Latest news with #consumerprivacy
Bloomberg
28-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Payments Groups Want 3.5% Remittance Levy Killed From Tax Bill
A proposed 3.5% tax on remittance transfers should be killed because it invades consumer privacy and would encourage the use of unregulated money-movement services, payments-industry trade groups told US lawmakers. Even after a cut from an initial 5% proposal, the levy will still hit migrants sending money back to relatives on top of posing a greater money-laundering risk as they seek underground channels, according to a letter Wednesday to US Senators from the Electronic Transactions Association, Financial Technology Association, Innovative Payments Association and several other lobbying groups. The ETA represents the interests of large payments companies including Western Union Co. and Visa Inc. as well as newer financial-technology firms.
TechCrunch
28-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Data broker giant LexisNexis says breach exposed personal information of over 364,000 people
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a data broker that collects and uses consumers' personal data to help its paying corporate customers detect possible risk and fraud, has disclosed a data breach affecting more than 364,000 people. The company said in a filing with Maine's attorney general that the breach, dating back to December 25, 2024, allowed a hacker to obtain consumers' sensitive personal data from a third-party platform used by the company for software development. LexisNexis did not name the platform. The stolen data varies, but includes names, dates of birth, phone numbers, postal and email addresses, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers. It's not immediately clear what circumstances led to the breach. A spokesperson for LexisNexis did not return TechCrunch's request for comment. Data brokers like LexisNexis are part of a billion-dollar industry of companies that profit from collecting and selling access to large amounts of Americans' personal and financial data. LexisNexis uses swathes of consumer information to help companies detect potentially fraudulent transactions, as well as to perform risk assessment and due diligence on would-be customers. Last year, The New York Times reported that car manufacturers were among several companies that shared data on vehicle driving habits with LexisNexis without car owners' explicit permission. The data was then sold on to insurance companies, which used the mileage and driving data to determine the drivers' insurance premiums. Law enforcement agencies also use LexisNexis for obtaining personal information on suspects, such as names, home addresses, and call records. Earlier this month, the Trump administration scrapped a plan that would have restricted data brokers from selling Americans' personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers. White House official Russell Vought wrote in a Federal Register notice that the Biden-era rule, which would have required data brokers to follow the same federal privacy rules as credit bureaus and renter-screening companies, was 'not necessary or appropriate,' despite long-standing calls by privacy advocates to close the loophole.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Adidas says customer data stolen in cyber attack
Adidas has disclosed it's been hit by a cyber attack in which customers' personal information has been sportswear giant said criminals had obtained "certain consumer data" which "mainly consists" of the contact information of people who had been in touch with its help said passwords and credit card and other payment data were not compromised."We remain fully committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers, and sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident," it said in a post on its website. It comes as retailers including Marks & Spencer and Co-op have been targeted in major cyber their cases, the hacks severely compromised business operations - there is no indication anything similar has happened with Adidas."Adidas recently became aware that an unauthorized external party obtained certain consumer data through a third-party customer service provider," the firm said. "We immediately took steps to contain the incident and launched a comprehensive investigation, collaborating with leading information security experts."Adidas is in the process of informing potentially affected consumers as well as appropriate data protection and law enforcement authorities consistent with applicable law." There have been several cyber incidents reported since April 2025, with some experts finding links between BBC understands UK police are focusing on a notorious group of English-speaking hackers, known as Scattered Spider, as potentially being behind the M&S cyber same group is believed to have been behind hacks on the Co-op and Harrods, but it was M&S that suffered the biggest impact.M&S estimates the cyber-attack will cost the firm around £300m, equivalent to a third of its is no suggestion that this group is behind the data breach at the firm revealed earlier this month it had faced data breaches in other parts of its global empire - including its Turkish and South Korean arms. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
