German investigators successfully tracked suspects inside the Tor network
Tor Browser developers say the program is still safe to use
LinkedIn under fire for training AI models with user data behind the scenes
The service started to abuse users' data before making its actions public
Oracle's Larry Ellison advocates for AI-enhanced surveillance to promote "best behavior"
Oracle could play a pivotal role in this future
This AI claims to predict crimes before they happen based on real-time CCTV analysis
Is this the future of crime prevention?
Ford's advertising patent suggests listening to in-car conversations for personalized ads
It's not the first controversial patent Ford (or many large companies) has pursued
Lawmakers ask FTC to determine if AI generated article summaries are anti-competitive
Data collection has never been as powerful or lucrative as it is right now
A hot potato: Currently, the AI industry is the Wild West. There are very few laws on the books that govern the market. This lack of formal regulation has led to AI firms operating on the honor system, promising to effectively self-regulate, but democrats in the US Senate believe the self-regulation experiment has failed. They're now asking trade regulators to see if they can find any antitrust violations, especially in AI-generated content summaries.
Facebook partner admits to eavesdropping on conversations via phone mics for ad targeting
"We know what you're thinking. Is this even legal?"
A hot potato: For almost as long as we've had smartphones, there has been the belief that they surreptitiously listen to our spoken conversations to serve us targeted ads; most people have experienced seeing an ad on Facebook for something they were recently talking about. It's always been claimed that this type of privacy invasion doesn't happen. However, a marketing agency, whose clients included Facebook and Google, has admitted to using an "Active Listening" feature that eavesdrops on conversations via phone mics to gather data.
Dutch regulator fines Clearview AI $33.6 million for GDPR violations
Non-compliance has authorities are looking into holding company directors personally responsible
Microsoft will try to resurrect Windows Recall AI this October
Following privacy concerns, the screen recording feature will debut for Windows Insiders
Pakistani government brought local internet down with its new censorship firewall
Trade organization P@SHA is warning authorities over a strangled IT industry
New Microsoft Edge feature uses GenAI to scan PDF documents
Now you can better understand what that legal document is all about
Massive data breach compromises billions of personal records around the world
Hacker posts 2.7 billion records from National Public Data
What just happened? A colossal data breach has surfaced, revealing nearly 2.7 billion personal information records purportedly encompassing every individual in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This breach stands out due to the vast amount of data exposed, potentially marking it as one of the largest in history.
Paid services that remove you from people-finder sites aren't very effective
You're better off manually opting out
In brief: You've likely seen plenty of ads on the internet for services that remove you from people-search sites – data brokers that collect information from public records, commercial data sources, and social media platforms. Some of these companies charge a lot of money for their work, but a new study suggests they're not really worth it.
Meta agrees to pay $1.4 billion in Texas lawsuit for abusing facial recognition tech
Facepalm: Meta attempted to use Facebook as a giant surveillance service to profit from users' personal data. The company ultimately failed in the endeavor and is now facing significant financial penalties as a result, which includes a massive settlement due to the state of Texas over the next five years.
Warrantless phone searches by customs agents violate the Fourth Amendment, judge rules
"The best approximation government officials have for mindreading"
A hot potato: A New York federal judge has ruled that warrantless searches of American citizens' phones by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The ruling stated that searching through someone's phone is an invasion of a traveler's privacy and "the best approximation government officials have for mindreading."
US claims TikTok collected data on users, then sent it to China
TikTok has done the same in the past
Senators urge FTC to investigate carmakers selling drivers' location and speed data
"Companies should not be selling Americans' data without their consent"
Twitter/X is feeding your data to Grok AI by default – here's how you can opt out
Sparking backlash from users and regulators alike
Apple's latest ad claims Safari is the best browser for privacy
Safari has strong privacy protections, but is it really the best?
Mozilla introduces experimental API in Firefox to help advertisers without tracking users
Facepalm: The latest release of the Firefox web browser brought a new feature designed to please both privacy-conscious users and advertisers. However, it is bound to do the opposite, pinning one more controversy onto Mozilla's stated mission to take back the web from Big Tech.
Chromium browsers have been quietly sending user information to Google
Google says it is using the information to improve the user experience
AT&T discloses another massive data breach containing phone records of "nearly all" its customers
The attack occured in April making it back-to-back with the breach in March that exposed 73 million records
The MediaGone 500 eats SSDs, flash drives, and smartphones for lunch
Watch devices get pulverized in standard or enhanced destruction mode