United Kingdom
Glasgow Council Considers Motion on Legal Challenges of Facial Recognition Technology
- A motion was presented to Glasgow’s councillors over the legal challenges regarding the use of Facial Recognition Technology.
- The motion followed Ed Bridges’ case where the Court of Appeal said the South Wales Police’s use of live facial recognition (LFR) violated privacy rights and broke data protection and equality laws.
- It has been confirmed that Police Scotland is considering enhancing CCTV resources with the introduction of Briefcam’s object matching software, which also has capabilities to match faces live.
- This raises concerns regarding erosion of the fundamental right to be presumed innocent and undermine privacy and civic freedoms.
Sheffield Council Faces Increasing Cybersecurity Challenges Despite Ongoing Enhancements
- Sheffield Council was hit with 1,500 data breaches over the last few years.
- They insist they are always enhancing their systems to ‘defend against cyber threats’.
- Only 10 of the data breach incidents led to legal claims since 2022, and other issues reported could be minor including sending emails to the wrong people or incorrectly disposing of paperwork.
- Nevertheless, problems seem to be on the rise, with a 43% surge in reports between the 2022/23 year and 2024/25.
United States
Hawaiian Airlines Among Targets in FBI-Flagged Cyberattack Wave
- On June 28th the FBI warned of a coordinated cybercrime campaign targeting U.S. airlines.
- Attackers used ransomware, social engineering, deepfake tech, and insider impersonation.
- Regional carriers like Hawaiian Airlines are now being actively targeted, though it has not confirmed a successful breach.
- The group behind the attack, Scattered Spider, is known for deceptive methods like SIM swapping and helpdesk impersonation.
OnePlus Under Fire for Suspected Unauthorised Data Sharing with China
- OnePlus, a Chinese tech company, faces allegations of sending user data to Chinese servers without consent.
- U.S. lawmakers have urged the Commerce Department to investigate.
- Claims mention “potential transfers” of sensitive data and screenshots but there is no public evidence yet.
- The case reflects ongoing U.S. concerns about Chinese-owned tech firms and national security.
Europe
DeepSeek AI App Faces EU Scrutiny Over Data Transfers to China
- Berlin’s Data Protection Commissioner reported the AI app DeepSeek to Apple and Google and asked the American companies to remove it from their app stores for violating EU data protection laws as it allegedly transfers German users’ personal data to servers in China without required GDPR safeguards.
- DeepSeek is developed by Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence, a Beijing-based company with no EU presence.
- The app collects extensive data: messages, chat history, files, location, device info, and network metadata. Berlin warns of potential access by Chinese authorities, posing serious privacy risks.
- Data is stored in China, which lacks an EU adequacy agreement for data protection.
Bumble’s AI Tool Under Investigation for Potential GDPR Violations
- Bumble is under scrutiny after privacy group NOYB filed a GDPR complaint with Austrian regulators.
- The complaint targets Bumble’s AI feature ‘Icebreakers,’ launched in December 2023, which generates conversation starters using profile data.
- NOYB claims the feature processes personal data without user consent, violating EU privacy laws – data is allegedly sent to OpenAI without clear user approval.
- Bumble’s privacy policy cites “legitimate interest” to test new technologies but lacks transparency on AI data use.
International
Australian Airline Qantas Reports Large-Scale Customer Data Breach
- On June 30th, Qantas detected unusual activity on a platform used by its contact centre – the breach affects data of 6 million people, including names, emails, phone numbers, birth dates, and frequent flyer numbers.
- Qantas says it took immediate steps to contain the breach and is still investigating its full extent.
- No passport details, credit card information, or financial data were stored on the affected system.
- Qantas is contacting impacted customers to inform, apologise, and offer support.
