Tag Archives: privacy

Privacy Groups Urge Apple To Drop Photo Scan Plans

Reuters reports: More than 90 policy and rights groups around the world published an open letter on Thursday urging Apple to abandon plans for scanning children’s messages for nudity and the phones of adults for images of child sex abuse. “Though these capabilities are intended to protect children and to reduce the spread of child sexual abuse material, we are …

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T-Mobile Discloses Hack Of Customers’ Personal Info

Reuters reports: T-Mobile US Inc said on Wednesday an ongoing investigation into a cyberattack on its systems revealed that some personal data of about 7.8 million of its current postpaid customers were compromised. The company was made aware of the attack late last week, it said in a statement, after an online forum claimed that personal data of its users …

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New Apple Software Will Scan Phones For Child Porn

The Washington Post reports: Apple unveiled a sweeping new set of software tools Thursday that will scan iPhones and other devices for child pornography and text messages with explicit content and report users suspected of storing illegal pictures on their phones to authorities. The aggressive plan to thwart child predators and pedophiles and prohibit them from utilizing Apple’s services for …

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Google To Let Android Users Opt-Out Of Ad Tracking

Bloomberg News reports: Google will let Android mobile software users opt out of being tracked by advertisers on their smartphone applications, following an earlier move by rival Apple Inc. to bolster privacy on iPhones. The option will become available in late 2021, with a Google Play services update, the Alphabet Inc. unit said on a support website. Developers will no …

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Amazon Customers Get Week To Opt-Out Of WiFi Plan

The Guardian reports: Amazon customers have one week to opt out of a plan that would turn every Echo speaker and Ring security camera in the US into a shared wireless network, as part of the company’s plan to fix connection problems for its smart home devices. The proposal, called Amazon Sidewalk, involves the company’s devices being used as a …

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Apple Rolls Out Anti-Tracking Feature For iPhones

The Verge reports: Apple has begun rolling out iOS and iPadOS 14.5. The latest software update includes the new App Tracking Transparency feature, which lets users decide whether to allow apps to track their activity “across other companies’ apps and websites” for advertising purposes. A pop-up will now appear whenever apps are designed to share your activity in this way. …

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USPS Cops Tracking Social Media Posts On Protests

Yahoo News reports: The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The …

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Hacker Leaks Personal Info On 533M Facebook Users

The Insider reports: A user in a low level hacking forum on Saturday published the phone numbers and personal data of hundreds of millions of Facebook users for free online. The exposed data includes personal information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries, including over 32 million records on users in the US, 11 million on users in …

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Court Approves $650M Facebook Privacy Settlement

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users. U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal in a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Illlinois in 2015. Nearly 1.6 million Facebook users in …

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Amazon Launches Indoor Drone Security Cam [VIDEO]

The Verge reports: “I’d be more worried about the camera on your phone than I would be about a drone,” Amazon devices SVP Dave Limp told me in an interview a few hours after yesterday’s big Echo event. The drone in question is the Ring Always Home Cam, an autonomous indoor drone that can use a map of your home …

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Apple Warns Of “Over Sharing” In Ad Touting Privacy

The Verge reports: Some of them are embarrassing, some are potential privacy violations, but they’re among the examples in Apple’s new Over Sharing ad, which re-emphasizes the company’s focus — or at least its image — of being a protector of online privacy. The ad’s tagline, shown at the end, reads “Some things shouldn’t be shared. iPhone helps keep it …

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London Police Roll Out Live Facial Recognition Cams

Reuters reports: British police are to start operational use of live facial recognition (LFR) cameras in London, despite warnings over privacy from rights groups and concerns expressed by the government’s own surveillance watchdog. First used in the capital at the Notting Hill carnival in 2016, the cameras will alert police when they spot anyone on “wanted” lists. “The use of …

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Major Retailers Rush To Comply With CA Privacy Law

The Associated Press reports: U.S. retailers including Walmart Inc will add “Do Not Sell My Info” links to their websites and signage in stores starting Jan. 1, allowing California shoppers to understand for the first time what personal and other data the retailers collect, sources said. Large U.S retailers are rushing to comply with a new law, the California Consumer …

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DHS Floats Mandatory Face Scans For All Int’l Travelers

TechCrunch reports: Homeland Security wants to expand facial recognition checks for travelers arriving to and departing from the U.S. to also include citizens, which had previously been exempt from the mandatory checks. In a filing, the department has proposed that all travelers, and not just foreign nationals or visitors, will have to complete a facial recognition check before they are …

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Google To Offer Personal Checking Accounts In 2020

Reuters reports: Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it will offer personal checking accounts next year through its Google Pay app in partnership with Citigroup Inc and a small credit union at Stanford University. The project, named Cache, comes as rivals Facebook and Apple are expanding their own efforts in consumer finance, a broad area that ranges from digital payment …

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How Sites Use “Fingerprinting” To Track Your Actions

The Washington Post reports: There’s a tactic spreading across the Web named after treatment usually reserved for criminals: fingerprinting. At least a third of the 500 sites Americans visit most often use hidden code to run an identity check on your computer or phone. Websites from CNN and Best Buy to porn site Xvideos and WebMD are dusting your digital …

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DOJ To Collect DNA Samples From Detained Migrants

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration is planning to collect DNA samples from asylum-seekers and other migrants detained by immigration officials and will add the information to a massive FBI database used by law enforcement hunting for criminals, a Justice Department official said. The Justice Department will publish an amended regulation Monday that would mandate DNA collection for almost …

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Hollywood Battles Site For Listing Ages Of Actors

Courthouse News reports: Signaling an uphill battle in the fight to revive a blocked California law that requires a popular entertainment industry website take down actors’ ages upon request, a Ninth Circuit panel on Monday struggled to understand how the restriction will deter age discrimination in Hollywood. “No one disputes your compelling interest, but how does the statute accomplish this?” …

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FTC Fines Google $170M For Collecting Data On Kids

CNBC reports: Google’s YouTube will pay $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general that it earned millions by illegally collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. The settlement, announced Wednesday, was passed in a 3-2 vote by the commissioners along party lines. The two Democrats voted against it, saying …

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Facebook Ends Default Facial Photo Recognition

TechCrunch reports: Facebook is making facial recognition in photos opt-in by default. Starting today, it’s rolling out its Face Recognition privacy setting, which it first introduced in December 2017, to all users. If you have Face Recognition turned on, Facebook will notify you if someone uploads a photo of you, even if you aren’t tagged. You can then tag yourself, …

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