Sony's Legal Attack on Quad9, Censorship, and Freedom of Speech
A potentially precedent-setting legal case involving Sony Music and Quad9 may endanger internet freedom of speech and allow unchecked content censorship.
Apple sued for promising privacy, failing at it
What's allowed for Cupertino is verboten for everyone else Apple has again been sued for promising privacy and allegedly failing to provide it. The complaint [PDF], filed in Northern California District Court on behalf of plaintiff Julie Cima, claims Apple captures iPhone customer data despite device settings declaring a preference that information should not be shared.
Xiaomi, OnePlus, Top Android Phones in China Spy on You: Study
A recent study shows that top-of-the-line Android phones sold in China are a total privacy nightmare.
A Major App Flaw Exposed the Data of Millions of Indian Students
A mandatory app exposed the personal information of students and teachers across the country for over a year.
A Police App Exposed Secret Details About Raids and Suspects | WIRED
SweepWizard, an app that law enforcement used to coordinate raids, left sensitive information about hundreds of police operations publicly accessible.
Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law
The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant.
This ‘Dystopian’ Cyber Firm Could Have Saved Mossad Assassins From Exposure
Meet Toka, the Israeli cyber firm founded by Ehud Barak, that lets clients hack cameras and change their feeds – just like in Hollywood heist movies
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
Leaked: The Altrnativ world of cybersurveillance
Leaked: The Altrnativ world of cybersurveillance About this series: As co-founder of the French search engine Qwant, Eric Leandri was heralded as a champion of digital privacy and an example of Eur…
A Leak Details Apple's Secret Dirt on Corellium, a Trusted Security Startup
A 500-page document reviewed by WIRED shows Corellium engaged with several controversial companies, including spyware maker NSO Group.
Google Reaches $391.5 Million Settlement With States Over Location Tracking Practices
Attorneys general found that Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location-data practices, tracking consumers even when their location history setting was turned off.
Apple Hit With Class Action Alleging It Tracks Users Despite Privacy Assurances
Apple is facing a proposed federal class action alleging that it records users' mobile activity without their consent and despite privacy...
Internal Documents Show How Close the F.B.I. Came to Deploying Spyware - The New York Times
Christopher Wray, the F.B.I.’s director, told Congress last December that the bureau purchased the phone hacking tool Pegasus for research and development purposes.
Department for Education warned after gambling companies benefit from learning records database
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to the Department for Education (DfE) following the prolonged misuse of the personal information of up to 28 million children. An ICO investigation found that the DfE’s poor due diligence meant a database of pupils’ learning records was ultimately used by Trust Systems Software UK Ltd (trading as Trustopia), an employment screening firm, to check whether people opening online gambling accounts were 18.
Inside TheTruthSpy, the stalkerware network spying on thousands • TechCrunch
Leaked data obtained by TechCrunch reveals the notorious network of Android spyware apps tracked locations and recorded calls of Americans.
SiriSpy - iOS bug allowed apps to eavesdrop on your conversations with Siri
Any app with access to Bluetooth could record your conversations with Siri and audio from the iOS keyboard dictation feature when using AirPods or Beats headsets. This would happen without the app requesting microphone access permission and without the app leaving any trace that it was listening to the microphone.
New US Executive Order unlikely to satisfy EU law
Today, the US government published an executive order, allegedly limiting US surveillance. This is a first statement by noyb.
White House announces new surveillance guardrails to meet EU Privacy Shield expectations
The executive order will give EU citizens redress for intelligence collection that violates U.S. laws.
Apple Kills Passwords in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura | WIRED
With iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, Apple is introducing passkeys—a more convenient and secure alternative to passwords.
Revealed: US Military Bought Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data
The “Augury” platform includes highly sensitive network data that Team Cymru, a private company, is selling to the military. “It’s everything. There’s nothing else to capture except the smell of electricity,” one cybersecurity expert said.
Inside Fog Data Science, the Secretive Company Selling Mass Surveillance to Local Police
A data broker has been selling raw location data about individual people to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, EFF has learned. This personal data isn’t gathered from cell phone towers or tech giants like Google — it’s obtained by the broker via thousands of different apps on Android and iOS app stores as part of the larger location data marketplace.
Malicious Cookie Stuffing Chrome Extensions with 1.4 Million Users
A few months ago, we blogged about malicious extensions redirecting users to phishing sites and inserting affiliate IDs into cookies of eCommerce sites. Since that time, we have investigated several other malicious extensions and discovered 5 extensions with a total install base of over 1,400,000 "...the extensions also track the user’s browsing activity."
Tech tool offers police ‘mass surveillance on a budget’
Local law enforcement agencies from suburban Southern California to rural North Carolina have been using an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that gives them the power to follow people’s movements months back in time, according to public records and internal emails obtained by The Associated Press.
FTC says data broker sold consumers’ precise geolocation, including presence at sensitive healthcare facilities
When people seek medical care or visit other sensitive locations, they may think their presence is confidential.
A Cyberattack Illuminates the Shaky State of Student Privacy
At a moment when education technology firms are stockpiling sensitive information on millions of school children, safeguards for student data have broken down.
Iranian hackers leak info of over 300,000 Israelis from tourism sites
Iranian hacker group Sharp Boys obtained personal data from over 20 Israeli tourism sites.
Microsoft Plans to Eliminate Face Analysis Tools in Push for ‘Responsible A.I.’
For years, activists and academics have been raising concerns that facial analysis software that claims to be able to identify a person’s age, gender and emotional state can be biased, unreliable or invasive — and shouldn’t be sold.
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Government Ordered Travel Companies To Spy On Russian Hacker For Years And Report His Whereabouts Every Week
Critics say the government isn’t doing enough to inform the public about such secretive surveillance.
TrustPid is another worrying, imperfect attempt to replace tracking cookies
German ISPs are working on the introduction of TrustPid. A supercookie that is intended to replace tracking cookies.
Apple has pushed a silent Mac update to remove hidden Zoom web server
Apple has released a silent update for Mac users removing a vulnerable component in Zoom, the popular video conferencing app, which allowed websites to automatically add a user to a video call without their permission. The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant told TechCrunch that the update — now released — removes the hidden web server, which […]