TikTok tracks you even if you never made an account
TikTok gathers information on users and shares it with third parties, even if you’ve never made a profile. VICE reporter Riccardo Coluccini - who has used the app but had…
General Privacy News
Tencent has been caught spying on your web browsing history with QQ Messenger
QQ Messenger, a popular Chinese instant messaging app by Tencent, was caught scraping web browser history with their desktop client. The discovery was made by Chinese internet users on the…
Is the GDPR finally going to get some teeth?
The GDPR is a powerful, far-reaching piece of legislation, but one whose full potential the EU data protection authorities have so far failed to realize. Research from DLA Piper shows…
A preliminary look at privacy labels in iOS VPN apps
Apple’s new privacy labels inform users about what information the app (VPN or otherwise) is sending back to the app’s developers - and for what purpose. There has been a…
Apple’s new privacy labels show how data hungry Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are
The rollout of privacy labels in all apps available in the iOS app store has revealed the massive amount of information that Facebook collects through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. This…
Not going dark: personal data from the Internet of Things ushers in a golden age for law enforcement
Last week, Privacy News Online wrote about the increasing use of vehicle forensics to solve crimes. These "smartphones on wheels" join a growing list of everyday devices that are becoming…
UK rules against the use of general warrants to hack into citizen’s devices
The United Kingdom (UK) High Court has ruled that the country’s security and intelligence agencies can no longer use “general warrants” as legal writ for property interference, aka hacking. The…
Today’s online advertising not only seriously harms privacy, but is seriously broken in other ways; we need to fix it
For three and half years now, Privacy News Online has been warning about the huge, and largely ignored, danger of micro-targeted ads and real-time bidding (RTB). The approach sounds plausible.…
Police are increasingly using digital vehicle forensics to solve cases
Police investigators are increasingly taking advantage of a new class of forensics technology known as digital vehicle forensics. When police have access, they will suck up an inordinate amount of…
Man sues police after incorrect facial recognition match leads to wrongful arrest
Nijeer Parks is suing the police after he was arrested and jailed in 2019 for ten days based on an incorrect facial recognition match. After a crime in Woodbridge, NJ,…