Corporate America Is Building Its Own Surveillance State. Will the FTC Stop It?

Americans are used to hearing about what a great country they live in—how lucky they are to have been born in, or to have immigrated to, the United States. “American exceptionalism”—a phrase, funnily enough, coined by Joseph Stalin—is an idea that, on the whole, is still embedded in the country’s collective identity.…Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Politics, Science, Human Rights, Privacy, Identity Management, Articles, America, United States, Social Issues, Mlb, Joseph Stalin, Digital Rights, Equifax, Rohit Chopra, Internet Privacy

Google Will Require All Apps on the Play Store to Have a Privacy Policy Starting in April 2022

Earlier this spring, Google announced the development of a new safety section coming to the Play Store next year, and today Google is now following up with more details on the kind of information apps will be required to provide including new mandatory privacy policies.Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Technology, Human Rights, Privacy, Identity Management, Computing, App Store, Digital Rights, Terms Of Service, Internet Privacy, Privacy Law, Computer Architecture, Technology Internet, Disaster Accident

Instagram's New Settings Take Aim at Creepy Adults

As part of a slew of ongoing efforts to make Instagram less of a cesspool of awful content for awful people, the company announced a slew of new changes for accounts belonging to the teen and tweenage set meant to keep them safer on the platform. Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Instagram, Social Media, Software, Computing, Operating Systems, Mobile Software, Internet Privacy, Video Software, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet

25 States Are Forcing Face Recognition on People Filing for Unemployment

We acclimatize to dangerous tech creep in a series of fuck-it moments until the point at which we realize a foreseeably bad network is so pervasive, we reluctantly adopt it and move on. There was a time when social media, Amazon shopping, and home surveillance seemed optional—until they weren’t. Now in many states,…Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Facebook, Science, Privacy, Identity Management, Articles, Insurance, Unemployment, Welfare, Gizmodo, Internet Privacy, Face Recognition Technology, Blake Hall, Facial recognition system, Idme

Here’s Who Can Ask for Your Vaccination Status

Majorie Taylor Greene isn’t really known for being reserved. The far-right Georgia rep hasn’t been afraid to fearlessly support Nancy Pelosi’s theoretical execution, blame California’s wildfires on Jewish Space Lasers, or ask whether a school shooting was actually an elaborately staged inside job. No topic is too …Read more...
Tags: Science, Human Rights, Privacy, Identity Management, Labor, California, Articles, Georgia, Social Issues, Nancy Pelosi, Digital Rights, Confidentiality, Internet Privacy, Medical Privacy, Privacy Law, Kirk Nahra

‘Anonymous’ Mobile Advertising IDs Aren’t So Anonymous, And They Are Everywhere

A new investigation from Motherboard shows that the anonymous marketing IDs assigned to smartphone users are not nearly as anonymous as they seem. Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Instagram, Software, Operating Systems, Ring, Terms Of Service, FullContact, Internet Privacy, Zach Edwards, Technology Internet

Audacity’s Privacy Policy Doesn’t Make It ‘Spyware’ Because Everything Is Spyware Now

Ever since Audacity was acquired by tech conglomerate Muse Group in late April, fans of the free-to-use audio tool have been raising hell about some of the changes made to the software. First came plans to add telemetry capture. Then came a new contributor license agreement. Then last week came a privacy policy update…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Spotify, Science, Human Rights, Microsoft, Privacy, Identity Management, Articles, Spyware, Software, Computing, Github, Digital Rights, Terms Of Service, Internet Privacy, Privacy Law

Cops Want More of Our Social Media Data Than Ever Before

Law enforcement doesn’t have much trouble getting access to data from social media companies. In fact, over the first half of last year, authorities in the US made close to 118,000 requests for user information from tech companies—a number that’s more than twice the number of requests thrown at these companies since…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Science, Media, Instagram, Microsoft, US, Social Media, Software, Computing, Apple Id, Operating Systems, Apple Inc, Transparency Report, Internet Privacy, Social Information Processing, Technology Internet

Amazon's AWS Is Buying Encrypted Messaging Service Wickr

In what looks to be a bigger push into the secured messaging space, Amazon’s AWS has just announced that it is acquiring Wickr.Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Science, Technology, Instant Messaging, Computing, Aws, Amazon Web Services, World Wide Web, Secure Messaging, Secure Communication, End To End Encryption, Wickr, Internet Privacy, Chime, Stephen Schmidt, Technology Internet

The End of Cookies Is Coming Later than We Thought

After getting pushback from local lawmakers and regulators abroad—along with just about everyone who cares about privacy online—Google announced on Thursday that it will delay its plans to kill off third-party cookies in its Chrome browser until late 2023. This is a nearly two-year setback from its initial plan, which…Read more...
Tags: Google Chrome, Google, Science, Privacy, Advertising, Web Browsers, Software, Computing, European Commission, Tracking, Online Advertising, Internet Privacy, Federated Learning of Cohorts, Http Cookie, Technology Internet, Vinay Goel

