Source: New Zealand Privacy Commissioner – Blog
Welcome to our latest round-up of privacy news stories for the week.
Blackstone’s $4.7B acquisition of Ancestry raises privacy questions
Ancestry, which grew from a genealogy tracking tool to offering DNA tests for a number of health conditions, reached a deal to be acquired by Blackstone for $US4.7 billion. But privacy advocates have raised concerns over the deal — namely, what would happen to users’ health data? Read more here.
Is New Zealand ready for facial recognition technology?
Without a strong legal and ethical framework and clear policy for use, facial recognition technology can have grave implications for individual and collective rights, writes Nessa Lynch for The Spinoff.
Coronavirus: England’s test and trace programme ‘breaks GDPR data law’
Privacy campaigners say England’s test and trace programme has broken a key data protection law. The Department of Health has conceded the initiative to trace contacts of people infected with Covid-19 was launched without carrying out an assessment of its impact on privacy. Read more here.
Have you experienced fake news?
Can you spot fake news online? Netsafe has launched a new education campaign to help test your fake news knowledge. Find out more here.
Image credit: Yellow shank via John James Audubon’s Birds of America.
