Category «Privacy»

CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements

404 Media [no paywall]: “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bought data from the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples’ precise movements over time, in a process that often involves siphoning data from ordinary apps like video games, dating services, and fitness trackers, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by 404 …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy

Ars Technica: “Burner accounts on social media sites can increasingly be analyzed to identify the pseudonymous users who post to them using AI in research that has far-reaching consequences for privacy on the Internet, researchers said. The finding, from a recently published research paper, is based on results of experiments correlating specific individuals with accounts …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

I replaced Google Contacts with an open-source one, and my privacy thanks me

MakeUseOf: “Your phone’s contact list is, in a way, one of the most intimate things you own. It holds the names, numbers, and sometimes addresses of everyone you care about. I’m talking about your family, your doctor, your oldest friend, your enemies, etc. And yet, by default, that entire list sits exposed in Android’s shared …

Subjects: E-Mail, E-Records, Internet, Privacy

Meta won’t let morality get in the way of a product launch

The Verge – Anyone else notice that ICE isn’t worried about getting doxed by Meta? – “There’s never been a better time to add facial recognition to everything! The public at large is gradually becoming numb to our Palantirized surveillance state, and American communities are responding to the militarization of federal law enforcement with their own …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy

10 Hacks Every Facebook User Should Know

LifeHacker: “Facebook is clearly no longer the hot social media property it once was—younger generations are now far more likely to spend their time on TikTok, Snapchat, or Instagram—but there are still billions of people logging into the Facebook site and mobile apps each month. During its 20+ years of existence, Facebook has added a …

Subjects: Internet, Privacy, Social Media

Major Data Brokers Tried to Hide Their Opt-Out Pages From Search Engines

PC Mag: “Four data brokers have made their opt-out pages easier for internet users to find after a US senator’s investigation found the pages had been hidden from search engines.  Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) made the announcement on Friday after she pressured data brokers to make changes. “Hiding or burying opt-out options for data collection” …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Digital Rights, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 28, 2026

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 28, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, E-Government, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

The Government Just Made it Harder to See What Spy Tech it Buys

404 Media: “It might look like something from the early days of the internet, with its aggressively grey color scheme and rectangles nested inside rectangles, but FPDS.gov is one of the most important resources for keeping tabs on what powerful spying tools U.S. government agencies are buying. It includes everything from phone hacking technology, to …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Judge: IRS broke law ‘approximately 42,695 times’ in giving DHS data

Washington Post: “A federal judge has found that the Internal Revenue Service violated federal law “approximately 42,695 times” when it shared confidential taxpayer addresses. The judge wrote that the vast majority of the nearly 47,300 taxpayer addresses the IRS shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August were disclosed without the IRS confirming that ICE …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby

404 Media [no paywall] – The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media’s coverage of how people are using Meta’s Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent: “A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy

Here’s What a Google Subpoena Response Looks Like, Courtesy of the Epstein Files

Wired – no paywall: “Last month, the Department of Justice released over 3 million documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While the dumps shed light on Epstein’s own social circle and activities, they also provide a rare window into the inner workings of a federal investigation, including how tech companies like Google respond …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Mail, E-Records, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here’s What I Actually Handed Over.

The Local Stack: “I wanted the blue checkmark on LinkedIn. The one that says “this person is real.” In a sea of fake recruiters, bot accounts, and AI-generated headshots, it seemed like a smart thing to do. So I tapped “verify.” I scanned my passport. I took a selfie. Three minutes later — done. Badge …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media