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…
General Privacy News
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…
California Banned Default Passwords, But Will This Increase Security?
Last month, the State of California banned default passwords on network devices, starting January 1, 2020. This law mandates that manufacturers preprogram a unique password for each individual device and…
Quantum Computing – Is the World of a Secure Internet Over?
The short answer: No. The long answer: Noooooooooooo. If you haven't had a primer on what a quantum computer is or does, Kurzgesagt has a fantastic crash course introduction here:…
#WeHearYouKhashoggi
The image you see above, is part of a full page ad we ran in The New York Times Sunday Edition today, October 21, 2018. Late last night, we were…
Coming soon: everyone’s genetic anonymity undermined by distant relatives – and there’s nothing you can do about it
Earlier this year, Privacy News Online wrote about how long-standing linked but unsolved murder cases were resolved by checking genetic material found at some of the crime scenes against online…
The Security Usability Challenge
Everyone wants to be more secure. They want their browsing, their money, their utilities, and their lives to be as safe as possible. When you ask users of any service…