Top News – Texas privacy bill finalized, H&M fined for video surveillance practices, and more

Texas finalizes privacy bill

HB 4, or the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, was passed by the Texas State lawmakers on May 28th, 2023, making it the 10th state to enact their privacy law, joining Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, and others. The law is to take effect on 1st July 2024 unless it is met with a definitive veto. The cure period for TDPSA is 30 days. Read more

H&M fined €50,000 by Italian DPA

A report published by the Italian Data Protection Authority, Garante, mentioned that the DPA would be imposing a fine on H&M for their unlawful use of video surveillance in their stores. According to the report, there were up to 27 cameras that were active 24/7. These cameras were placed in areas used by workers. The DPA found that notice of the same was not sufficient and that an agreement is needed from the representatives of the workers. H&M was found in violation of Article 5 of the GDPR. Read more

Toyota data leak impact reportedly extends to Asia-Pacific customers

In addition to nearly 2.15 million users in Japan being the victims of a data breach as it had been publicly available since 2012, it was announced on May 31st that customers from countries in Oceania and Asia, apart from Japan may be also have been impacted by the breach caused by human error. The compromised information included names, phone numbers, addresses, vehicle ID’s, and registration numbers. Read more

Microsoft to face $425 million fine

For allegedly violating the GDPR through the targeted ad practices of LinkedIn, Microsoft is expected to face a fine of approximately $425 million imposed by the Irish Data Protection Commission. This intimation was sent to Microsoft in a non-public draft in April, and the same was communicated with investors. Read more

FTC and DOJ fine Amazon over children’s privacy violations

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to take action against Amazon’s Alexa for collecting and keeping the voice recordings and geolocation data of children for a number of years without allowing parents to exercise their rights to delete as provided under the COPPA Rule. The proposed order against Amazon includes a $25 million fine, demands action to delete children’s data and other voice data and implement strict privacy safeguarding practices. Read more