Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending January 10, 2020
In this week's post, we see as technology giants such as Facebook and Amazon continue to launch and test new biometric scanners, privacy experts warn against the blind adoption of such measures. The intersection of employment law and the right to privacy for employees’ biometric data should also be examined.
Also, an overview of website privacy policies, and addressing Fair Information Principles.
Amazon’s Use of Biometrics Come Under Scrutiny
Both Amazon and Facebook have made headlines in recent months after it was discovered that they were using employees to test new biometric data use measures. Specifically, Amazon has been under increased scrutiny after information was leaked that Amazon not only had facial recognition programs in the works but a new payment system that uses hands as identification as well.
No, it is not the words for a great house in Game of Thrones – flesh and blood is the new way that Amazon intends to ring up store purchases in Whole Foods. Currently, Amazon is already testing scanners that are capable of identifying human hands as a method of payment.
While both Amazon and Facebook have faced criticism for using their employees as test subjects, raising questions about biometric privacy and its intersection with employee rights under law, the technology giants have continued to plow forward with their plans to integrate the use of biometric data into new methods of identification.
Read more here.
Website Privacy Policy
Privacy concerns arise in any situation where personal information is collected and stored. In fact, any website that collects personally identifying information is required to post a Privacy Policy disclosing the ways that the party gathers, uses, discloses, and manages personally identifying information. While there is no single definition for what constitutes personally identifying information, with respect to Privacy Policies it is prudent for companies to assume a definition that covers any information that could possibly identify a person or information about them.
Read more here.
Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.
For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.
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Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. He also co-founded Project K, a charitable movement devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time, and publishes Thriving Attorney, a blog dedicated to exploring the business of the practice of law, productivity and performance for attorneys, and other topics such as law firm leadership and management, law firm culture, and business development for attorneys.
Click to learn more about Darin M. Klemchuk's law practice as an intellectual property lawyer.