Spanish DPA issues survey on Device Fingerprinting

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On February 2, 2019, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) published a Survey on Device Fingerprinting. (“Survey“) “Device fingerprinting is the systematic gathering of information on a specific remote device with the aim of identifying, singling out and, thus being able to monitor its user’s activity for the purpose of profiling.” The data set extracted from the user’s terminal device allows that device to be unequivocally uniquely identified. The APD estimates that there Read more [...]

Illinois federal court finds face-scan measurements derived from a photo qualify as biometric identifiers

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
On February 27, 2017, an Illinois federal court denied Google’s motion to dismiss a claim alleging that Google handles images in violation of the Illinois 2008 Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). In a (putative) class action against Google Photos, plaintiffs alleged that the service collects, stores and uses- without informed consent and in violation of BIPA – the “users’ biometric identifiers and biometric information”. The BIPA forbids the unauthorized collection and storing Read more [...]

Biometria e tutela della privacy

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
L'uso commerciale dei dati biometrici è decisamente aumentato negli ultimi anni. Alcuni software sono ora in grado di riconoscere le caratteristiche fisiche, come impronte digitali, retina, geometria del viso e voci. Questa tecnologia semplifica la vita: mani e voci possono essere sufficienti per accedere al proprio telefono o conto in banca, e un singolo click per essere taggato in centinaia di foto. Tuttavia, non è possibile modificare i dati biometrici come si cambiano le password e la protezione Read more [...]

Privacy issues in biometrics

Posted on by Federica Romanelli
Commercial use of biometric data increased dramatically in recent years: some software are now able to recognize physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, retinas, hand and facial geometry, as well as voices. This technology makes people’s life easier as their hand or voice may be enough to access their phone or bank account, and one single click may be enough to be tagged in hundreds of photos. However, you cannot change biometric data as you change passwords: it needs to be well protected. Read more [...]