As gadgets and services get smarter, they need more data, and face the hard problem of keeping it safe. Data privacy has become a huge problem for Google, Facebook, Amazon, and any company using artificial intelligence to power its services — and a major sticking point for lawmakers looking to regulate. Here’s all the news on data privacy and how it’s changing tech.
After Meta was fined in the EU over its handling of user data in January, Norway plans to ban the company from showing users in the country personalized ads based on their online activity, Politico reports.
The ban will run for three months from August 4th, and Meta faces a fine of up to 1 million Norwegian Krone (around $99,680) for each day it doesn’t comply.
The Senate Judiciary Committee moved forward a bill, called the Cooper Davis Act, that would make tech companies report users suspected of criminal drug activity to the DEA. Surveillance litigation director Andrew Crocker of the Electronic Frontier Foundation laid out the group’s concerns (via Gizmodo):
“[The bill’s] vague requirements and criminal penalties would result in companies over-reporting users to the [DEA] for innocent, protected speech. And because the bill encourages companies to undermine encryption out of fear of liability, it could lead to dragnet scanning of private user communications. This bill contains no warrant requirement, no required notice, and limited user protections, and deserves to be defeated on the Senate floor.”
Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union also opposes it:
“The bill will expand law enforcement’s access to user data, undermine the protections of Constitutional statutory warrant requirements, and exacerbate existing racial disparities in criminal drug enforcement. Platforms are not equipped to be deputized as DEA informants, and this bill will likely cause more harm than it heals. We urge the full Senate to reject this approach.”
[congress.gov]
Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former security chief, points out that the integration could make it more difficult for Meta to put a stop to “spammers, troll farms, and economically driven abusers” due to the way the decentralized social networking protocol is set up.
Threads may also face issues when complying with data regulation policies around the globe, many of which grant users the right to delete their data. As explained by Stamos, ActivityPub “has the ability to tell other servers to delete content but no mechanism to enforce.”
Responding to the spread of facial recognition technology at concert venues, over 100 bands and artists like Rage Against the Machine and Boots Riley are participating in a boycott orchestrated by digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future.
Madison Square Garden has made headlines as lawyers for firms actively litigating against venue owner MSG Entertainment reported being kicked out or denied entry after being flagged by the tech.
[Fight for the Future]
Over the last year, the US Congress and state legislatures have put out bill after bill to protect kids online — some going as far as banning under 18s from using the internet at all without parental consent.
For Wednesday’s Vergecast, I spoke to legal experts, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), and our friend David Pierce about how many of these bills threaten the free speech and privacy of all internet users.
You don’t? Then maybe you should check to see if it still has access to your Gmail or other Google data — along with any other apps and services you may have forgotten about. Here’s how to check to see which apps, services, and extensions have permission to access your Google account, and how to disconnect them.
Elizabeth Lopatto wrote just last month that Big Tech is warning all of us about the privacy issues with AI chatbots, as companies like Samsung warn employees about giving them sensitive information that could expose trade secrets.
Now Reuters reports:
A Google privacy notice updated on June 1 also states: “Don’t include confidential or sensitive information in your Bard conversations.”
At an event in DC today, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the new team would be updating its rules governing what cell carriers can do with customer data:
“We’re going to bring all of our technical and legal experts together from across the agency to maximize coordination and use the law to reach results by evolving our policies and taking enforcement action.”
Back in 2018, the New York Times reported that some of the US’s largest carriers — including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon — were selling their customers’ real-time location data. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the government hasn’t really done much to stop it since then.
With the FCC still deadlocked, the task force could put the agency in a better position to approve stricter rules to prevent sim-swapping, data breaches, and the unauthorized sale of customer data if a third Democrat gets confirmed.
Strava’s heatmaps can be handy if you’re scoping out new running, cycling, and hiking routes, as it helps visualize popular areas. However, researchers discovered they could reverse-engineer where a Strava user lives — even though heatmaps are created through anonymized, aggregated data.
You can read through the findings (PDF), but essentially, the more active the user, the easier it was for researchers to find their home addresses — especially in remote areas. If that creeps you out, go to Settings > Privacy Controls > Aggregated Data Usage to opt out.
[BleepingComputer]
The internet could soon become a very different place.
Push alerts sent to LA residents via the Citizen app in 2021 offered a cash reward — that eventually reached $30,000 — with a picture of a man erroneously tabbed as an arson suspect. Hosts on Citizen’s livestream told viewers to “hunt this guy down.”
Vice has put together a two-hour documentary based on its reporting on the incident. You can see the trailer below and watch the entire documentary for free on Tubi.
And we’re not talking about text-based two-factor authentication — especially because you now have to be a paying member of Twitter Blue to use it.
Instead, if you want to keep your account safe, an authentication app is not only cheaper, but better. Here’s how to set one up for Twitter and for several other services.
It’s now been over a week since Western Digital’s My Cloud went down due to a “network security incident”, and all signs indicate that it remains dark. The good news: I’ve heard from multiple people that the Local Access workaround the company detailed on Friday does work, and has allowed some customers to access their stored files.
