Expanding upon its eCrime Unit founded in December 2011, California Attorney General Kamala Harris has announced the creation of the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit.
“The Privacy Unit will police the privacy practices of individuals and organizations to hold accountable those who misuse technology to invade the privacy of others,” explained Harris in a statement.
“The creation of the Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit reflects growing concern among regulators at both a state and federal level that privacy in the information age hasn’t been adequately addressed,” reports InformationWeek.
“A series of online privacy controversies such as Google’s bypass of privacy controls in Apple’s Safari browser earlier this year and Apple’s compilation of unprotected location data on iPhones last year have piqued the interest of lawmakers,” adds the article.
The department aims to protect consumers by enforcing laws of online privacy, identity theft and data breaches — in addition to non-tech issues related to health, financial privacy and government records.
“Harris was responsible for working with Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, and RIM to form an agreement earlier this year that requires app developers to include privacy policies in an effort to promote transparency,” reports The Verge.
“The Attorney General’s office will meet with these companies soon to ensure their compliance with the California’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and has said that the state will sue companies and developers who don’t take the policy seriously,” notes the post.
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