Category Archives: Privacy

India’s government has issued a directive that requires all smartphone manufacturers to install a government app on every handset in the country and has given them 90 days to get the job done – and to ensure users can’t remove … Continue reading →

A Canadian court has ordered French cloud provider OVHcloud to hand over customer data stored in Europe, potentially undermining the provider’s claims about digital sovereignty protections. According to documents seen by The Register, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, MEPs adopted a non-legislative report by 483 votes in favour, 92 against and with 86 abstentions, expressing deep concern over the physical and mental health risks minors face online and calling for stronger protection against the manipulative strategies … Continue reading →

[…] The EU Council has finally reached an agreement on the controversial Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) after more than three years of failed attempts. Nicknamed Chat Control by its critics, the agreement has kept cryptographers, technologists, encrypted service providers, … Continue reading →

[…] Under the new rules, online service providers will be required to assess the risk that their services could be misused for the dissemination of child sexual abuse material or for the solicitation of children. On the basis of this … Continue reading →

If you’ve been following the wave of age-gating laws sweeping across the country and the globe, you’ve probably noticed that lawmakers, tech companies, and advocates all seem to be using different terms for what sounds like the same thing. Age verification, age assurance, age estimation, … Continue reading →

The EU states agree on a common position on chat control. Internet services should be allowed to read communication voluntarily, but will not be obliged [*cough – see bold and end of document: Ed*] to do so. We publish the … Continue reading →

People will no longer be bombarded by constant requests to accept or reject “cookies” when browsing the internet, under proposed changes to the European Union’s strict data privacy laws. The pop-up prompts asking internet users to consent to cookies when … Continue reading →

In Switzerland, a country known for its love for secrecy, particularly when it comes to banking, the tides have turned: An update to the VÜPF surveillance law directly targets privacy and anonymity services such as VPNs as well as encrypted … Continue reading →

Roblox is starting to roll out the mandatory age checks that will require all of its users to submit an ID or scan their face in order to access the platform’s chat features. The updated policy, which the company announced … Continue reading →

Google officially turned off remote control functionality for early Nest Learning Thermostats last month, but it hasn’t stopped collecting a stream of data from these downgraded devices. After digging into the backend, security researcher Cody Kociemba found that the first- … Continue reading →

The software in question, AppCloud, developed by the mobile analytics firm IronSource, has been embedded in devices sold primarily in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Security researchers and privacy advocates warn that it quietly collects sensitive user … Continue reading →

Thanks to public pressure, the Danish Presidency has been forced to revise its text, explicitly stating that any detection obligations are voluntary. While much better, the text continues to both (a) effectively outlaw anonymous communication through mandatory age verification; and … Continue reading →

It’s official, a revised version of the CSAM scanning proposal is back on the EU lawmakers’ table − and is keeping privacy experts worried. The Law Enforcement Working Party met again this morning (November 12) in the EU Council to … Continue reading →

Digital rights activist Esra’a Al Shafei found FinFisher spyware on her device more than a decade ago. Now she’s made it her mission to surveil the companies providing surveillanceware, their customers, and their funders. “You cannot resist what you do … Continue reading →

Privacy activists say proposed changes to Europe’s landmark privacy law, including making it easier for Big Tech to harvest Europeans’ personal data for AI training, would flout EU case law and gut the legislation. The changes proposed by the European … Continue reading →

If you’re filing an immigration form – or helping someone who is – the Feds may soon want to look in your eyes, swab your cheek, and scan your face. The US Department of Homeland Security wants to greatly expand … Continue reading →

This summer, Dutch music festivals will use RFID wristbands to collect visitor data. The technology has been around for a while, but the innovation lies in its application. The wristbands are anonymous by default, but users can activate them to … Continue reading →

Privacy advocates at Noyb filed a criminal complaint against Clearview AI for scraping social media users’ faces without consent to train its AI algorithms. Austria-based Noyb (None of Your Business) is targeting the US company and its executives, arguing that … Continue reading →

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) submitted a new measure that allows it to photograph any non-US citizen who enters or exits the country for facial recognition purposes. According to a filing with the government’s Federal Register, CBP and … Continue reading →

An Austrian digital privacy group has claimed victory over Microsoft after the country’s data protection regulator ruled the software giant “illegally” tracked students via its 365 Education platform and used their data. noyb said the ruling [PDF] by the Austrian … Continue reading →

Germany does not support the Danish proposal on the so-called CSA regulation, which is called ‘chat control’ by critics. The proposal was to be voted on on Tuesday in the EU Council of Ministers, but it has now been taken … Continue reading →

Germany has committed to oppose the EU’s controversial “Chat Control” regulations following huge pressure from multiple activists and major organizations. The draft regs would allow authorities to compel providers of communications services – such as WhatsApp, Signal, etc – to … Continue reading →

The European Union Council is once again debating its controversial message scanning proposal, aka “Chat Control,” that would lead to the scanning of private conversations of billions of people. Chat Control, which EFF has strongly opposed since it was first introduced in 2022, keeps being mildly … Continue reading →