Facebook faces lawsuit for spying on Instagram users with camera
Facebook is facing a lawsuit which alleges that the Instagram app spied on users through their cameras. Earlier this year, an update to iOS which included privacy warnings when an…
Social Media
Web sites shared over 100 trillion pieces of our personal data last year: time to stop real-time bidding’s blatant disregard of privacy
Last week Privacy News Online wrote about developments in the long-running battle between the privacy campaigner Max Schrems and Facebook. One of the key issues there is the failure by…
Starting Sunday, TikTok and WeChat banned in US: American users will need a VPN
The United States government has officially banned TikTok and WeChat from American phones, citing national security concerns. Starting Sunday, September the 20th, TikTok and WeChat will no longer be allowed…
Google is removing Fediverse apps from the Play Store because they can be used to access hate speech
A growing number of mobile apps meant to access the Fediverse are facing removal from the Google Play Store. According to user reports, recently notified or removed apps include Husky,…
Unsecured Social Data database leaks 235 million public profiles from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube
Researchers from Comparitech have discovered yet another unsecured database which has leaked 235 million records to the world. The records include hundreds of millions from Instagram, forty some million from…
Max Schrems files 101 complaints across 30 European countries to turbocharge GDPR’s impact – and he’s not the only one
Last month, Privacy News Online discussed another major win for the privacy activist Max Schrems. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the EU's top court, agreed with…
Instagram faces $500 billion lawsuit for gathering facial biometrics data without consent
A new class action lawsuit in the state of Illinois is trying to bring Facebook to task for illegally harvesting biometrics data, specifically facial recognition data or a “face template.”…
Reddit and Linkedin apps also caught copying and pasting clipboard contents
Linkedin and Reddit both check your clipboard and copy and paste your clipboard contents with every keystroke - even when you’re in another app. Another set of potential privacy violators…
TikTok seems to be copying and pasting your clipboard with every keystroke
A new privacy feature in iOS 14 has revealed that TikTok is copying the contents of your clipboard with every keystroke. The new feature - called paste notifications - shows…
Facebook reversed cryptocurrency ad policy ahead of Libra announcement
Facebook, the social media platform used by billions, had banned cryptocurrency related ads for a year and a half starting in January of 2018. During this time period, Facebook’s ad…