Category Archives: Internet of Things

That sixth sense you have that someone is listening – could it be your smart speaker?  There’s a chance the answer is yes, even when you don’t ask it to.  A new study from Northeastern University finds that smart speakers often accidentally activate and record conversations, although just how often (sometimes as often as 19 times a day) and for how long (sometimes recording for 43 seconds) depends on the device. … More

Editors’ Note:  This is the second of a multi-part end-of-year series examining important trends in data privacy and cybersecurity during the coming year. Click here for our previous entry on HIPAA Compliance.  Up next:  trends in federal enforcement.

After one of Britain’s first victories in the Second World War, Winston Churchill declared that it was “perhaps, the end of the beginning” – a turning point in the war. … More

On June 21, 2017, the FTC updated its COPPA Compliance Guidance for businesses. The new guidance includes new descriptions of services and products covered by COPPA, and new methods for obtaining parental consent.

Though the guidance is new, the subjects of the guidance generally are not; for example, “internet-enabled location-based services” have long been within the ambit of COPPA because geolocation information has long been part of the definition of “personal information” of children that COPPA regulates.… More

Unmanned aerial vehicles, or “drones,” as they’re commonly called, touch on numerous hot-button cybersecurity issues.  As devices connected to networks, they are important when considering the “internet of things.”  As used by the government, they present surveillance concerns.  Over the past decade, they have been increasingly used for military operations — although civilian drones now far outnumber military drones.  (The FAA has estimated that by 2020,… More