Privacy News Online | Weekly Review: October 2, 2020

Featured: Privacy News Online – Week of October 2nd, 2020

Russia wants to outlaw TLS 1.3, ESNI, DNS over HTTPS, and DNS over TLS

A newly released draft law by the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media takes aim at popular encryption technologies that keep the internet secure and private. The law specifically calls out TLS 1.3, ESNI, DNS over HTTPS, and DNS over TLS as increasingly used encryption technologies which Russia wants out of the picture. If passed, the law could be used to block Russian access to a large portion of the internet.

Web sites shared over 100 trillion pieces of our personal data last year: time to stop real-time bidding’s blatant disregard of privacy

New evidence has been released by Johnny Ryan that showcases just how much real time bidding on ads disregards privacy rights. With real time bidding, Google sends personal data about internet activity to hundreds of advertising companies, and there’s no way to prevent this data from leaking. An ongoing case in front of the Irish Data Protection Commission seeks to stop Google from sending this data to real-time bidders, but the case is moving too slowly.

Facebook faces lawsuit for spying on Instagram users with camera

Facebook is being sued after iOS 14 revealed that the Instagram app accessed the camera unexpectedly. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook violated wiretapping laws, two-party consent laws, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by using the camera to help target ads. Initially, Facebook claimed that the camera was turning on due to a bug in the Instagram app that has since been fixed but has otherwise not commented on the lawsuit.

More Privacy News This Week:

RCMP spied on Canadian nationalist committee as it pushed pro-independence agenda

A new poll by KPMG highlights that people do leave companies that fall victim to data breaches. The same poll also showed that 90% would be leery about giving personal information to a company that has had a publicized data breach before. It’s important to note that the poll only had about 2000 respondents but that being said, the trend seems clear. Take cybersecurity seriously or end up losing customers.

Ring’s Flying In-Home Camera Drone Escalates Privacy Worries

Amazon’s Ring wants to move the camera from outside your door to inside your home. Ring recently unveiled plans for an in-home drone that can fly on predetermined paths in your house to show you video of the inside of your house when you aren’t home. That way, you can check if you forgot to close the window, turn off the stove, etc. Privacy experts are understandably worried. Alexa, stop flying!

Students Are Pushing Back Against Proctoring Surveillance Apps

With so many classes being online due to the pandemic, schools are using spyware to check that students aren’t cheating when they take their exams. These apps record video, analyze network traffic, and generally violate the privacy of students at home. Students from universities and colleges around the world are pushing back against their use. Several universities have already moved away from third party proctoring apps due to student pushback.

New ‘Alien’ malware can steal passwords from 226 Android apps

Android malware known as “Alien” attempts to steal passwords from more than 200 apps. The malware’s primary target is banking apps, and it also goes after credentials for cryptocurrency, messaging, and social media apps. The malware usually gets onto Android devices when victims download fake updater or coronavirus-related apps, but it can also spread via SMS and Trojanized apps in the Google Play store.

Microsoft, Italy, and the Netherlands warn of increased Emotet activity

Meanwhile, Windows malware known as Emotet has recently had a resurgence. PCs infected with Emotet send spam that spreads the infection via password-protected attachments. PNO viewers and listeners can stay protected with Intego’s PC (or Mac) protection software; for a special discount, use the link in the episode description.

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Special thanks to Intego

Thank you to Josh Long, our cybersecurity correspondent from Intego, makers of award-winning security software.