Internet privacy

Long exposure photo shows traffic traveling along a highway, early Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Photo: Michael Probst (AP)Before an injustice becomes a reality, when the consequences are all very abstract, it can be easy to doubt and defer grasping how inevitable they are. Some people will write off what is plainly obvious to everyone around them as the misgivings of pearl-clutching doomsayers,the fallout of overactive imaginations. Thankfully, reality does wonders for perspective.There can be no silver lining to the…

Photo: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com (Shutterstock)President Biden signed an executive order placing new restrictions on how U.S. intelligence agencies harness data as it flows between the U.S. and the E.U., the White House announced Friday. The order creates a new framework to comply with European privacy rules.GDPR, Europe’s sweeping privacy law, lays out guidelines for how data is handled as it’s transferred in and out of the E.U. The American government’s original proposal for dealing with these…

Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP (Getty Images)A Greek journalist who was targeted for surveillance with spyware has filed a lawsuit against the spyware’s proprietor, hoping to spur a criminal investigation into the malfeasance surrounding the sales and use of such spying tools.In late March 2021, Thanasis Koukakis was notified by a team of digital researchers that his phone had been infected with malware. A reporter who typically covers finance, Koukakis had been in the midst of investigating corruption issues when his device…

Image: Tada Images (Shutterstock)Two years ago, the Arizona Attorney General sued Google for allegedly tricking people into giving up their location data, even after they tried to turn off the company’s location data settings. Google agreed to pay $85 million to settle the lawsuit this week and fix an incorrect description of what its Location History setting actually does. The search giant tried to demystify its handling of your location data a bit. Experts and Gizmodo’s own attempts suggest the company’s success was…

Photo: Saul Loeb (Getty Images)The Biden Administration on Tuesday revealed a first-of-its-kind “AI bill of rights” calling on developers and policymakers to address longstanding issues of algorithmic bias and discrimination. The blueprint document details numerous examples where AI can negatively impact communities and urges developers to embed equitable practices into their design philosophy. While the blueprint marks the federal government’s most significant effort to address AI harms to date, the document lacks…

Photo: Yuichi Yamazaki (Getty Images)The UK’s privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has today served TikTok with notice that it believes the app may have breached UK data protection law, including processing the data of children under the age of 13 without parental consent.The ICO, which has the power to censure and fine companies for up to four percent of their annual global turnover, has issued TikTok’s UK arm a notice of intent – which is a legal document that comes before the regulator…

Malware could be hiding in the most innocuous seeming imagesImage: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScIThere are plenty of dangers to watch out for when it comes to keeping your devices and your data safe, including viruses, phishing attempts, compromised wifi networks, and rogue USB sticks. Here, we’re going to talk about one of the lesser-known threats: Compromised images.You might not have realized it, but malware can be injected into digital photos that appear to be perfectly normal. The technique for doing so isknown as…

Photo: Edward Smith (Getty Images)Want to help bring encrypted messaging to a despotic regime that treats women like shit? Well, now’s your chance. Signal is currently asking users to help make its end-to-end encrypted messaging service available in Iran. Signal offers what is broadly considered the most secure, privacy-centric communication platform in the business. However, the app was blocked in Iran last January, after seeing increased popularity there. In light of protests currently roiling the country, the company…

A fire rages at sunrise in Khan Yunish following an Israeli airstrike on targets in the southern Gaza strip, early on May 12, 2021.Photo: Youssef Massoud (Getty Images)Meta, the company founded on the principle of building connectivity and giving people a voice worldwide, did just the opposite last year and enforced speech policies that violated Palestinian’s freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. That assessment, which claims Meta’s policies negatively impacted Palestinian’s basic human rights, didn’t come from a…

Photo: Chip Somodevilla (Getty Images)40 privacy and racial justice groups signed an open letter demanding MGM Studios cancel Ring Nation, a dystopian reality television show based on security footage captured from Ring home cameras. The groups warned airing the show risks “normalizing and promoting Amazon Ring’s dangerous network of surveillance cameras,” and could put vulnerable communities at heightened privacy risks. For those who missed it, Amazon announced the show earlier this year, which reportedly revolves around…