"[I]t is our understanding that the Carpenter decision concerned historical Cell Site Location Information which is distinct from the opt-in app data available on the Venntel platform," the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently told the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) in response to a query about the use of commercial databases such as Venntel.

“When people talk about a cashless society, even though a small coffee shop may literally be zero cash, or some place like a Sweet Green — from a macroeconomic standpoint, I don’t think the vision is for the Treasury to never print money ever again,” Santana told USA TODAY.

The US government was reportedly already slurping up location data on millions of Americans through mobile advertisers – the same companies that are benefiting from Twitter’s new “always-on” mobile data sharing policy – even while it was meeting with Twitter and other social media platforms to gain access to their own treasure troves of user information, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited several individuals involved in the surveillance project.

US President Donald Trump will hand control of cryptocurrency criminal investigations to the Secret Service.“The Budget proposes legislation to return the US Secret Service to Treasury to create new efficiencies in the investigation of these crimes and prepare the Nation to face the threats of tomorrow.”.

In addition to the $5 billion fine, which goes straight to the US Treasury, the new order requires Facebook to establish and adhere to a new governance structure for reviewing user privacy on its services, including Instagram and WhatsApp. The company's board of directors must form an independent privacy committee, removing "unfettered control" of decisions affecting user privacy from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Former Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian, who was working with Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs, told The Telegraph that she resigned over concerns that the “treasure trove” of data collected in the $40m smart city project could not only identify individuals but leave them open to cyber attacks.

James Martin/CNET A treasure trove of data containing more than 540 million records was exposed online in a public database, security researchers from UpGuard said Wednesday. The exposed database for At the Pool contained data including photos, events and passwords, though UpGuard believes the passwords stored were for the app, not for Facebook accounts.

"We consider the framework as it currently stands unnecessarily exposes people to harm because the fundamental privacy safeguards are not in place and risks have been severely underestimated by the government," the APF wrote in its submission [PDF] in response to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2019.

That report revealed details about previously unreported meetings in 2015 set up by the Center for the National Interest, a Washington foreign policy think tank that is supportive of efforts to improve U.S.-Russia relations.

Information captured by retailers, both online and in stores, often finds its way into the treasure troves of data brokers, allowing them to develop and sell incredibly detailed consumer dossiers that go far beyond demographics to include behavioral quirks, biases, religious beliefs, purchasing patterns, and a host of other personal details.

Former Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian resigned last week over concerns that the "treasure trove" of data collected in the $40m smart city project could identify individuals and leave them open to a cyber attack.