Abine

At the end of May, Vermont became the first state in the U.S. to create and pass legislation that regulates data brokers and the information they fence. The law seeks to provide consumers with an extra level of protection while initiating accountability for a nearly unregulated industry. Designed to target massive data brokers like Spokeo, White Pages, and Been Verified, who have previously functioned under an umbrella of little to no oversight. While there are ways to institute your removal from Whitepages and the information they store it is by no means a simple step. This legislation will force data brokers to: register with the state comply with new rules inform consumers on the data they collect provide clear instructions for opting out immediately notify authorities when a breach occurs (including the number of consumers affected) be held accountable for fraud by the state itself The law defines a data broker “as a bus...

Aside from filling your inbox with emails from subscriptions asking you to confirm your desire to continue receiving emails from them, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a long-term solution to a serious problem. It’s been developed over the past seven years and timely addresses data protection in a time of hackers, data brokers, and social media information leaks. The GDPR replaces the 1995 Data Protection Directive and its standards for processing data, from technology to E-Commerce. It is meant to give more power over your personal data back to you and keep it from getting into the wrong hands. The GDPR was implemented on May 25 th , 2018, in every European Union member state, applying to any data controller holding the personal information of online members. This includes any data controller who interacts with European users, therefore affecting data policy on a global scale.  A data controller holds personal data ...