Cybersecurity

Yesterday, FPF joined a broad coalition in a joint statement to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opposing password demands of travelers. Secretary John Kelly suggested DHS could require non-citizens to provide the passwords to their social media accounts as a condition of entering the country. As articulated in the letter, the practice of demanding social media passwords would not increase the security of U.S. citizens and would jeopardize the fundamental rights of people in the U.S. and abroad.

On January 26, 2017, Jules Polonetsky, FPF’s CEO, joined the National Cyber Security Alliance and other FPF members and friends at Twitter headquarters for its Data Privacy Day Event 2017. The event featured livedstreamed panels, TED-style talks, and interviews focusing on the latest privacy issues for consumers and business.

Today, Senator Nelson’s office released a report outlining several privacy and security implications of “connected toys” that the office identified based on conversations with six major toy manufacturers. The report emphasizes the unique sensitivity of children’s personal information; urges toymakers to build privacy and security into their toys from the inception; and suggests that the FTC has authority to monitor and bring enforcement actions under Section 5 and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

During this joint meeting of the FPF Capital Area Academic Network and Consumer Business Dialogue, Lorrie Faith Cranor will discuss her role as FTC Chief Technologist, and her academic research and policy development priorities.

The paper describes the current landscape of connected toys, identifying what distinguishes them from conventional toys and other smart toys. The white paper analyzes existing regulations under COPPA that have established important safeguards for information collected from children, and how those regulations apply.

Today, at the 2016 Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) Annual Conference, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and FOSI released a white paper, Kids & The Connected Home: Privacy in the Age of Connected Dolls, Talking Dinosaurs, and Battling Robots.

The winners of the 2017 PPPM Award are: Law Enforcement Access to Data Across Borders: The Evolving Security and Human Rights Issues; Accountable Algorithms; The Privacy Policymaking of State Attorneys General; Privacy of Public Data; and Privacy and Data Security Harms. The Finalist Judges also selected four papers for Honorable Mention on the basis of their uniformly strong reviews from the Advisory Board.

Washington, DC – Today, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) announced the winners of the 7th Annual Privacy Papers for Policymakers (PPPM) Award. The PPPM Award recognizes leading privacy scholarship that is relevant to policymakers in the United States Congress, at U.S. federal agencies, and for data protection authorities abroad.

FPF has produced a checklist to assist parents and schools in considering the “basics” of security standards on new ed tech products and services they may be considering or using. In on-line security, there is unfortunately no “one size fits all” solution, but with so many products and services available, this checklist is designed to provide some initial key triggers of areas that either meet a basic threshold, or might serve as discussion points for further review with the company involved.

On November 1, 2016, Jules Polonetsky was featured on NPR’s Marketplace to discuss corporate email security. In light of recent hacks, it is imperative for companies to educate employees about best practices. Jules discussed the importance of two-factor authentication for log ins and encouraged employees to use strong passwords.