According to The New York Times, the FBI is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into the Houston Astros' internal network. The Cardinals are the most successful National League franchise and 2nd most successful organization in Major League Baseball after the New York Yankees. While this investigation is ongoing, it would not surprise me if in addition to serious state and federal charges, Major League Baseball imposes a harsh penalty on the Cardinals and those employees responsible if it is found that they hacked into the Astros computer networks.
This is a breaking story so more updates may be provided later.
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Facial Recognition Privacy Talks Collapse Due to Inadequate Consumer Safeguards
According to The New York Times, nine civil rights and other advocacy organizations announced today that they are withdrawing from "talks with trade
associations over how to write guidelines for the fair commercial use of
face recognition technology for consumers."
Why are these talks so important? Because every time you walk into a fast food restaurant instead of a health food store you will be tracked and this information will be sent to data brokers who will insert it into your digital dossier. You will be penalized for who you talk to in public (whether its a friend, business associate, or a stranger on the street) and this data will be tied to you forever. What stores you visit and when you visit them will be collected and available to interested parties.
Should private companies have the right to know if you attend weekly religious functions and what faith you practice based upon your comings and goings? What about whether you are seen visiting a bar or other gathering known for particular social or political characteristics? Do you want others to know whether you frequent casinos, liquor stores, cigar shops, or certain specialty retailers? Visiting these places and making purchases are perfectly legal. However, when each of these individual activities are taken together it can paint a picture of our lives. This is why John Hancock has created a new life insurance product that tracks your every move. These are just a few examples of why stronger privacy protections are needed for biometrics.
Privacy is a civil right. The potential for discrimination is high. The more data that is being collected about us the greater the risk of the information falling into the wrong hands. For example, the recent cyber attack on federal databases by Chinese hackers is a serious threat to national security and personal safety. The systems compromised housed information on federal workers, their families, and those who interact with them. The type of data contained in these files may be utilized for strategic national and economic security, blackmail, and who knows what else.
Absent participation by civil rights groups and privacy advocates, the facial recognition talks are worthless. Its time for more technology companies to take a public stand for greater privacy protections. The 4th amendment has protected us against unreasonable government searches and seizures for more than 200 years. Its time for us to demand that our government extend this principle to protect us against unreasonable data collection and usage by private companies.
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
Why are these talks so important? Because every time you walk into a fast food restaurant instead of a health food store you will be tracked and this information will be sent to data brokers who will insert it into your digital dossier. You will be penalized for who you talk to in public (whether its a friend, business associate, or a stranger on the street) and this data will be tied to you forever. What stores you visit and when you visit them will be collected and available to interested parties.
Should private companies have the right to know if you attend weekly religious functions and what faith you practice based upon your comings and goings? What about whether you are seen visiting a bar or other gathering known for particular social or political characteristics? Do you want others to know whether you frequent casinos, liquor stores, cigar shops, or certain specialty retailers? Visiting these places and making purchases are perfectly legal. However, when each of these individual activities are taken together it can paint a picture of our lives. This is why John Hancock has created a new life insurance product that tracks your every move. These are just a few examples of why stronger privacy protections are needed for biometrics.
Privacy is a civil right. The potential for discrimination is high. The more data that is being collected about us the greater the risk of the information falling into the wrong hands. For example, the recent cyber attack on federal databases by Chinese hackers is a serious threat to national security and personal safety. The systems compromised housed information on federal workers, their families, and those who interact with them. The type of data contained in these files may be utilized for strategic national and economic security, blackmail, and who knows what else.
Absent participation by civil rights groups and privacy advocates, the facial recognition talks are worthless. Its time for more technology companies to take a public stand for greater privacy protections. The 4th amendment has protected us against unreasonable government searches and seizures for more than 200 years. Its time for us to demand that our government extend this principle to protect us against unreasonable data collection and usage by private companies.
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
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