• Sep 8, 2023
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News, Governments, Online Privacy, Online Security, Social Media, Surveillance,

UK Government Halts Plans to Break End-to-End Encryption, but Privacy Risks Remain

A new law is about to be passed in the UK that will have a serious negative knock-on effect around the world. It’s part of a wider move by governments to force internet companies to break end-to-end encryption and undermine global privacy. We first reported on the UK’s Online Safety Bill two years ago. Since … Continue reading “UK Government Halts Plans to Break End-to-End Encryption, but Privacy Risks Remain”

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  • Dec 20, 2022
  • Glyn Moody
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News, Online Privacy, Social Media,

Apple Updates: Better iCloud Security

Apple has made two important announcements that will enhance privacy for its users, and that could have important beneficial knock-on effects around the world: While the first would have been a terrible setback for individual privacy, the second… is the very opposite. Most notably, governments and official authorities around the world are pushing back against … Continue reading “Apple Updates: Better iCloud Security”

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  • Mar 26, 2020
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

Coronavirus delays the passage of the world’s most important new privacy law

For obvious and justified reasons, the coronavirus pandemic dominates the news currently. One of the latest developments is that India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has put his entire country on lockdown. Ordering 1.35 billion people to stay indoors is a pretty dramatic move. A side-effect of that lockdown is that one of the most important … Continue reading “Coronavirus delays the passage of the world’s most important new privacy law”

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  • Feb 13, 2020
  • Caleb Chen
  • Censorship, Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, VPN,

The Indian government is reportedly cracking down on VPN usage in Jammu & Kashmir

Safwat Zargar described the situation on the ground in Jammu & Kashmir in an article on Scroll.in, highlighting that the government is taking drastic new steps to limit internet access. Specifically, they are targeting VPN users. The Army stops citizens and checks their phones for VPN applications while the internet service providers (ISPs) in the … Continue reading “The Indian government is reportedly cracking down on VPN usage in Jammu & Kashmir”

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  • Dec 20, 2019
  • Caleb Chen
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

Indian government is shutting down internet access in major cities in an attempt to disrupt democracy

Millions of Indian citizens are currently without internet access as the Indian government has taken the controversial move of shutting down internet access in major cities around the country. NDTV reports that the Special Branch of the Delhi Police, under the direction of the Indian Government’s Ministry of Home Affairs, sent a letter to internet … Continue reading “Indian government is shutting down internet access in major cities in an attempt to disrupt democracy”

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  • Nov 1, 2019
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Beyond Aadhaar: India wants to create a giant centralized facial recognition database

Two years ago, Privacy News Online wrote about Aadhaar, India’s billion-person biometric database, used to check identity, and its potential to become the world’s biggest privacy disaster. Barely six months after that post, it emerged that access to the Aadhaar database could be bought very cheaply, as reported here by the Indian newspaper The Tribune: … Continue reading “Beyond Aadhaar: India wants to create a giant centralized facial recognition database”

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  • Mar 16, 2019
  • Glyn Moody
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

Don’t be fooled: the main beneficiary of Mark Zuckerberg’s apparent embrace of privacy is Facebook, not you

Last week, you could have been forgiven for thinking that privacy had finally arrived. Mark Zuckerberg published a 3000-word essay entitled “A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking“, and wrote: As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today’s open platforms. Privacy gives … Continue reading “Don’t be fooled: the main beneficiary of Mark Zuckerberg’s apparent embrace of privacy is Facebook, not you”

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  • Dec 21, 2018
  • Caleb Chen
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

India now allows government agencies to “intercept, monitor, and decrypt” citizens’ computers

On December 21st, 2018, India expanded its governmental spying powers to an unprecedented level – granting ten new agencies the government writ to “intercept, monitor, and decrypt” data from Indian citizens. The specific law that was expanded was Section 69 of the nation’s IT Act from the year 2000. The Ministry of Home Affairs tried to … Continue reading “India now allows government agencies to “intercept, monitor, and decrypt” citizens’ computers”

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  • Aug 10, 2017
  • Caleb Chen
  • Censorship, Copyright, General Privacy News, Governments,

India blocks the Internet Archive Wayback Machine in censorship overstep

The hugely popular internet tool, the Wayback Machine by the Internet Archive, has been blocked by an Indian court order. India has a long history of blocking sites that are not illegal. Previous targets for internet service provider (ISP) level blocking include WordPress and Github. Additionally, in certain regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, the … Continue reading “India blocks the Internet Archive Wayback Machine in censorship overstep”

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