Starting today, there’s a VPN on the market from a company you trust. The Mozilla VPN (Virtual Private Network) is now available on Windows and Android devices. This fast and easy-to-use VPN service is brought to you by Mozilla, the makers of Firefox, and a trusted name in online consumer security and privacy services. See Read more about Mozilla offers trusted VPN services – good timing![…]

The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that an agreement that allows big tech companies to transfer data to the United States is invalid, and that national regulators need to take tougher action to protect the privacy of users’ data. The ruling does not mean an immediate halt to all data transfers outside the EU, Read more about E.U. Court Invalidates Data-Sharing Agreement With U.S.[…]

Google records what people are doing on hundreds of thousands of mobile apps even when they follow the company’s recommended settings for stopping such monitoring, a lawsuit seeking class action status alleged on Tuesday. The data privacy lawsuit is the second filed in as many months against Google by the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner Read more about Google faces lawsuit over tracking in apps even when users opted out[…]

Most GDPR consent banner implementations are deliberately engineered to be difficult to use and are full of dark patterns that are illegal according to the law. I wanted to find out how many visitors would engage with a GDPR banner if it were implemented properly and how many would grant consent to their information being Read more about Only 9% of visitors give GDPR consent to be tracked[…]

As Alexa, Google Home, Siri, and other voice assistants have become fixtures in millions of homes, privacy advocates have grown concerned that their near-constant listening to nearby conversations could pose more risk than benefit to users. New research suggests the privacy threat may be greater than previously thought. The findings demonstrate how common it is Read more about Uncovered: 1,000 phrases that incorrectly trigger Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant[…]

How many government demands for user data has Zoom received? We won’t know until “later this year,” an updated Zoom blog post now says. The video conferencing giant previously said it would release the number of government demands it has received by June 30. But the company said it’s missed that target and has given Read more about Zoom misses its own deadline to publish its first transparency report[…]

Twenty consumer and citizen rights groups have published an open letter [PDF] urging regulators to pay closer attention to Google parent Alphabet’s planned acquisition of Fitbit. The letter describes the pending purchase as a “game-changer” that will test regulators’ resolve to analyse how the vast quantities of health and location data slurped by Google would Read more about Consumer orgs ask world’s competition watchdogs: Are you really going to let Google walk off with all Fitbit’s data?[…]

The company said that it continued sharing user data with approximately 5,000 developers even after their application’s access expired. The incident is related to a security control that Facebook added to its systems following the Cambridge Analytica scandal of early 2018. Responding to criticism that it allowed app developers too much access to user information, Read more about Facebook says 5,000 app developers got user data after Cambridge Analytica scandal cutoff date[…]

Comcast has agreed to be the first home broadband internet provider to handle secure DNS-over-HTTPS queries for Firefox browser users in the US, Mozilla has announced. This means the ISP, which has joined Moz’s Trusted Recursive Resolver (TRR) Program, will perform domain-name-to-IP-address lookups for subscribers using Firefox via encrypted HTTPS channels. That prevents network eavesdroppers Read more about Talk about the fox guarding the hen house. Comcast to handle DNS-over-HTTPS for Firefox-using subscribers[…]

Names, adresses and mobile numbers have been sold for fraud using WhatsApp. Most of these numbers come from callcentres, mainly those selling energy contracts. The fresher a lead is, the more they are worth: betwween 25 cents and 2 euros. The money is usually transferred through mules, who keep a percentage of the proceeds. Source: Read more about tens of thousands of mobile numbers of 50+ year olds sold for whatsapp fraud[…]

In the case of Firefox users, some discovered that the new default Windows 10 browser, which is shipped to their devices via Windows Update, sometimes imports the data from Mozilla’s application even if they don’t give their permission. Some of these Firefox users decided to kill the initial setup process of Microsoft Edge, only to Read more about Microsoft Edge Accused of Sneakily Importing Firefox Data on Windows 10[…]

Google has introduced “continuous match mode” for apps on its voice-powered Assistant platform, where it will listen to everything without pausing. At the same time it has debuted related developer tools, new features, and the ability to display web content on its Smart Display hardware using the AMP component framework. The Chocolate Factory has big Read more about Google isn’t even trying to not be creepy: ‘Continuous Match Mode’ in Assistant will listen to everything until it’s disabled[…]

If you’re a free Zoom user, and waiting for the company to roll out end-to-end encryption for better protection of your calls, you’re out of luck. Free calls won’t be encrypted, and law enforcement will be able to access your information in case of ‘misuse’ of the platform. Zoom CEO Eric Yuan today said that the Read more about Zoom won’t encrypt free calls because it wants to comply with law enforcement[…]