ACLU sues to find out how the FBI is breaking into encrypted devices
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has the ability to break into encrypted phones and laptops, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing so that the public can…
The widening SolarWinds debacle shows why the reckless idea of backdooring encryption must be dropped forever
The SolarWinds hack is the most serious breach of governmental and corporate security in years, perhaps the most serious breach ever - at least among those that we know about.…
Proposed FinCEN regulation would create financial surveillance net for cryptocurrency transactions
On December 18th, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a proposed regulation seeking to increase financial surveillance of cryptocurrency transactions. Note that the introduction date and…
IMF suggests that your credit score could be based on your internet history
The fast growing world of fintech may eventually develop to the point where your credit score is based on your internet history. A new blogpost on the International Monetary Fund…
Protect Our Civil Liberties Act would repeal Patriot Act, FISA Amendments Act, and ban encryption backdoors
Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) are cosponsoring a bipartisan bill titled the Protect Our Civil Liberties Act (H.R. 8970). If passed, the Act would repeal the…
Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: December 18, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ1qcj7cVoE Featured: Privacy News Online - Week of December 18th, 2020 WhatsApp calls Apple’s new privacy nutrition labels for iOS 14 anti-competitive Facebook’s WhatsApp messenger has taken a public stance…
ACLU sues Baltimore PD for lying about aerial mass surveillance program
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed suit against the Baltimore Police Department (BDP) to end the use of spy planes for an invasive aerial surveillance campaign that has…
Should we worry about the possibility of police surveillance using autonomous drones with added AI ? Too late: it’s already here
A couple of weeks ago, Privacy News Online wrote about France's controversial Global Security Law. One striking element was the authorization of drones for routine police surveillance. These particular "eyes…
Private Internet Access launches dedicated IP address option
The Private Internet Access (PIA) NextGen VPN Network keeps getting better. PIA is announcing the release of its dedicated IP address feature. This feature has been widely requested. We are…
Reviewers call the Amazon Halo wearable the “most invasive we’ve ever tested”
The preliminary feedback from initial reviewers of Amazon’s wearable Halo band is in: namely that the Amazon Halo band is “the most invasive tech we’ve ever tested.” How invasive could…
Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: December 11, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i40Oe1wIiNk Featured: Privacy News Online - Week of December 11th, 2020 The US government admits to using the Patriot Act to collect web browsing information The Director of National Intelligence…
WhatsApp calls Apple’s new privacy nutrition labels for iOS 14 anti-competitive
Facebook’s WhatsApp is publicly protesting Apple’s privacy nutrition labels, calling the privacy labels “anti-competitive.” WhatsApp wishes its iOS users to know that the messaging app isn’t as privacy violating as…
New report shows Google tracks 80% of the Web, with Amazon likely to overtake Facebook as second-worst privacy threat
It's no secret that practically every Web page we visit is infested with trackers. On its own, that would be bad enough. But most trackers are used in order to…
Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: December 4, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8DdL4nDO1I Featured: Privacy News Online - Week of December 4th, 2020 Amazon’s Ring moves even closer to becoming the perfect urban police surveillance system The increased prevalence of Amazon’s Ring…
The US government admits to using the Patriot Act to collect web browsing information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78AF0YFX210 Letters between the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Senator Ron Wyden confirm that the United States government has used Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect web…