Privacy on dan.heskett

EU privacy advocates accuse US data annotation firm of snooping on contractors

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 19:30:00 -0400

“According to noyb, Persona collects biometric data to verify Outlier contractors are who they say they are, as well as gathering IP addresses, device info, geolocation data, addresses, and credit data of Outlier users.”

Judge Allows Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Subpoenas to Identify Gay-Torrents Users

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 19:15:00 -0400

“FlavaWorks can also request the most recent IP address that was used to access each account, covering the period from January 2025 onward.”

EFF to Brazil's ANPD: Data Privacy and Free Expression Must Underpin Platform Regulations

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 04:50:00 -0400

“Age verification technology is often inaccurate and privacy-invasive.”

Canadians Are Running Out Of Time To Oppose The Dangerous C-22 Surveillance Bill

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 09:25:00 -0400

“It also requires services to retain metadata for up to a year.”

Google can now use insights from your Gmail and Photos to target ads

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 22:40:00 -0400

“Google has added an exception to its promise that your emails and photos won’t be used to personalize ads.”

Greece's social media ban for under-15s: What you need to know

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 22:37:00 -0400

“The new framework is due to apply from 1 January 2027.”

Two States Can Now Restrict Social Media Access. Here's What To Do Next

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:18:00 -0400

“But people in Georgia and Florida can no longer count on court injunctions to protect their access to the web.”

'VPNs at Risk': Tech Coalition Pushes Back on Piracy Blocking Duties for VPNs

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:42:00 -0400

“ACPA would allow courts to name VPN providers with 100,000 or more monthly U.S. users or subscribers in a blocking order.”

EFF's State Legislative Agenda to End ALPR Mass Surveillance

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:40:00 -0400

“In August 2026, Florida’s Department of Transportation ordered the removal of all ALPRs from the right-of-way on state highways within 30 days.”

Victory! Court Rules OPM Data Disclosure to DOGE Is Unlawful

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:45:00 -0400

“However, OPM should still clean up the cybersecurity mess it created.”

Require Police to Get a Warrant to Search ALPR Data

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:50:00 -0400

“Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are mass surveillance.”

Meta grants itself right to scrape content from business customers for model training

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 06:20:00 -0400

“Meta has no reservoir of good faith among the community that it can draw upon.”

We're Asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to End Warrantless ALPR Searches

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 06:10:00 -0400

“Law enforcement entities throughout Wisconsin collect, store, share, and aggregate this ALPR data.”

As Federal Court Rules ALPRs are Mass Surveillance, EFF Gets Disappointing Ruling

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400

“Networked ALPRs are not individual streetlight cameras.”

Exposing AdFection: How Discover-Tech Turned Targeted Ads Into a Pipeline for Zero-Click Mercenary Spyware

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:20:00 -0400

“This is the first-ever public confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads.”

DHS Inspector General Finds That TSA is Not Properly Safeguarding Passenger Facial Recognition Data

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:19:00 -0400

“…was able to access and extract sensitive passenger information, including driver’s license and passport images, during system troubleshooting and enhancements, without TSA’s knowledge.”

Windows 11's easiest account bypass gets the Microsoft boot

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:00:00 -0400

“Microsoft has won this round of account workaround Whac-a-Mole, though another bypass may yet pop up.”

Colorado Woman Sues Flock After Cameras Used in False Package Theft Accusation

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 20:05:00 -0400

“The scariest part is what happened to me can happen to anyone.”

YouTuber Says Cops Visited Him After He Built a Flock-Style Camera to Track Cops

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:02:00 -0400

“A personal Flock surveillance camera to Flock the Flockers.”

US Postal Service To Start Exploring Its Always-On Surveillance Options

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 18:57:00 -0400

“The purpose of this pilot is to leverage the Postal Service’s unique ability to collect this valuable data.”

Disloyalty

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 15:00:00 -0400

“These were identical trips, loaded via identical referrer URLs.”

When No ID Means No Internet: Age Verification and the Right to Access Information

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:05:00 -0400

“Age verification is not a neutral safety measure.”

We Demand More Information on How Marin Cops Illegally Shared Flock ALPR Data

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:20:00 -0400

“This sharing violated state law and ’exposed sensitive driver location information to misuse by the federal government.'”

Court Agrees with EFF: Utah's VPN Law Demands a Technical Impossibility

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:50:00 -0400

“Aylo is correct that the statute, as amended, now essentially imposes strict liability for entities like it when it comes to determining the location of its websites’ users.”

Met Police suspends use of phone-hacking software over Russian links

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:46:00 -0400

“The DoJ isn’t alleging that Oxygen’s software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customer systems or data.”

