newsletter. Each week we send you the latest and smartest news in the world of data privacy.

Here are the top stories from last week you might have missed:

1. US Senators voted overwhelmingly to boost legal protections for targets of government surveillance. The National Security Agency can no longer obtain Americans’ phone records for terrorist investigations without court approval. An amendment protecting internet browsing and search history from surveillance came up one vote shy of being approved. Link
   
   
2. Google is actively experimenting with replacements for third party cookies. Google previously mentioned that they are ending 3rd party cookie support within the next two years. They are working with ad exchanges to find viable solutions, but they haven’t found one yet - “There is not a single proposal on the table close to being adoptable right now.” Link
   
   
3. Osano and CENTRL announced a new partnership. Osano’s cookie consent management solution will become a feature of CENTRL’s privacy management platform. Link
   
   
4. The UK’s contact tracing app is attracting criticism. Issues include its confusing UX, incompatibility with a range of different devices, and rapidly draining the battery of devices it does work on. Most damnably, the app, which is put out by the government, violates the country’s own digital privacy regulations. Link
   
   
5. Beware of false tradeoffs between public health and data privacy. Experts are warning that some coronavirus testing approaches, such as certain infrared thermometers, produce inaccurate health information while invading people’s privacy. Link
   
   
6. Democrats introduced legislation to enforce privacy protections of COVID-related data. Called the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act, it is seen as a response to the Republican bill introduced the previous week. The Democrat’s bill includes provisions mandating collected health information not be used to prevent people from voting based on their medical condition and requiring regular reports explaining how the data collection tools impact civil rights. Link