coronavirus Archives : PIA VPN Blog

Aug 26, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

As privacy problems continue to pile up for DNA databases, Covid-19 introduces a major new risk

Two years ago, Privacy News Online warned that the growing number of large-scale DNA databases were likely to become a serious threat to people’s privacy. Sadly, things have not improved since then. The increasing police use of DNA sites to find suspects for serious crimes, as described in that post, led one of the leaders … Continue reading “As privacy problems continue to pile up for DNA databases, Covid-19 introduces a major new risk”

Jul 29, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Surveillance,

Key questions raised about algorithmic transparency by new GDPR case brought against Uber by its drivers

Back in 2017, this blog noted a new threat to privacy from the increasing use of workplace surveillance. Once people’s work is quantified automatically, it can then be used for algorithmic management, as we described this year. The coronavirus lockdown has led to millions of people working from home for the first time. As well … Continue reading “Key questions raised about algorithmic transparency by new GDPR case brought against Uber by its drivers”

Jul 2, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

After exaggerated claims about their importance, here’s the reality of contact tracing apps

Back in February, this blog was one of the first to warn that the obvious technological response to the coronavirus – the use of contact tracing apps – raised important privacy questions. Since then, both the apps and their implications have been the subject of debate around the world. That’s particularly the case for the … Continue reading “After exaggerated claims about their importance, here’s the reality of contact tracing apps”

Jun 5, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News,

Time to embrace federated analytics – it’s no privacy panacea, but probably the closest we will get to one for many situations

A couple of weeks ago, a post on this blog explained how the OpenSAFELY project allowed trusted analysts to run large-scale computation across live pseudonymized patient records inside the data centre of the electronic health records software company. At a time when the world is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, that’s a hugely important task, … Continue reading “Time to embrace federated analytics – it’s no privacy panacea, but probably the closest we will get to one for many situations”

May 23, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments,

OpenSAFELY: more proof that tackling the coronavirus pandemic does not require privacy to be compromised

In recent weeks, there has been an intense focus on the use of contact tracing apps as a way to emerge safely from the lockdowns that are in place around the world. A key question is whether to use a centralized or de-centralized architecture. After some division, the balance has firmly swung towards the latter, … Continue reading “OpenSAFELY: more proof that tackling the coronavirus pandemic does not require privacy to be compromised”

May 6, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Growing storm over UK’s coronavirus tracing app shows how not to do it

As this blog noted a couple of weeks ago, many governments around the world are looking to introduce coronavirus tracing apps to help take their countries out of lockdown. The hope is that such apps can be used by millions of people to pinpoint potential new cases of Covid-19 so that medical interventions can be … Continue reading “Growing storm over UK’s coronavirus tracing app shows how not to do it”

Apr 28, 2020 |
Caleb Chen |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News,

How to avoid Coronavirus scam websites, calls, and texts

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the best – and worst – in human society. While people around the world have come together in solidarity to try and flatten the curve and front line essential workers are still keeping everyone fed, the scammers of the world have taken this as a golden opportunity to try … Continue reading “How to avoid Coronavirus scam websites, calls, and texts”

Apr 23, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

What’s the best approach for building Bluetooth-based tracing apps as a way out of the pandemic lockdowns?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, governments around the world are desperately trying to find a way to ease current lockdowns without triggering massive new waves of infection by Covid-19. There is a wide consensus that one promising element of any plan is the use of tracing apps. As this blog wrote back in March, the … Continue reading “What’s the best approach for building Bluetooth-based tracing apps as a way out of the pandemic lockdowns?”

Apr 15, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments,

Open source, open science: the coronavirus crisis is when openness comes into its own

Open source figures frequently on this blog. That’s in part because Private Internet Access is a long-time supporter of free software, and is in the process of open-sourcing its own software. But more generally, privacy is deeply bound up with open source, for reasons a recent post explained. The importance of open source in the … Continue reading “Open source, open science: the coronavirus crisis is when openness comes into its own”

Apr 8, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

OK Zoomer: avoiding a privacy disaster in the post-coronavirus world

It would be an understatement to say that Covid-19 has affected practically every aspect of our lives, given the scale of the transformation. Its impact on privacy, too, is evident. Last week, this blog wrote about a rush by governments around the world to use smartphones to help enforce quarantines and carry out contact tracing. … Continue reading “OK Zoomer: avoiding a privacy disaster in the post-coronavirus world”