Meta’s New Twitter Rival Threads Has Complex Privacy Issues
The last few days have seen widespread excitement about the launch of Meta’s new Twitter rival, Threads. The uptake has been rapid: 30 million people signed up for Threads in…
General Privacy News
Ireland Passes GDPR “Gag” Law Allowing Data Protection Commission to Make GDPR Procedures Confidential
Ireland has just passed a new law governing complaints brought under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the gist of it is: [It] will allow the Irish Data…
Surveillance on Wheels: How Top US Car Makers Spy on Drivers
Back in 2018, PIA blog was one of the first to warn about smart cars' imminent threat to privacy. The increasing use of computerized components within vehicles meant that a…
The EU AI Act Could Be the Next GDPR – The EU Parliament Wants Strong Privacy Protections
In a key vote, the European Parliament has agreed its negotiating position for the finalization of the forthcoming EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The proposed text contains many important protections…
Children Disagree with Chat Control: They Want Privacy, Not Surveillance
One of the laziest justifications for more surveillance is that we must “think of the children,” i.e. it is acceptable to reduce or even abolish privacy in some contexts in…
Police Are Using AI for Mass Surveillance in the US and in Europe
There is a tension in the world of privacy. On the one hand, governments are using intelligence services and police forces to say we need more surveillance to better protect…
Meta Hit With 1.2 Billion Euros Fine For Violating the GDPR – Time It Adopted a Federated Approach
Meta has been ordered to pay a fine of 1.2 billion euros (around $1.3 billion) for violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by sending personal data of EU…
The EU’s GDPR Is 5 Years Old and Still Not Working Properly: How Can It Be Fixed?
The European Union’s flagship law on privacy, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is five years old. It has undoubtedly had a dramatic impact on the privacy world, as the…
Chatbot Privacy Is Possible with Open Source Models, but Big Tech Might Not Like It
Back in February, PIA blog was one of the first to point out that chatbots might indeed be an exciting breakthrough for artificial intelligence (AI), but that they also represent…
Privacy-Invasive Proctoring Software Declared Unconstitutional by US Court
During the Covid-19 pandemic we avoided most forms of person-to-person interaction unless absolutely necessary. That was deeply problematic for education, which is based on the idea of a teacher interacting…