Suzanne Smalley

‘We’re not trying to remake the economy’: FTC’s Mufarrige charts new course on tech enforcement The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection chief discussed the agency’s embrace of age verification and how industry should think about data privacy enforcement under his watch.

I interviewed FTC official Chris Mufarrige. Among other things, he said the agency is keeping an eye on Meta's facial recognition smart glasses. Check it out!

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California fines national high school ticketing platform $1.1 million for privacy violations The CPPA alleges that PlayOn Sports collected students' personal data and delivered targeted advertising by using tracking technologies without providing a “sufficient way to opt out.”

California fines PlayOn Sports $1.1 million

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Google urges Supreme Court to strike down geofence warrants as unconstitutional In its amicus brief, Google called the warrants a violation of people’s rights and said that in recent months it has objected to more than 3,000 geofence warrants on constitutional grounds.

Google tells Supreme Court geofence warrants are unconstitutional. No court would authorize a physical search of hundreds of people or places, yet geofence warrants sometimes do so by design,” Google’s brief argued.

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Instagram to start alerting parents when children search for terms relating to self-harm Parents in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada will soon receive alerts if a child repeatedly searches Instagram for content relating to self-harm or suicide.

Instagram to begin alerting parents when kids search for terms relating to self-harm. Move comes amid Meta trial in CA in which teen accuses social media giant of addictive design which spurred profound anxiety. Meta also under attack from parents of suicide victims
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EU lawmakers propose that youth under 16 be barred from social media without parental consent The opinion also states that social media access should not be allowed for children below age 13 under any circumstances.

EU Parliament issues opinion saying kids under 16 should be kept off social media unless parent consents + that kids under 13 should be barred entirely. Parliament can't propose new laws, but opinion expected to influence EC's consideration of new law it is planning
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Intellexa founder, three others sentenced to 8 years in prison over Greek spyware scandal A Greek court sentenced the founder of the Intellexa Consortium and three associates to prison for their role in a sprawling spyware scandal that has dominated Greek headlines since it came to light i...

Intellexa associates- incl founder - sentenced to 8 years in prison in Greece. (They remain free on appeal). Spyware combatant John Scott-Railton on impact to biz: "This is going to be a huge ball and chain that Intellexa’s executives are going to be dragging around."
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FTC says it won’t enforce COPPA against proper use of age verification tools The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday issued a policy statement advising industry that it will not bring enforcement actions against website and online service providers who collect, use and...

Industry take note: FTC won't enforce COPPA for age verification under certain conditions

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Discord puts global age verification policy on hold after backlash In responding to pushback about Discord's impending age verification policy, co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy said the platform "failed at our most basic job: clearly explaining what we're doing and w...

Discord delays global age verification following user outcry

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PowerSchool, Chicago Public Schools to settle student data privacy lawsuit for $17 million In addition to the $17.25 million payout, which will be split between more than 10 million potential class members, the settlement requires PowerSchool to establish a “web governance” committee to mon...

PowerSchool and Chicago Public Schools to pay $17.25 and change privacy practices for using Naviance platform to collect kids' data and eavesdrop on communications

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Across party lines and industry, the verdict is the same: CISA is in trouble One year into the second Trump administration, CISA faces a 33% loss in personnel and shuttered divisions. Experts warn of "decimated" capabilities and a leadership vacuum as the agency struggles to m...

I spoke to a ton of people for this comprehensive story about CISA one year into the Trump administration, and all sorts were VERY unsparing in their criticism. cyberscoop.com/cisa-personn...

Cellebrite cut off Serbia citing abuse of its phone unlocking tools. Why not others? | TechCrunch Cellebrite, which makes phone unlocking and hacking tools, stopped sales to countries that allegedly abused its tools. But after new allegations in Jordan and Kenya, the company has changed its approa...

NEW: Last year, Cellebrite stopped Serbia from using its tools after allegations that local police had abused them to hack into the phone of a journalist.

Now there are similar allegations in Kenya and Jordan, and Cellebrite is taking an entirely different approach.

Representative Trahan's (D-MA) office has released a new report, "Privacy, Trust, and Effective Government: A Bipartisan Blueprint for Modernizing the Privacy Act."

trahan.house.gov/uploadedfile...

ONCD official says Trump administration aims to bolster AI use for defense without increasing risk The Trump administration's ONCD announces a new push for AI-driven cyber defense. Learn how the White House plans to boost security, close workforce gaps, and counter adversary AI.

Alexandra Seymour also talked about cyber workforce goals, including emulating Israel’s Unit 8200. via @timstarks.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/trump-admini...

West Virginia sues Apple for alleged child sexual abuse material failures West Virginia sued Apple for allegedly allowing iCloud to be used to disseminate and store child sexual abuse content.

West Virginia sues Apple for facilitating storage and spread of child sexual abuse materials. The lawsuit says Apple's interest in cultivating a privacy first image caused it to abandon a CSAM detection initiative.

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UK to require tech firms to remove nonconsensual intimate images within 48 hours or face fines U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a new law that will require tech companies to remove intimate images shared without consent within two days or face large fines and potentially have their se...

