Even by Amazon standards, this is extraordinarily sleazy: starting March 28, each Amazon Echo device will cease processing audio on-device and instead upload all the audio it captures to Amazon’s cloud for processing, even if you have previously opted out of cloud-based processing: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/everything-you-say-to-your-echo-will-be-sent-to-amazon-starting-on-march-28/ It’s easy to flap your hands at this bit of thievery Read more about Amazon annihilates Alexa privacy settings, turns on continuous, nonconsensual audio uploading[…]

process called Android System SafetyCore – which arrived in a recent update for devices running Android 9 and later. It scans a user’s photo library for explicit images and displays content warnings before viewing them. Google says “the classification of content runs exclusively on your device and the results aren’t shared with Google.” Naturally, it will Read more about How to stop Android from scanning your phone pictures for content and interpreting them[…]

Research from a leading academic shows Android users have advertising cookies and other gizmos working to build profiles on them even before they open their first app. Doug Leith, professor and chair of computer systems at Trinity College Dublin, who carried out the research, claims in his write up that no consent is sought for Read more about Android tracks you before you start an app – no consent required. Also, it scans your photos.[…]

On Wednesday we shared that we’re introducing a new Terms of Use (TOU) and Privacy Notice for Firefox. Since then, we’ve been listening to some of our community’s concerns with parts of the TOU, specifically about licensing. Our intent was just to be as clear as possible about how we make Firefox work, but in Read more about Mozilla updates updated TOS for Firefox and is now more confusing but does not look private[…]

A coalition of labor organizations representing federal workers and retirees has sued the Department of the Treasury to block it from giving the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, controlled by Elon Musk, access to the federal government’s sensitive payment systems. After forcing out a security official who opposed the move, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Read more about Unions Sue to Block Elon Musk’s Access to Americans’ Tax and Benefits Records[…]

[…] While trying to fend off attacks on Section 215 collections (most of which are governed [in the loosest sense of the word] by the Third Party Doctrine), the NSA and its domestic-facing remora, the FBI, insisted collecting and storing massive amounts of phone metadata was no more a constitutional violation than it was a Read more about Phone Metadata Suddenly Not So ‘Harmless’ When It’s The FBI’s Data Being Harvested[…]

Google is tracking your online behavior in the name of advertising, reintroducing a data collection process that ingests all of your online signals (from IP address to complex browser information) and pinpoints unique users or devices, also known as “digital fingerprinting.” The company’s updated platform program policies include relaxed restrictions on advertisers and personalized ad Read more about Google brings back digital fingerprinting to track users for advertising[…]

A federal judge this week rejected Google’s motion to throw out a class-action lawsuit alleging that it invaded the privacy of users who opted out of functionality that records a users’ web and app activities. A jury trial is scheduled for August 2025 in US District Court in San Francisco. The lawsuit concerns Google’s Web Read more about Google goes to court for collecting data on users who opted out… again…[…]

The advent of Bluetooth trackers has made it a lot easier to find your bag or keys when they’re lost, but it has also put inconspicuous tracking tools in the hands of people who might misuse them. Apple and Google have both implemented tracker alerts to let you know if there’s an unknown Bluetooth tracker Read more about Android will let you find unknown Bluetooth trackers instead of just warning you about them[…]

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) estimated last week that by tracking all vehicles with GPS it will be able to increase road capacity by 20,000 over the next few years. The densely populated island state is moving from what it calls Electric Road Pricing (ERP) 1.0 to ERP 2.0. The first version used gantries – Read more about Singapore to increase road capacity by GPS tracking all vehicles. Because location data is not sensitive and will never be hacked *cough*[…]

The new terms come in on November 15th. 4.3 Generative AI Safety and Abuse. Google uses automated safety tools to detect abuse of Generative AI Services. Notwithstanding the “Handling of Prompts and Generated Output” section in the Service Specific Terms, if these tools detect potential abuse or violations of Google’s AUP or Prohibited Use Policy, Read more about Google changes Terms Of Service, now spies on your AI prompts[…]

If you’ve ever opted to rent a movie through a Redbox kiosk, your private info is out there waiting for any tinkerer to get their hands on it. One programmer who reverse-engineered a kiosk’s hard drive proved the Redbox machines can cough up transaction histories featuring customers’ names, emails, and rentals going back nearly a Read more about If You Ever Rented From Redbox, Your Private Info Is Up for Grabs[…]

The US government’s General Services Administration’s (GSA) facial matching login service is now generally available to the public and other federal agencies, despite its own recent report admitting the tech is far from perfect. The GSA announced general availability of remote identity verification (RiDV) technology through login.gov, and the service’s availability to other federal government Read more about Face matching now available on GSA’s login.gov, however it still doesn’t work in minimum 10% of the time[…]

[…] The one-and-done nature of Wiles’ experience is indicative of a core business problem with the once high-flying biotech company that is now teetering on the brink of collapse. Wiles and many of 23andMe’s 15 million other customers never returned. They paid once for a saliva kit, then moved on. Shares of 23andMe are now Read more about 23andMe is on the brink. What happens to all that genetic DNA data?[…]

At 8:22 am on December 4 last year, a car traveling down a small residential road in Alabama used its license-plate-reading cameras to take photos of vehicles it passed. One image, which does not contain a vehicle or a license plate, shows a bright red “Trump” campaign sign placed in front of someone’s garage. In Read more about License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of Cars – and political affiliation, planned parenthood and more[…]

The Netherlands’ government and opposition are both against the latest version of the controversial EU regulation aimed at detecting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to an official position and an open letter published on Tuesday (1 October). The regulation, aimed at detecting online CSAM, has been criticised for potentially allowing the scanning of private messages Read more about Dutch oppose Hungary’s approach to EU child sexual abuse regulation – or total surveillance of every smart device[…]

Resistance to the Hungarian presidency’s approach to the EU’s draft law to combat online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was still palpable during a member states’ meeting on Wednesday (4 September). The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU aims to secure consensus on the proposed law to combat online child sexual abuse material Read more about Resistance to Hungarian presidency’s new push for child sexual abuse prevention regulation – because it’s a draconian spying law asking for 100% coverage of digital comms[…]