Category: Privacy

Online Privacy news and articles on the Privacy Online News blog from Private Internet Access VPN Service.

Russia’s Telegram Ban Is a Fiasco, and It’s Rendering Millions of IP Addresses Inaccessible

Russia officially began implementing its Telegram ban on Monday, and it has gone about as poorly as could be expected. Far from just blocking Telegram, which incurred the ire of Russia’s censors for refusing to provide intelligence agencies with encryption keys that would allow them to access private user data, Ars Technica reports that Russian … Continue reading “Russia’s Telegram Ban Is a Fiasco, and It’s Rendering Millions of IP Addresses Inaccessible”

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Thousands of Android Apps Are Violating Child Privacy Laws

Thousands of Android apps are violating a law designed to protect the privacy of children using internet-connected devices, research from the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) shows. Writing in a newly-published study, a group of ICSI researchers found that most Android apps targeted at children under 13 likely violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act … Continue reading “Thousands of Android Apps Are Violating Child Privacy Laws”

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China is breeding its population to select for governmental obedience in “Social Credit Score” program

Two and a half years ago, we were one of the first to write about China’s new “social credit score” program, which rewards obedient citizens and punishes rebellious can-do-betters. Two and a half year later, people are still missing the big picture of this program. China is introducing a new universal citizen rating, which is … Continue reading “China is breeding its population to select for governmental obedience in “Social Credit Score” program”

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Pavel Durov: A VPN Does Bypass Russia’s Telegram Ban

Telegram users in Russia will now need to install a VPN to ensure that they have uninterrupted access to the popular encrypted messaging app. On April 13, a Russian court levied an official ban against Telegram for refusing to hand over the service’s encryption keys to government intelligence services, which would have compromised the privacy … Continue reading “Pavel Durov: A VPN Does Bypass Russia’s Telegram Ban”

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Chinese Police use facial recognition to apprehend one person among crowd of 50,000

Chinese police have used automated face recognition cameras to identify and apprehend a fugitive among a stadium crowd of 50,000. This marks a decisive shift in the possibility to be anonymous in crowds, or even outdoors. The story in the South China Morning Post is short on details, but it does say that police was … Continue reading “Chinese Police use facial recognition to apprehend one person among crowd of 50,000”

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Rhode Island Lawmaker Pulls Porn Censorship Bill, Citing Its ‘Dubious Origins’

A Rhode Island lawmaker has a yanked a controversial porn censorship bill, citing its “dubious origins.” The “Human Trafficking and Prevention Act” (HTPA), versions of which are circulating in more than a dozen statehouses across the US, would require device manufacturers to install permanent internet filters that block pornographic content by default. To remove the … Continue reading “Rhode Island Lawmaker Pulls Porn Censorship Bill, Citing Its ‘Dubious Origins’”

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US Senators Introduce ‘Privacy Bill of Rights’ in Wake of Facebook Data-Harvesting Scandal

Two US senators have introduced a bill that seeks to establish a “privacy bill of rights” for American consumers and prohibit social media platforms and other websites from sharing or selling personal data without explicit user consent. The Customer Online Notification for Stopping Edge-provider Network Transgressions (CONSENT) Act, sponsored by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) … Continue reading “US Senators Introduce ‘Privacy Bill of Rights’ in Wake of Facebook Data-Harvesting Scandal”

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Microsoft and Facebook start intervening in private conversations. How long until they beep out unwanted parts in real time?

For the first time, a telecommunications provider is having opinions on the content of your conversations. This is unprecedented and a sharp deviation from all previous history. How long until digital phonecalls start beeping out unwanted topics? The series on “Analog Equivalent Privacy Rights” had barely finished until the next piece of WTF hit: Microsoft … Continue reading “Microsoft and Facebook start intervening in private conversations. How long until they beep out unwanted parts in real time?”

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Another day, another breach: At what point does storing passwords in plaintext become criminally negligent?

The third largest breach ever in Finland happened yesterday. Passwords were stored in plaintext. At T-Mobile Austria, they explain that of course they store the password in plaintext, but they have so good security so it’s nothing to worry about. At what point does this become criminally negligent? News of the Finnish breach (Google Translate) … Continue reading “Another day, another breach: At what point does storing passwords in plaintext become criminally negligent?”

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  • Apr 6, 2018 |
  • Josiah Wilmoth |
  • Governments, Networking, News, Privacy,

Brazil’s ISPs Earn Failing Grades on Data Privacy

Brazil’s internet service providers (ISPs) earn failing grades on data privacy, researchers say. Earlier this month, Brazilian independent research center InternetLab — in partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation — released its annual report on how ISPs approach the personal data of its customers. Each company received ratings in six categories: data processing, data disclosure … Continue reading “Brazil’s ISPs Earn Failing Grades on Data Privacy”

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