Motel 6 will pay a $12 million settlement to Washington
state after employees at several of the chain’s locations shared information –
without a warrant – on 80,000 guests in the state with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) over a two-year period.“Motel 6’s
actions tore families apart and violated the privacy rights of tens of
thousands of Washingtonians,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in
a release.
“Our resolution holds Motel 6 accountable for illegally handing over guests’
private information without a warrant. Any other business that tries to violate
Washingtonians’ right to privacy can expect to hear from my office.”Between
2015-2017, Motel 6 employees at seven locations in the state shared guest lists
with ICE that included private information on all guests staying at a hotel
location, violating, the AG’s office said, their expectation of privacy. ICE
used those list to target guests with Latino-sounding names.
The
practice wasn’t limited to Motel 6 in Washington but rather happened around the
country.The Phoenix New Timesreported in September 2017 that an employee
at one of two Phoenix-area Motel 6 locations said, “every morning at about 5
o’clock we do the audit and push a button and it sends it to ICE,” prompting
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to call out the motel
chain on both Twitter and Facebook. “Is this your official company policy?”
the ACLU tweeted.The
company’s privacy policy not only notes that it collects an abundance of data
on its guests but that it “may disclose guest information to law enforcement
agencies, or may be required to disclose it during the discovery process in
litigation, pursuant to a court order, or in compliance with any applicable law,
regulation, rule or ordinance.”However,
as experts have pointed out there is no law that compels hotels to voluntarily
give up guest information to law enforcement.After the “information sharing”
came to light, the hotel chain said it would take steps to shut down or prevent
similar operations at its other properties nationwide and under the terms of
the settlement with Washington it is doing just that.Ferguson’s office said Motel 6 signed a legally
binding commitment, saying it wouldn’t share guest information at all locations
unless presented with a warrant or other lawful basis. The hotel chain will
also train employees on the new policy and provide a 24-hour hotline to address
employee questions. Motel 6 will also offer a way for guests to report online
any incidents of in which they believe guest information has been shared
unlawfully.
There are many ways to do DevSecOps, and each organization — each security team, even — uses a different approach. Questions such as how many environments you have and the frequency of deployment of those environments are important in understanding how to integrate a security scanner into your DevSecOps machinery. The ultimate goal is speed […]
It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but security awareness is about much more than just dedicating a month to a few activities. Security awareness is a journey, requiring motivation along the way. And culture. Especially culture.That’s the point Proofpoint Cybersecurity Evangelist Brian Reed drove home in a recent appearance on Business Security Weekly.“If your security awareness program […]
Get daily email updates
SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news
