MPs Demand Tougher Data Protection

By Digital Trends Staff January 2, 2008

It’s not long since Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost the data of some 25 million British citizens on two data disks, which have still to be found. The Parliamentary report into that incident, called The Protection of Private Data, has called for much stricter data protection laws, according to the BBC. Calling the incident “truly shocking,” committee chairman Alan Beith said, "The scale of the data loss by government bodies and contractors is truly shocking but the evidence we have had points to further hidden problems. It is frankly incredible, for example, that the measures HMRC has put in place were not already standard procedure." The committee wants new criminal laws to protect data, including prosecution of those who lose data, as well as more powers for the Information Commissioner. Once other EU member states are able to access UK data on UK citizens, the committee says, "the importance of restricting the amount of data held, as well as proper policing of who had access to it takes on even greater importance.”

Digital Trends Staff

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‘A staggering problem’: Working from home could lead to massive data leaks

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The corporate security situation right now is like trying to quickly assemble a shelter during a rainstorm, experts say: Even if you get something set up, you're still likely to have some water leaking through.
Everyone working from home, plus a reported increase in attempted cyberattacks means security systems straining under these unique conditions are especially vulnerable to massive hacks and data breaches -- which could be underway right now and may not be reported about for another six months.
“I’m terrified about it” said Ben Goodman, senior vice president of global business and corporate development at ForgeRock. “A lot of users are being thrust into a work from home environment, and they’re not at all used to this.”

It takes a lot to make sure users are properly implementing security best practices, he told Digital Trends -- practices that most companies didn't train for before employees were forced to work remotely.
“I think we’re going to have an unprecedented number of breaches being announced following the pandemic,” said Kayne McGladrey, member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
“The amount of risk is at an all-time high,” agreed Chris Hertz, chief revenue officer for the cybersecurity company DivvyCloud. “If I were a cybersecurity professional, I would not be sleeping right now. It’s a staggering problem.”
An annual survey from DivvyCloud reported that 49% of respondents who use the public cloud in their jobs said “their developers and engineers at times ignore or circumvent cloud security and compliance policies.”
In addition, cyberattacks are on the rise, a trend that was already happening before the pandemic, and now has dramatically increased, said Hertz. 2018 and 2019 saw a record number of ransomware attacks that totaled $5 trillion in damages.
“Right now is one of the most critical periods for IT security professionals that we’ve had in last decades,” Hertz told Digital Trends. “As one of my colleagues says, we’ve planned for hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, but not for a pandemic that would send literally everyone home for six to 12 months. That was never the framework we’re thinking of.”

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New Amazon grocery delivery customers placed on wait list due to high demand

Amazon Go Grocery Store

With many cities passing shelter-in-place orders and most regions encouraging people to practice social distancing due to the global pandemic of coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, grocery delivery services have exploded in popularity as people seek to avoid going to busy supermarkets. But services are struggling to keep up with demand. Now, even the massive Amazon delivery service is no longer accepting new customers for the time being.

As reported by Reuters, new customers who want to sign up for grocery deliveries from Amazon through its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now services will be placed on a wait list, starting today. Shoppers have reported problems getting delivery slots over the last few weeks, and now Amazon is formalizing its approach to the issue by limiting new customers. It says it is working on making more slots available by increasing its capacity, and it will also introduce a queue system to allow customers to reserve a delivery slot.

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Google Maps data shows whether people in your area are staying at home

Google Community Mobility Report

Google has published an early look at its COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, a set of reports for use by health officials showing the effect of the pandemic coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, on people's mobility. Google has used anonymized location data to track the degree to which people are complying with social distancing advice and staying home rather than attending public places like restaurants, parks, and transit stations. The reports also indicate how many people are still required to travel to work, as opposed to working from home.

"In Google Maps, we use aggregated, anonymized data showing how busy certain types of places are -- helping identify when a local business tends to be the most crowded," Jen Fitzpatrick, SVP of Geo and Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer at Google Health, wrote in a blog post. "We have heard from public health officials that this same type of aggregated, anonymized data could be helpful as they make critical decisions to combat COVID-19."