InfoHive – Data Security

The COVID reality has bestowed attention on these emerging technologies:

• thermal imaging is being bought by private industry & governments to measure temperatures
• social distance measuring tools, mostly from cellphone data
• delivery robots
• drones

Government Technology | Pandemic Acts as Trial Run for Many Emerging Technologies

When verified twitter accounts were held by hackers last week, questions emerged about crypto currency transactions. Here’s how our recollection was refreshed:

Crytocurrency transactions are irreversible

Cryptocurrency transactions are virtually untraceable

A former NSA computer scientist in NPR | Twitter Says It Was The Victim Of A ‘Coordinated Social Engineering Attack’

The state agency: California State Library

The grant portal:  the California Grants Portal, more than 100 grants totaling more than $17 billion

What kind of information can be searched? applicant type, grant category, and timeframe for application deadlines

What grant categories are included? environment and water; disadvantaged communities; education; health and human services; housing, community, and economic development; libraries, parks, recreation and arts; disaster prevention and relief; and science, technology and research and development. 

The legislation creating the grant portal: AB2252 (2018 | CA)

Government Technology | What’s New in Civic Tech: California Creates Grants Portal

Where: Massachusetts

The legislation: S2800 (2020 | MA)

How would the bill impact facial recognition and biometric software?

• Temporarily bans the state’s use of the software
• Prohibits a government agency, office, department, commission, bureau, agent or contractor from acquiring, possessing or accessing any form of biometric surveillance
• Creates a special commission to study the use of facial recognition by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and law enforcement agencies

Government Technology | Massachusetts Police Reform Bill Could Ban Facial Recognition

Where: Alabama

What: HB 177 (2020 | AL)

Include a constitutional amendment? Yes

Which states have given residents control over the data collected about them? States that have adopted California’s Consumer Privacy Act

How can residents have control over their data under this legislation?

• Residents can know whether and why businesses collect and share your data.

• You can access your collected personal information.

• You can delete your collected data.

• You can opt out of the sale of your personal information.

• If you are under 16 years old, be explicitly protected from having businesses sell your information without your consent.

How do business websites comply with this?

• Pop up windows about the use of cookies with consent /opt out of tracking
• Access to an email contact that will help you exercise your rights
• Available downloadable form or a toll-free phone number to submit your privacy requests
• Responses within 10 days, & 45 days to complete your request

Which state agency has regulatory authority? The California Attorney General

San Francisco Chronicle | How to exercise your online privacy rights in California

Where: New Mexico

What: HB 15 (2020 | NM)

• Defines institutional racism
• Requires all state agencies to assess their anti-institutional racism policies in hiring, promotion, retention, pay equity, community engagement and workplace participation
• Requires the collection of data to track progress toward ending institutional racism
• Adopts statewide evaluation of race and gender gaps in hiring, promotion, retention, and pay and institute an action plan for rectifying inequities in hiring, promotion, retention, and pay

Who is proposing a public private cyber security center? U.S. Appropriation Committee wants to add one to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency budget

What would the partnership look like?

• $11.6 million funding to establish a new Joint Cyber Center for National Cyber Defense
• Establish a Joint Cyber Planning Cell to coordinate planning and readiness across government and industry
• Follows Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendations
  • (InfoHive subscribers can find a history of these recommendations summarized in quick bits in the InfoHive archive)

FCW | House’s DHS funding bill would create public-private cyber center

A new day. A new way to protect personal data. Meet Privacy Bee.

What does Privacy Bee do? “remove users’ data en masse from thousands of databases across the Internet”

What role do data scrubbing companies fill?

• the US has no strong national data protection laws
• the US is a developed country with no Data Protection Agency (most do)

ZDNet | Privacy Bee scrubs your personal data from companies to reduce your risk of identity theft

Where: Michigan

The Caucus: Michigan Legislative Black Caucus

Where is the ban on facial recognition software being attached? A police reform bill

Why the opposition?

• data shows software misidentifies Blacks and POC

Detroit Free Press via Governing | Black Lawmakers Call for Ban of Police Facial Recognition