American Data Privacy and Protection Act: Are We Finally Getting Federal Data Privacy Protection?
(National Law Review, Sep 22, 2022)
American consumer privacy has been left in the hands of individual states, while federal consumer privacy legislation has been in deliberation for decades, but Congress has finally made progress. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) is a proposed landmark U.S. federal privacy legislation that follows in the footsteps of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved ADPPA on July 20, 2022, and H.R.8152 will be sent to the full U.S. House of Representatives for a vote. However, voting may be delayed due to 2022 mid-term elections. If the Bill is passed by the full House, then it would go to the Senate, and we could have an enacted federal data privacy law in the near future.
US State Lawmakers Look at Biometrics For Voting, Say It’s Just Not Ready
(Biometric Update, Sep 22, 2022)
There are just too many fingerprints for election officials in the state of Arkansas to reliably be matched with computing devices. Biometrics is not mature enough to accommodate a huge database of 3 million people. And what about all the potential voters without fingers or even hands, wonder Arkansas legislators. The fraud committed in Arkansas is too … complex or unusual, maybe, to be addressed by the early examples of biometric systems used around the nation and the globe. Those are some of the prominent arguments put forth by legislators who, as required by a state law, had to examine whether it was time to deploy biometric scanners for guaranteeing elections credibility. They said it is simply is not feasible, according to reporting by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Yet.
NY Anti-Surveillance Org Launches Petition Against Mets Facial Recognition Ticketing System
(Audacy.com, Sep 22, 2022)
A New York-based privacy and civil rights group launched a petition Tuesday to stop the Mets baseball team from utilizing facial recognition technology for tickets. The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) named the petition “Steal Bases Not Faces” and condemned the Major League Baseball team for adopting the new ticketing system in partnership with computer vision company Wicket. The system encourages ticket holders to upload their image on MLB.com which registers their face before checking-in at Citi Field gates. "When I'm at a Mets game, I want an overpriced hot dog, not a facial recognition scanner in my face," said S.T.O.P. Development Director Sam Van Doran. "Fans shouldn't have to give away their faces when a barcode will do just fine. Surveillance vendors push tech solutions for problems that don't exist, without considering the consequences. As a Mets fan, I'm an optimist - but when biometric data is collected by a private company for unknown purposes, we all lose."
The Rage Against The Expansion Of Whole Foods' Palm-Scanning Tech
(Mashed.com, Sep 22, 2022)
The cliche narrative of robots taking over and annihilating mankind is often tossed around humorously, but as technology strides towards resembling scenes in "The Terminator," such a dark dystopia may not seem so unrealistic after all. Ok, maybe our demise isn't imminent, but technology has enabled some chilling advances in privacy and data collection. Every click, swipe, and tap is a data point that makes up our interests, purchase habits, and whereabouts, and this personal data is often sold and monetized by companies or data brokers. Even more concerning is biometric data — "unique physical characteristics" that can be used to identify a person in a system, according to the Department of Homeland Security — which includes fingerprint, facial, and palm recognition. Just like your search history, this biometric data is stored.
Europe Edges Closer to a Ban on Facial Recognition
(Politico, Sep 22, 2022)
Should the EU ban software that can pick a face out of a crowd? A growing political coalition thinks so — and just received heavyweight support from the third largest group in the EU parliament, where a majority is now in favor of banning facial recognition tech that scans crowds indiscriminately and in real-time. The support from Renew, which joins the Greens and Socialists & Democrats groups in backing a ban, shows how a growing part of Europe's political leadership is in favor of restrictions on artificial intelligence that go far beyond anything in other technologically-advanced regions of the world including the U.S. Last week, POLITICO obtained a document detailing a new civil liability law for AI applications — an avant-garde step toward a legal regime for autonomous programs and devices.
Identity Week America, October 4 - 5, 2022
(Terrapinn, Sep 22, 2022)
IDENTITY WEEK is the most important identity event in the USA. IDENTITY WEEK is a conference and exhibition bringing together the brightest minds in the identity sector to promote innovation, new thinking, and more effective identity solutions. Key areas of focus include secure physical credentials, digital identity, and advanced authentication technologies, such as biometrics.