How the FBI Is Trying to Break Encryption Without Actually Breaking Encryption

Since at least the 1990s, federal officials have publicly worried that encrypted communications give aid to terrorists and criminals. More often than not they have, to some degree, been right.Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Technology, Cryptography, Fbi, Information Technology, Computing, Dark Web, Crypto Wars, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cyberspace, Secure Communication, End To End Encryption, US Department of Justice, Internet Privacy, Jennifer Lynch

This Browser Plugin Can Kill Those Annoying ‘Privacy Setting’ Pop-Ups

The EU data protection laws that passed back in 2018 have done a world of good when it comes to reigning in the shitty data-ming tactics of companies like Facebook and Google. At the same time, they’ve also transformed the web into a place where almost every site bombards visitors with requests to drop cookies into…Read more...
Tags: Google Chrome, Google, Facebook, Science, Eu, Web Browsers, Software, Computing, Freeware, Max Schrems, Embedded Linux, Internet Privacy, Noyb, Portable Software, Http Cookie, Gnome Web

Google Messages Is Finally Getting Support for End-to-End Encryption

Earlier today Google announced a slate of new features coming to Android devices later this summer, and buried amongst the updates is news that the Google Messages app is finally getting support for end-to-end encryption. Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Technology, Encryption, Cryptography, Computing, Messages, Digital Rights, End To End Encryption, Internet Privacy, E2e, End To End, Google Messages, Technology Internet

Google's Quest to Kill the Cookie Is Creating a Privacy Mess

For the past few months, millions of Chrome users have been roped into Google’s origin trials for the tech meant to replace the quickly crumbling third-party tracking cookie. Federated Learning of Cohorts—or FLoC, for short—is a new kind of tracking technique that’s meant to be a friendlier, more privacy-protective…Read more...
Tags: Google Chrome, Google, Science, Advertising, Marketing, Web Browsers, Software, Targeted Advertising, Duckduckgo, Don Marti, Alphabet Inc, Internet Privacy, Web Browsing History, Federated Learning of Cohorts, Technology Internet, Privacy Concerns Regarding Google

ProtonMail Unveils an Overdue Makeover and New Features

ProtonMail, the popular encrypted email service, has significantly updated its look and feel for the first time since the company’s public beta launch 7 years ago. It’s also rolled out some new features that are worth checking out. Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Free Software, Protonmail, Webmail, Secure Communication, Internet Privacy, ProtonVPN, Proton Technologies, Cross Platform Software, Cryptographic Software, Technology Internet, Computer Security Software

TikTok Quietly Tweaks Privacy Policy to Collect Your Biometric Data

TikTok quietly updated its privacy policy earlier this week in a way that allows the company to automatically collect extensive data on users in the United States—including data about their faces and their voice. Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Articles, Software, United States, Computing, Biometrics, Privacy Policy, Terms Of Service, Internet Privacy, Youth Culture, Video Software, Music Software, Tiktok, Technology Internet, Donald Trumptiktok Controversy

Google Will Let You Opt Out of Being Tracked by Apps in Android 12

With Apple’s developer conference just around the corner, Google is reportedly planning to follow in its rivals footsteps by letting Android users opt out of being tracked by the apps they download from the Google Play store. Read more...
Tags: Apple, Google, Android, Google Play, Google Drive, Science, Technology, Smartphones, Software, Computing, Alphabet Inc, Internet Privacy, Cross Platform Software, Cloud Clients, Technology Internet

You Have a Week to Opt-Out of Amazon Sidewalk, Do It Now

Users of Amazon Ring and Echo have only about a week to opt-out of the tech giant’s sketchy new IoT service, Sidewalk. The feature goes live on June 8th and promises to share an encrypted sliver of your home network with the networks of other nearby Amazon IoT device users as a way to “improve services.” Unless you…Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Internet Of Things, Science, Technology, Computing, Wireless, Mesh Networking, Science and Technology, Wireless Networking, Ring, Internet Privacy, Amazon Ring, Amazon Sidewalk, Universal Windows Platform Apps, Technology Internet

How to Password-Protect Your Google Search History and More

Google’s added a new way to keep other people’s prying eyes out of your search history, YouTube faves, and more. As first spotted by Android Police, the company has started prompting users to password-protect their Web and Activity page, which shows off a person’s history across a slew of Google services.Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Web Browsers, Software, Password, Computing, Password Manager, Alphabet Inc, Android Police, Google Account, Internet Privacy, Google Services, Technology Internet, Privacy Concerns Regarding Google

Bipartisan Privacy Bill Promising Easier Opt-Outs and Tech Transparency Actually Has a Chance of Passing

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing forward a privacy bill meant to offer some much-needed transparency on the data being hoovered by our digital devices. And for once, a bill like this actually has a chance of passing.Read more...
Tags: Google, Politics, Science, Privacy, Identity Management, Articles, Social Issues, Amy Klobuchar, Privacy Policy, Digital Rights, Terms Of Service, John Kennedy, Richard Burr, Joe Manchin, General Data Protection Regulation, Internet Privacy

