United Kingdom
Privacy fears sap potential of female fertility tech start-ups
- Privacy fears curbing growth of female health technology start-ups following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2022 overturning women’s constitutional right to abortion.
- A number of products track symptoms, aid family planning and detect early signs of health issues, but these might be putting millions at risk through misleading and unclear data policies. “Problematic practices” and “inconsistencies” have been found in several of the most popular period-tracking software apps in the UK and US, including policies that can enable data to be accessed by law enforcement.
- The protection of behavioural data within the app being accessed is of particular concern, as the internal searches in-app often receive less protection (but can be used to infer a miscarriage or abortion).
- Clue, one of these apps, is now marketing itself as headquartered in Germany to emphasize it follows the stricter EU privacy regulations. Similarly, Flo highlights it is UK-based and has a free “anonymous mode” to allow access to the app without the linking of intimate data to their name.
UK’s NHS says hackers have published data stolen in ransomware attack
- Data was published online following a highly disruptive ransomware attack on a medical diagnostic service (Synnovis) used by several London hospitals.
- NHS England has said it may be some weeks until it is clear which individuals have been affected.
- The criminal group behind the attack had been attempting to extort money from Synnovis, threatening to publish data otherwise (including patient names, dates of birth, NHS numbers and descriptions of blood tests).
- Synnovis has confirmed there has been no evidence a copy of the database has been published, but their investigation is ongoing.
United States
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange heads to Australia after US guilty plea
- Assange plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law and was released on time served.
- Wikileaks released hundreds of classified U.S. military documents on Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Assange believed at the time that in releasing them he would be protected as a journalist by the First Amendment (freedom of speech), but has since accepted it was in violation of the espionage statute.
- Assange had previously spent 5 years in a British high-security jail and 7 years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in asylum, fighting extradition to Sweden (where he faced sexual assault allegations) and to the US (where he faced 18 criminal charges).
- Assange will now return home to Australia and be reunited with his family.
US charges Russian in Ukraine hack, offers $10 million reward
- Russian man charged with conspiracy to hack and destroy computer systems and data in Ukraine and allied countries.
- The U.S. Justice department has announced a $10 million reward for information on Amin Timovich Stigal’s location or malicious cyberactivity.
- Stigal allegedly conspired with Russian military intelligence prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to launce cyberattacks targeting the Ukrainian government, later targeting its allies (including the United States).
Europe
Digital Euro: ECB Report On CBDCs And Data Protection
- The European Central Bank (ECB) has released a report on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) that has an emphasis on data protection.
- ECB is going to use pseudonymization mechanisms, hash functions, robust encryption mechanisms and independent audits to limit the traceability of transactions from 3rd parties.
- Payment service providers will also be unable to use consumer financial data for commercial purposes without explicit consent.
International
Indonesian National Data Center Hit by Cyber Attack, Disrupting Government Services
- Severe cyber-attack on the national data centre disrupted government services, including airports, ferries and passport verification systems.
- LockBit, a ransomware gang, seems to have been behind the attack, asking for $8 million. The government does not seem to have paid, but instead gradually restored services.
- The attack impacted 200 government agencies, nationally and regionally. It is still unclear if personal data was compromised due to the hack.
US probing China Telecom, China Mobile over internet, cloud risks
- The Biden administration is investigating China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, as it is concerned firms could exploit access to American data through U.S. cloud and internet businesses and provide such information to Beijing.
- The companies have a presence in the U.S. through provision of cloud services, and internet traffic, allowing them access to American data despite the telecom regulators barring them from providing telephone and retail internet services in the U.S.
- Regulators fear companies could access personal information and intellectual property stored in their clouds and provide the Chinese government access to it, or disrupt American access to it.
- Regulators have the authority to probe internet services sold in the U.S. by companies from “foreign adversary” nations, which could degrade Chinese firms’ ability to offer competitive services, crippling their remaining U.S. businesses.
