This is an art project by Tijmen Schep that shows how face detection algoritms are increasingly used to judge you. It was made as part of the European Union’s Sherpa research program. No personal data is sent to our server in any way. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. All the face detection algorithms will run on your Read more about How normal am I? – Let an AI judge you[…]
[…]To be clear, data collection is far from an Amazon-specific problem; it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to tech companies. Even Apple, a company vocal about user privacy, has faced criticism in the past for recording Siri interactions and sharing them with third-party contractors. The issue with Amazon, however, is the Read more about How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)[…]
Germany’s federal cybersecurity watchdog, the BSI, did not find any evidence of censorship functions in mobile phones manufactured by China’s Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK), a spokesperson said on Thursday. Lithuania’s state cybersecurity body had said in September that Xiaomi phones had a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “Free Tibet”, “Long live Taiwan Read more about German IT security watchdog: No evidence of censorship function in Xiaomi phones[…]
Apple’s AirTags and Find My service can be helpful for finding things you lose—but they also introduce a big privacy problem. While those of us on iOS have had some tools for fighting those issues, Apple left those of us on Android without much to work with. A new Android AirTag finder app finally addresses Read more about This App Will Tell Android Users If an AirTag Is Tracking Them[…]
While it’s certainly possible to sometimes do biometrics well, a long line of companies frequently… don’t. Voice print authentication is particularly shaky, especially given the rise of inexpensive voice deepfake technology. But, much like the continued use of text-message two-factor authentication (which is increasingly shown to not be secure), it apparently doesn’t matter to a Read more about Banks, ISPs Increasingly Embrace ‘Voice Print’ Authentication Despite Growing Security Risk[…]
Apple has quietly nixed all mentions of CSAM from its Child Safety webpage, suggesting its controversial plan to detect child sexual abuse images on iPhones and iPads may hang in the balance following significant criticism of its methods. Apple in August announced a planned suite of new child safety features, including scanning users’ iCloud Photos Read more about Apple Removes All References to Controversial CSAM Scanning Feature – where they would scan all the pictures you took[…]
[…] Consumer Reports, which recently published a 48-page white paper on VPNs that looks into the privacy and security policies of 16 prominent VPN providers. Researchers initially looked into some 51 different companies but ultimately honed in on the most prominent, high-quality providers. The results are decidedly mixed, with the report highlighting a lot of Read more about Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy[…]
Prisons around the US are installing AI speech-to-text models to automatically transcribe conversations with inmates during their phone calls. A series of contracts and emails from eight different states revealed how Verus, an AI application developed by LEO Technologies and based on a speech-to-text system offered by Amazon, was used to eavesdrop on prisoners’ phone Read more about Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI[…]
The co-founder of a company that has been trusted by technology giants including Google and Twitter to deliver sensitive passwords to millions of their customers also operated a service that ultimately helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing former employees and clients. From the report: Since it started in 2013, Read more about Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation[…]
Life360, a popular tracking app that bills itself as “the world’s leading family safety service,” is purportedly selling location data on the 31 million families and kids that use it to data brokers. The chilling revelation may make users of the Tile Bluetooth tracker, which is being bought by Life360, think twice before continuing to Read more about Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids[…]
There is no “going dark.” Consecutive FBI heads may insist there is, but a document created by their own agency contradicts their dire claims that end-to-end encryption lets the criminals and terrorists win. Andy Kroll has the document and the details for Rolling Stone: [I]n a previously unreported FBI document obtained by Rolling Stone, the Read more about Documents Shows Just How Much The FBI Can Obtain From Encrypted Communication Services[…]
“Your phone’s front camera is always securely looking for your face, even if you don’t touch it or raise to wake it.” That’s how Qualcomm Technologies vice president of product management Judd Heape introduced the company’s new always-on camera capabilities in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor set to arrive in top-shelf Android phones early Read more about Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is always looking out for you[…]
Following an investigation, the Irish data protection watchdog issued a €225m (£190m) fine – the second-largest in history over GDPR – and ordered WhatsApp to change its policies. WhatsApp is appealing against the fine, but is amending its policy documents in Europe and the UK to comply. However, it insists that nothing about its actual Read more about WhatsApp privacy policy tweaked in Europe after record fine[…]
In recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers. Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters. In Virginia, the company boosted political Read more about The Amazon lobbyists who kill U.S. consumer privacy protections[…]
The South Korean Ministry of Justice has provided more than 100 million photos of foreign nationals who travelled through the country’s airports to facial recognition companies without their consent, according to attorneys with the non-governmental organization Lawyers for a Democratic Society. While the use of facial recognition technology has become common for governments across the Read more about South Korea Is Giving Millions of Photos of all foreign travelers since 2019 to Facial Recognition Researchers[…]
[…] Mysk, a duo of app developers and security researchers, recently exposed Chrome’s shadiness on Twitter. In the tweet, Mysk brings to light that, by default, Chrome is sharing your phone’s motion data with the websites you visit. This is not cool. Why you don’t want third parties accessing your motion data To start with, Read more about How to Stop Chrome From Sharing Your Motion Data on Android[…]
[…] this news again comes courtesy of Microsoft’s roadmap service, where Redmond prepares you for the joys to come. This time, there are a couple of joys. The first is headlined: “Microsoft 365 compliance center: Insider risk management — Increased visibility on browsers.” It all sounded wonderful until you those last four words, didn’t it? Read more about Microsoft will now snitch on you at work like never before[…]
Subjecting students to surveillance tech is nothing new. Most schools have had cameras installed for years. Moving students from desks to laptops allows schools to monitor internet use, even when students aren’t on campus. Bringing police officers into schools to participate in disciplinary problems allows law enforcement agencies to utilize the same tech and analytics Read more about UK Schools Normalizing Biometric Collection By Using Facial Recognition For Meal Payments[…]
The UK’s intelligence services are to store their secret files in the AWS cloud in a deal inked earlier this year, according to reports. The GCHQ organisation (electrical/radio communications eavesdropping), MI5 (domestic UK intelligence matters), MI6 (external UK intel) and also the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will access their data in the cloud, albeit in Read more about UK government hands secret services cloud contract to AWS[…]
Huq, an established data vendor that obtains granular location information from ordinary apps installed on people’s phones and then sells that data, has been receiving GPS coordinates even when people explicitly opted-out of such collection inside individual Android apps, researchers and Motherboard have found. The news highlights a stark problem for smartphone users: that they Read more about Location Data Firm Got GPS Data From Apps Even When People Opted Out[…]
Our smart devices are listening. Whether it’s personally identifiable information, location data, voice recordings, or shopping habits, our smart assistants know far more than we realize. […] All five services collect your name, phone number, device location, and IP address; the names and numbers of your contacts; your interaction history; and the apps you use. Read more about Amazon’s Alexa Collects More of Your Data Than Any Other Smart Assistant[…]
The new FTC report studied the privacy practices of six unnamed broadband ISPs and their advertising arms, and found that the companies routinely collect an ocean of consumer location, browsing, and behavioral data. They then share this data with dodgy middlemen via elaborate business arrangements that often aren’t adequately disclosed to broadband consumers. “Even though Read more about Internet Service Providers Collect, Sell Horrifying Amount of Sensitive Data, Government Study Concludes[…]
In August, Apple declared that combating the spread of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) was more important than protecting millions of users who’ve never used their devices to store or share illegal material. While encryption would still protect users’ data and communications (in transit and at rest), Apple had given itself permission to inspect data Read more about Client-Side Scanning Is An Insecure Nightmare Just Waiting To Be Exploited By Governments or companies. Apple basically installing spyware under a nice name.[…]
Facial recognition technology is being employed in more UK schools to allow pupils to pay for their meals, according to reports today. In North Ayrshire Council, a Scottish authority encompassing the Isle of Arran, nine schools are set to begin processing meal payments for school lunches using facial scanning technology. The authority and the company Read more about Facial recognition scheme in place in some British schools – more to come[…]
The Party for the Animals (PvdD) wants clarity from outgoing minister Dekker for Legal Protection about a camera on Albert Heijn’s self-scanner. It concerns the PS20 from manufacturer Zebra. According to this company, the camera on the self-scanner supports facial recognition to automatically identify customers. PvdD MPs Van Raan and Wassenberg want to know whether Read more about Why does dutch supermarket Albert Heijn have camera’s looking at you at the self check out?[…]