Page 4 - Data Privacy

Companies cautious about GenAI over data privacy, security: Report

92% companies in India recognise customers want adequate protection of their data: Cisco survey

Digi Yatra voluntary, data can be collected only after consent: Scindia

Digi Yatra is purely voluntary for air passengers and personnel at airports have been directed to collect data for the application only with the consent of passengers, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. There have been complaints that biometric data for Digi Yatra were being gathered from passengers without their consent and the issue was flagged to the minister by Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale. Digi Yatra, which provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various check points at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), is currently available at a minimum 13 airports for domestic passengers. In response to the member, Scindia has said that the issue was examined and "airport operators have been advised to sensitise Digi buddies on consent taking process and keeping use of Digi Yatra completely voluntary". To support passengers with the use of Digi Yatra, services of individuals called Digi buddies have been made available at

Personal information of 750 mn Indians up for sale on dark web: CloudSEK

The dataset allegedly encompasses around 85 per cent of the Indian population, making it one of the largest breaches of its kind

95% of Indian parents concerned about screen addiction of children: Survey

An overwhelming 95% of Indian parents are deeply concerned about screen addiction, while 80% and 70% expressed worries regarding gaming addiction and adult content consumption

Meta enables 'Link history' on Facebook: What it is and how-to disable it

While adding to convenience since the link history feature stores users' browsing history for 30 days, it raises concerns over Meta's disclosure that it may use the information to improve ads

RBI pulls up credit information bureaus on rising customer complaints

The CICs shared their feedback and highlighted the initiatives that are being taken in collaborating with the credit institutions (CIs) for enhancing data quality

Google plans to phase out use of third-party cookies for users in 2024

The search giant is set to roll out the feature, called Tracking Protection, on Jan. 4 to 1% of Chrome users globally, that will restrict cross-site tracking by default

Google to bring Samsung Secure Folder-like 'Private Space' with Android 15

The built-in Private Space on Android smartphones is expected to debut with Android 15 next year

Apps that use AI to undress women in photos gaining popularity: Report

These apps are part of a worrying trend of non-consensual pornography being developed and distributed because of advances in artificial intelligence - a type of fabricated media known as deepfake porn

RBI to establish cloud facility for financial sector to secure data privacy

Focusing on digital banking, the RBI announced a regulatory framework for web-aggregation of loan products and proposed the establishment of a fintech repository by April 2024

Meta makes end-to-end encryption default on Facebook, Messenger platforms

Meta is rolling out end-to-end encryption for calls and messages across its Facebook and Messenger platforms, the company announced Thursday. Such encryption means that no one other than the sender and the recipient not even Meta can decipher people's messages. Encrypted chats, first introduced as an optional feature in Messenger in 2016, will now be the standard for all users going forward, according to Messenger head Loredana Crisan. This has taken years to deliver because we've taken our time to get this right, Crisan wrote in a blog post. Our engineers, cryptographers, designers, policy experts and product managers have worked tirelessly to rebuild Messenger features from the ground up. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised, back in 2019, to bring end-to-end encryption to its platforms after the social media company suffered a string of high profile scandals, notably when Cambridge Analytica accessed user data on Facebook. Privacy advocates again shined a spotlight on Meta after

WhatsApp introduces 'view once' feature for voice notes to boost privacy

The feature allows users to designate voice notes as "View Once." This enhances privacy by preventing the recipient from exporting, forwarding, saving, or recording the voice note

Meta Platforms' paid ad-free service targeted in Austrian privacy complaint

The ad-free service cost 9.99 euros ($10.90) monthly for Web users and 12.99 euros for iOS and Android users

Probing data breach claim, no current security issue detected: Tata's IHCL

Tata group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd on Thursday said it is investigating claims of a data breach, but asserted there is no suggestion of any current or ongoing security issue. According to a media report, there has been a personal data breach of 15 lakh users from the Taj Hotel database, which is available on the dark web for purchase at USD 5,000. "We have been made aware of someone claiming possession of a limited customer data set which is of non-sensitive nature," Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) spokesperson said in a statement. Asserting that safety and security of customers' data is of paramount importance to the company, the spokesperson said, "We are investigating this claim and have notified the relevant authorities." The spokesperson further said, "We continue to monitor our systems and there is no suggestion of any current or ongoing security issue or impact on business operations." IHCL runs a number of hospitality properties under the Taj, SeleQtion

Customer data shared with account aggregators totally safe: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday assured that customer data shared with account aggregators (AA) is completely safe in India. Concerned over the slow movement of the AA scheme, she said, "It is not as much as I would want to see. It can be better, which means either the building of awareness exercises are not sufficient, adequate" or there is a need for simplification of technology. "Banks, both public and private, have reviewed it with me once. Banks have become a member or a part of this account aggregators working, and it has actually helped," she said at the 'DATE with Tech' event here. She stressed that the enthusiasm of the banks has to be accentuated, only then that it will reach every customer. Allaying concerns about data security, she said, "Initially, there were some apprehensions that possibly, account aggregators are going to sit over data bank. They cannot hold data. They are just a pass-through. Neither the beneficiary customer nor the bank can sit on

WhatsApp Security Upgrade: Privacy checkup feature for safer chats

WhatsApp has upgraded security for safer chats with a new privacy checkup feature. The new security feature is available on both Android and iOS. Here's all you need to know about the latest update

MFIs need to focus on data privacy, cyber security: SBI MD Choudhary

State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Alok Kumar Choudhary on Wednesday said there is a need for micro finance institutions (MFIs) to pay attention to data privacy and cyber security as they deal with data of a large number of customers. Speaking at a conference organised by Sa-Dhan, he said, MFIs should also focus on capacity building to deal with the challenges of the future. "The second thing which is very important is the integration with the evolving regulation particularly when you have data privacy law. The enormous amount of data which has been handled by all the MFIs, this particular aspect (data privacy) requires attention and some kind of action plan needs to be in place," he said. Financial institutions need to focus on improving ease of transaction through digital means, he said, adding, the need of the customers in the changing time has to be addressed as per their convenience and ease. "For this segment of (bottom of the pyramid) customers, we need to understan

Passkey: What it is, how-to setup password-less authentication using phones

Instead of using an alphanumeric password or two-step verification via SMS, Passkeys allow users to authenticate signing in requests by using biometrics such as fingerprints and facial scans

Only 9 of 100 firms obtain clear consent before collecting user data: PwC

Only 17% of Indian organisations have listed the email IDs of customer care or other functions for queries with respect to data protection

DPDP Act: Social media, telcos, startups lobby for 18-24 months to comply

The stakeholders also said that implementation of eKYCs may create an immense cost burden for startups and smaller organisations, considering that the number of users is in millions