Johnny Ryan
@johnnyryan.bsky.social
4.3K followers 2.2K following 310 posts
Director of ICCL Enforce http://Enforce.ie. Previously Chief Policy Officer of Brave. FRHistS. https://ie.linkedin.com/in/johnnyryan1
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johnnyryan.bsky.social
Thank you Ben.

We should chat
johnnyryan.bsky.social
(Mental note - DMs on Bluesky are public if you mess them up)
johnnyryan.bsky.social
Rereading Lord of the Rings

At the very start, why does Gildor not escort Frodo to Rivendell as soon as he hears the Black Riders are pursuing him and Gandalf is missing? He even tells Frodo he might not survive.

But instead he provides a feast and some cryptic chat, and then toddles off.
johnnyryan.bsky.social
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee announces award goes to Venezuelan opposition leader for opposing authoritarianism
www.nobelpeaceprize.org/articles/nob...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
Significant
acyn.bsky.social
CNN: We have just learned that Letitia James has just been indicted by the DOJ
johnnyryan.bsky.social
People are asking if I was the rejected candidate?
No. But I know who it was: an impeccably qualified person.

However, when I did apply previously I also was not shortlisted.

Nor were exceptionally qualified candidates I am aware of from the EDPS, European Commission, data protection experts...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
Big piece in POLITICO asking about the independence of Ireland's process of appointing people to its Data Protection Commission. There is deep unease in Brussels about Ireland appointing a former Meta lobbyist as Meta's watchdog. Now questions about who was involved.

www.politico.eu/article/big-...
Big Tech lawyer played key role in picking Ireland’s new privacy regulator
Former Meta lobbyist Niamh Sweeney will co-lead the Irish Data Protection Commission from mid-October.
www.politico.eu
johnnyryan.bsky.social
Trump puts EU under pressure on digital issue

EU must

1. hold large US tech accountable for market rigging, snooping, and preying on our children

2. replace all non-EU big tech platforms & cloud over the next decade

And…

Brussels really must hit Ireland for not enforcing EU rules on US firms
johnnyryan.bsky.social
I only just posted it. Eagle eye!
johnnyryan.bsky.social
The U.S. FTC chair said that ICCL's report on the national security threat of RTB data was the impetus for the FTC's investigation and enforcement against the data broker Mobilewalla collecting RTB location data www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
The DPC is even contradicted by RTB's own technical specification.
Note latitude, longitude, GPS data, IP address, etc...
github.com/InteractiveA...
github.com
johnnyryan.bsky.social
The DPC is also contradicted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The recent FTC decision on notorious data broker "Mobilewalla" states plainly that data brokers collect location data from RTB.
www.ftc.gov/policy/advoc...
Unpacking Real Time Bidding through FTC’s case on Mobilewalla
The FTC recently
www.ftc.gov
johnnyryan.bsky.social
In fact European authorities - including the DPC - have confirmed that RTB does indeed expose people’s location data and movements to data brokers in a binding Article 60 Decision.

See Art 60 Decision of 2/2/2022, EDPB, para 515 www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
We told the DPC about this. It has known for years.
But yesterday it released this in a statement - perhaps in an attempt to absolve itself from the location scandal shown on national TV recently.
The statement is incorrect.
johnnyryan.bsky.social
Screenshot from their website shows where a person is, and where they were on what previous days.
Google and other major RTB players are shown as sources for their worldwide data.
www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
After 8 years of inaction, the DPC now claims that RTB adtech does not provide location data to dodgy firms.
Wrong.
Meet "Patternz" for example:
An Israeli surveillance tool built on RTB data that provides a targeted individual's coordinates and "driving path" www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
So many examples of these data being dangerous
johnnyryan.bsky.social
resources are not necessarily the problem bsky.app/profile/john...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
The Data Protection Commission has cost the Irish taxpayer €162.3 million since it was first informed of the RTB data breach in 2017.

See table --> www.iccl.ie/wp-content/u...
johnnyryan.bsky.social
This is madness. Our data are being broadcast at enormous scale, to countless parties, without any security. It is time to enforce against the central RTB players.

Read our report on why this is a national security crisis --> www.iccl.ie/digital-data...
Europe's hidden security crisis
How data about European defence personnel and political leaders flows to foreign states and non-state actors
www.iccl.ie