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During the 2017 Annual Advisory Board Meeting, FPF issued its first-ever award to Jessica Rich, the former Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for her leadership in responsible data use and consumer privacy.

There are many lessons to learn from the spread of the WannaCry ransomware attacks across the globe. One lesson that needs more attention is the danger that exists when a government attempts to create mandatory backdoors into computer software and systems.

Genetic testing is becoming more widely available to consumers; such testing can be an exciting new opportunity to help individuals flesh out family histories, discover cultural connections, and learn about their personal backgrounds. The availability of low-cost genetic sequencing and analysis has led to numerous businesses offering a variety of services, including some that provide detailed health and wellness reports that explain how genetics can influence risks for certain diseases. The enthusiastic public response demonstrates that there is great demand for this knowledge.

Encryption has become a cornerstone of the technologies that support communication, commerce, banking, and myriad other essential activities in today’s digital world. In an announcement this week, Google revealed a new marketing attribution tool that relies on a particular type of advanced encryption to allow advertisers to understand whether their online ads have resulted in in-store purchases.

During the International Association of Privacy Professional’s Global Privacy Summit 2017, FPF’s CEO, Jules Polonetsky, took a moment to speak with NBC 4 Los Angeles about the privacy implications of granting apps permission to track your location.

Notes from FPF Through academic, policy, and industry circles, making progress on the cluster of issues related to algorithmic accountability has become a leading priority. The inaugural issue of the Future of Privacy Forum’s Privacy Scholarship Reporter provides a clear and compelling look into some of the most worrisome problems and promising solutions. Although not […]

Kelsey Finch, FPF Policy Counsel, presented FPF’s 2016 Mobile Apps Study at the Federal Trade Commission’s annual PrivacyCon on January 12, 2017. Kelsey presented a visual representation of the App Study designed by FPF Fellow, Carolina Alonso. See the visual.

The Privacy Policy Snapshot Challenge calls upon developers, designers, health data privacy experts, and creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to use the US Department of Health and Human Services ONC’s Model Privacy Notice template to create an online tool that can generate a user-friendly “snapshot” of a product’s privacy practices.

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).

Uber recently announced that its iOS app will require access to location data either “Always” or “Never.” Given some of the confusion about the change, we are writing to help consumers better understand what Uber modified and why.