UK says it plans to crack down on tech firms that fail to remove nonconsenual intimate images within 48 hours. Punishments could include having service blocked in UK or fines of up to 10% of global revenue. PM Keir Starmer calls the problem a "national emergency" therecord.media/united-kingd...

You may be tempted to roll your eyes and say that this was obvious, but there is a substantive difference between pointing out there is a slippery slope and having solid evidence that Ring's CEO is planning to expand Search Party beyond lost pets. Kudos to 404 Media.

Texas sues TP-Link, alleging it allows China to hack into routers Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit on Monday and said it is the first of several that will be filed this week against companies affiliated with China's government.

Texas sues router company TP-Link for deceptive marketing of products, saying the firm offers privacy and security when in fact its routers have been used by Chinese state sponsored hackers for U.S. cyberattacks

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Citizen Lab: Kenyan authorities used Cellebrite to break into phone of dissident Traces of commercial surveillance technology manufactured by the Israeli spyware maker Cellebrite were found on a prominent Kenyan dissident’s phone, the latest in a series of abuses of the technology...

Kenyan authorities used Cellebrite to extract data from activist's phone after detaining him and seizing his device, @citizenlab.ca says

@jsrailton.bsky.social

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FTC push for age verification a ‘major landmark’ for spread of the tool The FTC's COPPA rule should not be an “impediment to the most child protective technology to emerge in decades,” a senior agency official said recently.

FTC officials push for age verification and promise of plan to potentially amend COPPA to make clear the tool doesn't violate the rule a "major landmark" in spread of age verification implementation, expert says

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California fines Disney $2.75 million for data privacy violations Disney has agreed to pay a $2.75 million to the state of California over allegations that it broke the state’s landmark privacy law by making it exceedingly difficult for consumers to opt out of havin...

Disney fined $2.75 million by California for privacy violations. Entertainment giant made it impossible for people to opt out of all data sharing and sales

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Discord to require video selfies or government IDs to verify all users’ ages Discord will soon require all its users worldwide to verify their ages by sharing video selfies or providing government IDs, a move that coincides with a push for age verification across social media ...

Discord users are furious about plans to require all users to verify their ages through video selfies or government ID.
"This is how Discord dies," one reddit user said. Others pointed to data breach of 70K user ID images late last year

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EU threatens TikTok with massive fine over addictive design features The preliminary findings follow an investigation that began in February 2024 probing features such as “infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalised recommender system,” t...

The EU is coming for TiKTok

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Spain will ban social media for kids under 16 "We will protect [children] from the digital Wild West," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reportedly said in remarks at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Another country - Spain - says it will ban social media for kids under 16. In recent days, France, the UK and the Netherlands have all said they are studying such bans

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Flock Safety on its way to losing a contract in another city after police chief says it shared city's ALPR data w/ other agencies w/o permission. It is illegal in CA for ALPR data to be shared with out-of-state agencies. Chief says he does not have confidence in Flock and is "deeply disappointed"

Netherlands latest European country to mull social media ban for children The new Dutch minority government is pushing to raise the minimum age to access social media to 15 — the latest such proposal in Europe after France and the United Kingdom announced similar efforts.

The new Dutch minority government is pushing to raise the minimum age to access social media in Europe to 15, documents released Friday show.

therecord.media/netherlands-...

Spyware maker is hijacking diplomatic efforts to limit commercial hacking, civil society warns Spyware maker NSO Group trumpeted the company’s participation in the Pall Mall Process, which drew criticism from civil society leaders and government officials who called out human rights abuses.

UK and French govts say they "didn't invite" NSO to participate in Pall Mall after spyware maker trumpets its participation in annual "transparency report." French officials note "extremely serious" allegations involving Pegasus in France

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Spyware maker is hijacking diplomatic efforts to limit commercial hacking, civil society warns Spyware maker NSO Group trumpeted the company’s participation in the Pall Mall Process, which drew criticism from civil society leaders and government officials who called out human rights abuses.

Really interesting reporting from @suzannesmalley.bsky.social:

Civil society groups are warning that makers of spyware tied to human rights abuses (NSO Group) are inserting themselves into diplomatic initiatives (Pall Mall Process) as a way to whitewash their reputations.

FTC commissioner says online age verification ‘offers a better way’ to protect kids FTC Commissioner Mark Meador framed the issue through the lens of child safety, citing statistics showing increases in self-harm among children in the digital era.

FTC Commissioner at agency age verification workshop: Age gating is a "tool that empowers rather than replaces America's parents — really, I don't know that we can afford to forego it.” Mark Meador calls it a "better way" and expresses alarm over online harms to kids
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I enjoyed the discussion a great deal. Watch it here (note, the audio doesn't start til around 6 mins): www.youtube.com/watch?v=wthu...

Judge dismisses case alleging use of Flock cameras in Virginia city is unconstitutional A Virginia federal judge ruled that the warrantless use of Flock automated license plate cameras in Norfolk, Virginia, is constitutional and dismissed a case seeking to eradicate them.

Judge dismisses case alleging Norfolk, Virginia's use of Flock cameras is unconstitutional. Judge says the 75 clusters of cameras spread out across the 66 square mile city do not surveil citizens to an extent that violates their 4th Amendment rights

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