The Internet of Things is Surveillance
The IOT is back in the news again this week. A judge has ordered Amazon to turn over audio data from an Alexa device related to a murder investigation. There's…
General Privacy News
Data breach laws: would you know if your personal information was compromised?
If your personal information was involved in a data breach, would you know? While it's unfortunately become the norm to see data breaches announced in the headline, it's not always…
Why are people so poor at making privacy choices? What can be done about it?
Privacy News Online explores a rich mix of information about privacy. Things like threats to privacy, privacy wins, ways to enhance privacy. One common thread is how bad people are…
SuperCooKey – A SuperCookie Built Into TLS 1.2 and 1.3
In doing my research around the impact of TLS 1.3 for Private Internet Access, I came across some peculiar items in the new standards. TLS 1.3 represents a relatively large…
AI-based lie detection system will screen travellers to EU for ‘biomarkers of deceit’
As the borders between nations have become increasingly sensitive from a political point of view, so the threats to privacy there have grown. Privacy News Online has already reported on…
Why surveillance is even worse for your privacy than you thought: three cautionary tales
Readers of this blog hardly need to be told that surveillance represents a grave threat to privacy. By its very nature, it seeks to know who we are and what…
We Need Decoy Operating Systems on Smartphones
Whether it violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or not, it’s an unfortunate fact that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents routinely force travelers entering the country to…
Starting November 1st, Chinese police can go to any Chinese ISP to copy your data
Earlier in October 2018, the Chinese government passed a law that grants local and central law enforcement the ability to enter the premises of any internet service providers (ISPs) or…
How to test and verify the speeds of your VPN
We often hear complaints about throughput (the technical term for download and upload speeds) and our Customer Support team will go through extensive testing, including traceroutes, MTRs, comparative testing and…
As many feared, Google’s ambitious Sidewalk Toronto “smart city” project turns out to be a “surveillance city”
The idea of "smart cities" – the application of digital technologies to the urban environment – is much in vogue. But as this blog has noted, although potentially powerful, the…