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Privacy Ref
2 years ago

Do Americans Care About Privacy?

This week, we had some interesting news with Facebook, and their parent company Meta, facing massive losses in both users and stock price. Social media users on Twitter, Reddit, and even Facebook were quick to praise this occurrence. Even more interesting was Facebook citing the changes to Apple’...
Privacy Ref
2 years ago

Privacy Ref Turns 10

10 years ago, I was living in Massachusetts looking over a snowy landscape (28 inches deep) on a drab, grey day. More snow was in the forecast and shoveling it from my driveway was not something I was excited about. Maybe, I thought, it was time to move south. With Florida in my sights, and [&hel...
Privacy Ref
2 years ago

Is opt-out consent deceit?

Opt-out consent won’t be tolerated in negative option marketing, according to the FTC. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission released guidance on negative option marketing considering existing laws, declaring opt-out consent unfair and deceptive. Automatic renewals, continuity plans, p...
Privacy Ref
2 years ago

Privacy and the fixed vs. growth mindset

You might have heard of the “fixed mindset vs. growth mindset” psychology concept that helps students overcome failure and make progress in areas of weakness. I’m borrowing the concept and extending it here into the world of privacy because I can see it creating a more positive ...
Privacy Ref
2 years ago

What’s New

With 2021 almost over, we have taken a look at our offerings at Privacy Ref and wanted to share what we are working on. Training Training has begun picking up and we have seen an incredible response from participants. Privacy Ref has begun to offer in-person, instructor led training in our Delray...
Privacy Ref
2 years ago

Can Regulations Promote Good Vibes?

1. Can regulations promote good vibes? The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) posted last week about a new draft regulation from the Cyberspace Administration of China charging service providers who use recommendation algorithms to “disseminate positive energy.” The idea of...
Privacy Ref
3 years ago

Direct Marketing Consent Exemptions Globally

If you’ve ever received an email from a business and wondered how they got your information or when you signed up for emails, you were dealing with direct marketing communications. It might seem like a business is being tricky, but in many cases, it was actually their right to send you an unsolic...
Privacy Ref
3 years ago

The most Epik breach

Behold! The Worst Breach Response! In the last five years, I have seen a fair number of breaches and most of them are similarly—notify appropriate authorities, stop any further damage, investigate, and alert affected parties. Of course, these breaches happen more often than we would like to admit...
Privacy Ref
3 years ago

How to interpret GDPR, LGPD, and PIPL when choosing Data Protection Officers?

Two recently passed data privacy laws impact the selection of Data Protection Officers, but provide varying degrees of specificity on the subject: the Chinese Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD). Since both laws share similarities with t...
Privacy Ref
3 years ago

WhatsApp paying 225 Million Euro Fine

Earlier today, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a 225 million euro fine against WhatsApp. As many know, WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and this fine was targeted at the transparency of WhatsApp’s processing activities. In some ways, this even mirrors Cambridge Analytica from 20...