While the Country Rejects ALPR Mass Surveillance, SF Settles for Weak Safeguards

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 07:42:00 -0400

“Without a warrant requirement, officers can search stored location data without showing probable cause to a judge, and will.”

EFF to San Francisco Police: Drones are Powerful Surveillance Tools That Require a Robust Policy

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:19:00 -0400

“Without appropriate safeguards around deployment and use, drones could be deployed to every call for service, collecting data along the way.”

Gouged

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:11:00 -0400

“Every scam to make you pay more has a mirror-image scam that ensures you are paid less.”

Driver Ticketed For No Insurance Despite Having Insurance, Just Because Flock Said She Didn't

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:40:00 -0400

“The computer says you’re a criminal. The stuff law enforcement has always considered proof of legal vehicle use is no longer acceptable.”

DraftKings Is Using AI to Supercharge the Harms of Online Behavioral Advertising

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:30:00 -0400

“DraftKings is using its customers’ betting records to train a machine learning model to find losing gamblers.”

EU Kids Act Won't Keep the Internet Accountable and Trustworthy

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:03:00 -0400

“However they’re designed, age gates undermine civil liberties, reduce safety, and create barriers to internet entry, often at the expense of marginalized groups.”

Spymarks, Not Watermarks

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:25:00 -0400

“A spymark is a hidden signal that makes your work traceable without your knowledge or consent.”

Australia considers banning the use of smart glasses in government buildings

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:23:00 -0400

“Australia is considering barring the use of camera-equipped smart glasses in government workplaces due to privacy and security concerns, in what it said could be the first ban of its kind.”

Secure Messaging and AI Remain In Conflict Despite the Promise of TEEs

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 22:06:00 -0400

“TEEs can provide more security and privacy than simply running in the clear, but they are fundamentally different from actual encryption.”

Hackers Stole Flock's Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:15:00 -0400

“Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it.”

A/I Shuts Down

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:00:00 -0400

“‘Stay human’ is not an empty phrase to us.”

Data Broker Radaris Loses Domains in Privacy Fight

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:58:00 -0400

“They won by attrition. Plaintiffs’ attorneys tired of procedural games and gave up.”

Apple Reference Image: A New Approach for Verified Photography

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:20:00 -0400

“Apple Reference Image offers a trustworthy, scalable guarantee that a reference image is what it claims to be: a real photograph, captured by a real sensor.”

The High Crime of 'LMAO': How Cops Are Treating Mass Surveillance As a Joke

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:50:00 -0400

“More than 30 agencies ran more than 6,300 searches with ‘TBD’ (short for ‘To Be Determined’) as the ‘reason.’”

Watch out: Apple timepiece can grab snippets of conversation without both speakers' consent

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 20:46:00 -0400

“Our right to conversational privacy must include freedom from other people, without our clear opt-in consent, using technology to document what we are saying,” said EFF privacy director Adam Schwartz.

Cops Play Hide and Seek About Using Spy Tech to Avoid Scrutiny and Bad PR

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 01:15:00 -0400

“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.”

EFF to Governor Newsom: Veto California's AB 1709

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:23:00 -0400

“A.B. 1709 is a massive privacy and free speech nightmare.”

Meta's $17 Billion Settlement is a Bad Deal for Teens and All Social Media Users

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:40:00 -0400

“Rather than pushing Meta away from the collection, analysis, and retention of user data, the Settlement requires Meta to do more of it for the next ten years.”

Grindr pays £26M to settle UK privacy class action

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:30:00 -0400

“While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognizes and acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period.”

US troops can still be tracked by purchased location data, and Congress wants to know why

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:41:00 -0400

“This change will essentially ensure that military device location data isn’t being included in bulk data sales being done by numerous vendors.”

RFK Jr. Wants Your Medical Records

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:35:00 -0400

“Since the spring of 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has sought federal access to Americans’ medical records to investigate whether vaccines cause autism.”

FBI Probes Service Selling 153M+ Drivers Licenses

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:40:00 -0400

“We have been continuously exfiltrating new data for over a year into our private database.”

Flock-Stalking, Nazi-Saluting Deputy Given Top Cop Honors Before Hastily Retiring

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:30:00 -0400

“The 43-page investigation found Fultz had posed for pictures as Adolf Hitler, freely used racial slurs in texts, masturbated on camera in his police vehicle.”

Texas and Florida Step Back from ALPRs

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:10:00 -0400

“ALPR mass surveillance, the indiscriminate, continuous collection and retention of location data on every driver, regardless of suspicion, should not exist.”

A List of ICE Subpoenas to Tech Companies

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 15:40:00 -0400

“ICE has been forced to withdraw others after users challenged them in court or companies pushed back.”