[ DuckDuckGo Privacy Weekly ] For May 6, 2021

• TikTok Faces Privacy Lawsuit on Behalf of Millions of Children [bloomberg.com]
  “TikTok is a data collection service thinly-veiled as a social network.” For example in London, TikTok is facing a lawsuit for violating UK and EU data protection laws, demanding that illegally processed data from millions of children be deleted.
• You Can't Hide Whether You Are Online on WhatsApp – and That's a Problem [vice.com]
  "In an official FAQ about configuring privacy settings, WhatsApp says that 'there is no way to hide when you are online or typing.'" Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai on yet another way WhatsApp is a privacy nightmare. (We recommend Signal instead.)
• Stop Spying on Kids [stopspyingonkids.com]
  Big Tech companies spy on kids for profit, but these four major changes would greatly help protect kids online:
  • Ban addictive and manipulative app features
  • Ban micro-targeted advertising
  • Limit data collection itself
  • Ban biometric stalkerware
• Protocol for Exclusion: Why COVID-19 Vaccine "Passports" Threaten Human Rights [accessnow.org]
  COVID-19 passports pose serious privacy threats unless regulators prioritize data protection. "…minimize data collection and retention, meet and go beyond legal requirements, and follow privacy-by-design principles to ensure robust respect for human rights."
• Employee Data Privacy Lawsuits: A Growing Trend [forbes.com]
  "There is a growing trend for both increased scrutiny on employers to keep employee data safe and the willingness for courts to punish employers who fail to meet this obligation." Tom Spiggle reports on two recent US lawsuits that exemplify this trend.

Our thoughts

• What Is the Business Model for DuckDuckGo? [spreadprivacy.com]
  Recently, some tech companies have started telling users they need to track you across apps and websites to give you free services. They're wrong. DuckDuckGo is profitable using non-creepy advertising, the kind that does not rely on tracking users.

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