Cybersecurity

• [New] The use of AI in biometrics will require a balance to meet the needs of privacy advocates as recent issues with Clearview AI resulted in an investigation by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
• [New] More recently, Facebook has announced new security features on its social media platform to give journalists across Africa (and other parts of the world) stronger security features that further protect their Facebook and Instagram accounts against harassment and potential hacking threats.
• [New] The data privacy concerns on Clubhouse are part of a larger threat some cybersecurity experts see from China's scouring Americans' social media accounts and gathering information on private citizens.
• [New] If government regulation to protect patient privacy is the root cause of the vestigial methods for transferring healthcare data, then new regulations might pull them into the 21st century.
• [New] With decades of efforts in strengthening the security aspect of enterprise IT systems, cybersecurity will remain a red-hot topic in 2021 and the years ahead.
• [New] Despite the risks to financial privacy, BCCLA is hopeful that the right kinds of development of virtual assets and their underlying technologies could reduce systemic discrimination in the Canadian financial system and help reduce inequality.
• [New] Hacking emerged as another top trend, led by the conversations around Windows 10 remote hacking threat, which was confirmed by the US Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in October.
• [New] PETs can help to manage and mitigate some of the risks, and defined them as any technical method that protects the privacy of personal or sensitive information.
• [New] Google, and others, are looking at solutions like a 'Privacy Sandbox' that will give users control of their data but also allow marketers to still develop targeted campaigns.
• [New] If an organization does not understand which third parties have access to its network and present the greatest risk to its data, its digital ecosystem becomes a ticking time bomb just waiting to be exploited.
• [New] Infosec pros across North America are on alert after a threat actor hacked into the water treatment plant in a city near Tampa and changed the chemical balance used to treat drinking water consumed by 15,000 area residents.
• [New] The focus on digital security in hospitals offers hope that 2021 will be the year when cybersecurity and healthcare join forces.
• [New] If there's any risk that all organizations across industries and geographies must maintain focus on, it's cybersecurity and privacy.
• The U.S. government could help with commercialization by building national data sets for research purposes, along with improved privacy protections to reassure the people whose information ends up in them.
• 2021 will see customer privacy expectations increase for data privacy as a result of Brexit: EU citizens will continue to expect their data to be accessed, processed by EU citizens and stored within the EU region.
• Onboarding, data privacy and security are the three pillars that will allow open banking to continue to change the world.
• The head of Canada's spy agency warned in a speech that China 's government continues to pose cybersecurity threats to Canadian companies and systems.
• Facebook plans to roll out an in-app prompt aimed at educating users about the handling of their data as it battles Apple over the iPhone maker's new privacy changes that would require users' consent to track their behavior and make targeted ads more difficult.
• The PRC's collection of healthcare data from America poses equally serious risks, not only to the privacy of Americans, but also to the economic and national security of the U.S.
• Since messaging a business account within WhatsApp is completely optional, WhatsApp states that users will not see any impact from the new privacy policy unless they start a chat with a company.

Last updated: 21 February 2021