Google, Industry Try To Water Down First US Data-Privacy Law

Posted on Thursday September 05, 2019

Google and its industry allies are making a late bid to water down the first major data-privacy law in the U.S., seeking to carve out exemptions for digital advertising, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg and people familiar with the negotiations. Bloomberg reports: A lobbyist for Google recently distributed new language to members of California's state legislature that would amend the California Consumer Privacy Act. As currently drafted, the law limits how Google and other companies collect and make money from user data online, threatening a business model that generates billions of dollars in ad revenue. It's due to kick in next year and there are only a few more days to amend the law. The lobbying push seeks legislative approval to continue collecting user data for targeted advertising, and in some cases, the right to do so even if users opt out, according to the documents and the people familiar with the negotiations. It's unclear if the language circulating in the state capitol's corridors was drafted by Google, and other lobbyists are likely asking for similar changes. Industry groups, such as the California Chamber of Commerce and the Internet Association, often help write legislation and have been the face of industry during two years of debate over the CCPA. It's also common for interested parties to suggest late changes to bills. The Google representative, who distributed the revised language in recent weeks, has yet to find a lawmaker to sponsor the amendments, according to people familiar with negotiations. The proposal must be in a bill by Sept. 10 to be eligible for lawmakers to vote on it before they adjourn for the year on Sept. 13. One of the proposals would let Google and others use data collected from websites for their own analysis, and then share it with other companies that may find it useful. Currently, the CCPA prohibits the sale or distribution of user data if the user has opted out, with limited exceptions. Another proposal would loosen the definition of "business purpose" when it comes to selling or distributing user data. The law currently defines this narrowly and has a list of specific activities, such auditing and security, that will be allowed. Google's lobbyist shared new language that significantly broadens the rule by replacing the phrase "Business purposes are" with "Business purposes include," before the list of approved activities.

 

Back up your data with these solutions

Posted on Thursday September 05, 2019

Today's businesses rely heavily on data to run their day-to-day operations. They use it for everything from building client relationships to developing marketing strategies and so much more. But without data backups, businesses stand to suffer from major losses and even end up closing up for good should any natural or human-made disaster occur. With that in mind, you should develop a robust backup plan for your business, which includes implementing any or all of the following solutions.

 

Free your File Explorer of ads

Posted on Wednesday September 04, 2019

Surprised that ads have taken over your Windows 10 PC, laptop, or Surface Pro? You can still have an ad-free experience with Windows 10 In this tutorial, we will show you how to turn off ads that Microsoft sends in File Explorer.

 

Acquiring a VHD to Investigate

Posted on Tuesday September 03, 2019

In a previous post we described some of the differences between on-premises/physical forensics and cyber investigations and those performed in the cloud, and how this can make cloud forensics challenging. That blog post described a method of creating and maintaining a VM image which can be distributed to multiple regions, allowing you to deploy this...

 

No ransom: A place for free decryption

Posted on Tuesday September 03, 2019

Although a ransomware attack may seem targeted, you're not the only one who's been infected. Ransomware is spreading at an alarming rate, and the further it goes, the more resources are allocated to fighting it. If your data is held hostage, refer to this list of free decryptors you can use.

 

BlueHat Seattle 2019 Call for Papers is Now Open!

Posted on Tuesday September 03, 2019

2019 has seen a phenomenal BlueHatIL in February followed by a wildly successful BlueHat Shanghai in May. Now it's time to come back home for BlueHat Seattle! 2 days of hands-on technical training (October 22-23, 2019), 2 days of conference talks from industry-leading security researchers and cyber defenders (October 24-25, 2019), great creative spaces ready...

 

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