Hello all, and thanks for reading today.
Here’s a new word you may not have come across before: Neurorights.
Sometimes, the need to invent a new term is a cause for concern. Was rights not enough? We had to add a whole prefix just to drive the point home?
One of our stories this week focuses on California’s incorporation of neural data into the definition of sensitive personal information under the CCPA. The change officially protects your noggin from neurotechnology’s non-compliant data collection—which was very much a real possibility. Medical devices have their own regulations, but there are plenty of data collection use cases that slip through the cracks of existing data collection, as well as a new wave of consumer neurotechnology that wouldn’t fall under, say, HIPAA.
As a result, they’ve had to coin this new term to confirm that yes, your neurological activity should also be private. In fact, mental privacy is the first of the Neurorights Foundation’s five neurorights.
While it’s nice to know that people are thinking about this issue, let’s hope we don't have to see too many headlines featuring the word neurorights any time soon.
Best,
Arlo
Privacy awareness is exploding among consumers. With that awareness comes a demand for excellence—privacy pros are perfectly positioned to guide businesses during this period of transition.
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Australian hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse will challenge a ruling by local regulators who found it violated shoppers' privacy by checking their identities with facial recognition tech. Australian privacy officials claimed Bunnings collected sensitive information without consent, failed to provide notice, and did not include information on the collection in their privacy policy. Bunnings’ CCTV cameras scan store visitors’ faces upon entry—any that don’t match the faces of individuals banned for violence would be deleted within 0.00417 seconds.
If you're a business operating across Europe including the UK, what do you need to know about proposed UK data protection reform following the introduction of the Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA) to Parliament? Much of the UK GDPR will stay the same as the EU GDPR—but review this article to find out what is changing.
Devices like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Emotiy, and Kernel provide brainwave monitoring and brain-computer interfacing that target everything from mental health tracking to treating disabilities, improving focus and productivity, and more. To protect the data and people involved, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law an act amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to classify “neural data” or “brain-generated data” as sensitive personal information.
Meta received a fine of over $840 million on Wednesday for breaching the European Union’s antitrust rules as it relates to market domination after three years of legal proceedings.
The multinational company was penalized for tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook. As a result, Meta was able to use data generated by other advertisers on Facebook and Instagram to attract customers on Facebook Marketplace.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) recently released a report finding that current federal regulations for consumers’ financial data are limited. In a statement, the CPFB argued that state data privacy laws would be more effective in protecting consumers should they remove their carveouts for data and entities regulated by financial laws such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
There's more to explore:
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The book inspired by this newsletter: Osano CEO, Arlo Gilbert, covers the history of data privacy and how companies can start building a privacy program from the ground up. More details here.
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