The Dark Patterns Tipline Wants to Hear How Sites Manipulate You

If you’re fed up with apps and websites using shitty psychological tactics—aka dark patterns—to coerce you into clicking, then good news: there’s finally a way to put them on blast. Consumer Reports teamed up with a cavalcade of researchers and policy wonks to roll out the Dark Patterns Tip Line on Tuesday, a project…Read more...
Tags: Science, Articles, Philosophy, Internet Privacy, Pattern, California Consumer Privacy Act, Technology Internet

All the New Privacy Settings Google Announced at I/O 2021

I tuned in to Google I/O this year with privacy on the brain. Chalk it up to the recent drama of Facebook-exec-turned-Apple-employee-turned-unemployed-employee Antonio Garcia Martinez, who famously said in 2018:Read more...
Tags: Apple, Google Chrome, Google, Facebook, Software, Password, Computing, Lifehacks, Google Maps, Dashlane, Operating Systems, Alphabet Inc, Internet Privacy, Antonio Garcia Martinez, Google Lens, Google Dashboard

What Happens If You Don't Accept WhatsApp's New Privacy Policy?

WhatsApp’s controversial new privacy policy goes into effect May 15, 2021. The updated agreement gives Facebook permission to collect your WhatsApp data, and lots of people aren’t happy about it. That said, users are not forced to accept the new terms automatically—but those who don’t agree to them will experience…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Social Media, Whatsapp, Instant Messaging, Software, Computing, Lifehacks, Operating Systems, Internet Privacy, Mobile Applications, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, Cross Platform Software, Technology Internet

WhatsApp Will Turn Your Account Into a Useless Zombie If You Don't Accept Its New Privacy Policy

After facing international backlash over impending updates to its privacy policy, WhatsApp has ever-so-slightly backtracked on the harsh consequences it initially planned for users who don’t accept them—but not entirely.Read more...
Tags: Science, Instagram, Social Media, Whatsapp, Software, Operating Systems, Internet Privacy, Mobile Applications, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, Cross Platform Software, Private Message

Peloton API Exposed User Data, Even for Private Accounts

Peloton’s had a rough go in the news cycle lately, and not helping matters is the fact that its leaky API allowed any hacker to obtain any user’s account data—even if that user had set their profile to private.Read more...
Tags: Science, Privacy, Companies, TechCrunch, Terms Of Service, Pen Test Partners, Peloton, Internet Privacy, Technology Internet

Your Old Phone Number Could Get You Hacked, Researchers Say

When you get a new phone number, mobile carriers will often “recycle” your old one—assigning it to a new phone and, therefore, a new customer. Carriers say the reason they do this is to stave off a hypothetical future of “number exhaustion”—a sort of “peak oil” for phone numbers, when every possible number that could…Read more...
Tags: Verizon, Science, Articles, Fraud, Cybercrime, Recycling, Identity Theft, Data Security, Computer Security, Terms Of Service, T Mobile, Kevin Lee, Internet Privacy, Arvind Narayanan, Multi Factor Authentication, Computer Access Control

How to Set Up Instagram's New Anti-Harassment Tools

Instagram is adding two new anti-harassment tools aimed at cutting down abusive messages you might receive on the platform. Here’s a quick look at how to set them up once they arrive.Read more...
Tags: Instagram, Email, Bullying, Software, Abuse, Computing, Lifehacks, Operating Systems, Mobile Software, Internet Privacy, Internet Censorship, Internet Troll, Video Software, Technology Internet

It's Time to Switch to a Dummy Email Address on Facebook

Whether the loophole lasts a day, month, or forever, a new “Facebook Email Search” program again shows why you might not want to use your regular email address for the sprawling social media site—or any, really. As researchers found, it’s pathetically easy to hammer through a big list of of email address and link them…Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Email, Software, Computing, Lifehacks, World Wide Web, Human Interest, Internet Privacy, Technology Internet, Privacy Concerns Of Facebook, Mailcom, Facebook Email Search

Google Misled Android Users About Location Data, Australian Court Finds

In the first ruling of its kind, the Australian Federal Court announced on Friday that Google violated the country’s laws surrounding consumer safety when it misled Australian Android users about the location data that their phones were collecting.Read more...
Tags: Google, Android, Science, Technology, Privacy, Computing, Google Maps, Operating Systems, Alphabet Inc, Rod Sims, Australian Federal Court, Internet Privacy, Technology Internet, Privacy Concerns Regarding Google, Thomas Thawley

Minnesota Has Begun Crafting Privacy Policies for Connected Transit Tech

Connected and automated vehicles are the future, but they carry with them a host of privacy concerns that rightfully necessitate a careful, thoughtful approach to crafting security frameworks to guide their widespread implementation. It’s mostly uncharted territory at this point, but a handful of states are taking…Read more...
Tags: Science, Human Rights, Minnesota, Privacy, Identity Management, Articles, Social Issues, Data Security, Privacy Policy, Digital Rights, Terms Of Service, Kristin White, Internet Privacy, Privacy Law, Frank Douma, Information Privacy