Glyn Moody is a freelance journalist who writes and speaks about privacy, surveillance, digital rights, open source, copyright, patents and general policy issues involving digital technology. He started covering the business use of the Internet in 1994, and wrote the first mainstream feature about Linux, which appeared in Wired in August 1997. His book, "Rebel Code," is the first and only detailed history of the rise of open source, while his subsequent work, "The Digital Code of Life," explores bioinformatics - the intersection of computing with genomics.
One way of looking at privacy is in terms of controlling personal data. That means stopping others from accessing existing private information or collecting new personal data; and not allowing…
Surveillance systems often use biometrics to identify key aspects of individuals. A previous blog post discussed the use of gait recognition, behavioral biometrics, and even cardiac signatures for this purpose.…
Police forces across the world have revealed details of Trojan Shield, what is probably the most successful digital sting operation yet: A series of large-scale law enforcement actions were executed…
A few weeks ago, Privacy News Online wrote about the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information taking action against Facebook, in a move that signalled growing unhappiness…
Working from home has become the norm for millions, perhaps billions, of people around the world. This huge shift in how people spend most of their waking hours naturally brings…
The EU's main privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is three years old. Access Now has produced what it calls an "implementation report", which usefully summarizes the GDPR's…
Back in 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that the UK's mass interception of fiber-optic cable traffic violated people's right to privacy because of insufficient safeguards. The…
It's no secret that many companies and governments try to collect as much personal information as possible. This might be because they believe this will improve the results of their…
Back in January, Privacy News Online wrote about China's important new privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection Law. That post concentrated on the law's extraterritorial reach, and its likely impact…
Back in February, Privacy News Online wrote about a major change to the way WhatsApp and Facebook accounts would be managed. New terms and conditions for WhatsApp users meant that…