• Nov 24, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • Censorship, General Privacy News, Governments, Online Privacy, Online Security, Social Media, Surveillance,

EFF Agrees: Protecting Privacy Is the Best Way to Address the Internet’s Biggest Problems

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is probably the best-known organization that’s fighting for digital rights. It’s just released a new report with a title that’s certain to interest the readers of this blog. Privacy First: A Better Way to Address Online Harms offers a wide-ranging look at some of the key problems in the online … Continue reading “EFF Agrees: Protecting Privacy Is the Best Way to Address the Internet’s Biggest Problems”

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  • Dec 16, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

If You Think Facebook is Bad for Privacy, Wait Until You See Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse

Since Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be rebranded as Meta to emphasize a new focus on virtual reality (VR), it has been hard to avoid hearing about the “metaverse”. It’s surprising that the idea has been picked up in such a big way, since it is hardly new. The concept of the metaverse — … Continue reading “If You Think Facebook is Bad for Privacy, Wait Until You See Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse”

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  • Sep 3, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Apple Has Betrayed Its Privacy Legacy – and Will Undermine End-to-end Encryption Everywhere

Apple is a company that has always made much of its commitment to privacy, and has succeeded in turning it into a unique selling point of its products. That proud history made a recent announcement all the more shocking. Nobody could deny that Apple’s Expanded Protections for Children are motivated by the best intentions, and … Continue reading “Apple Has Betrayed Its Privacy Legacy – and Will Undermine End-to-end Encryption Everywhere”

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  • Feb 10, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy

This blog has written a number of times about the growing threat that low-cost, rapid DNA sequencing represents for privacy. The increased use of genetic material by the police to identify suspects poses particular problems. A recent case in the US involving a DNA sample raises a new issue. Because of its importance, both the … Continue reading “Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy”

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  • Feb 6, 2021
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Social Media, Surveillance,

Time to get rid of pervasive online ad tracking once and for all: the alternative is simple, effective, and fully respects privacy

This blog has been pointing out for years the fundamental incompatibility between privacy and the current online advertising model. Today, most Web sites seek to gather as much personal information about visitors as possible, and then sell advertisers access based on people’s data. Until recently, there has been little effort to change that system. The … Continue reading “Time to get rid of pervasive online ad tracking once and for all: the alternative is simple, effective, and fully respects privacy”

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  • Nov 24, 2020
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Amazon’s Ring moves even closer to becoming the perfect urban police surveillance system

Back in July last year, this blog wrote about Amazon’s Ring series, whose key product is a small Internet-connected camera built into a doorbell. At that time, it was already clear that the system posed a serious threat to privacy, particularly in the urban context. Since then, there has been a massive rise in the … Continue reading “Amazon’s Ring moves even closer to becoming the perfect urban police surveillance system”

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  • Aug 5, 2020
  • Glyn Moody
  • Censorship, General Privacy News, Governments,

Turkey takes Germany’s “hate speech” law, and makes it much worse with its own censorship and data localization rules

Last month we wrote about France’s “hate speech” law, and noted that it followed in the footsteps of the earlier German law known as NetzDG (short for “Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz”, or network enforcement law). NetzDG was bad news not just for German freedom of speech, but for human rights around the world, because of its knock-on effects. … Continue reading “Turkey takes Germany’s “hate speech” law, and makes it much worse with its own censorship and data localization rules”

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  • Jul 8, 2020
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

Brazil plans to bring in a “fake news” law, with serious implications for everyone’s privacy, no matter where they live

The world’s attention is rightly focused on the terrible new National Security Law in Hong Kong. But, as ever, there are bad things happening to human rights elsewhere as well. For example, in Brazil a new law that supposedly deals with “fake news” is close to being passed. That’s problematic in itself; but as so … Continue reading “Brazil plans to bring in a “fake news” law, with serious implications for everyone’s privacy, no matter where they live”

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