privacy

Apple recently explained how it will comply with an App Store age verification law in Texas, and it will now face a similar requirement in California.

Apple found a privacy-respecting approach to the Texas law, and it seems that it will be able to adopt a similar one here …

Security researchers at two US universities were able to intercept T-Mobile customer call and text data from completely unencrypted satellite communications.

Researchers were also able to eavesdrop on sensitive government communications, including US military and law enforcement agencies – and they did all of it using nothing more than an $800 off-the-shelf satellite receiver system …

We learned back in February that the British government had secretly ordered Apple to create a worldwide backdoor into iCloud. We said at the time that the demand was “as technically clueless as it is outrageous.”

Apple responded very intelligently, and it seemed from a development last month that the UK had withdrawn its demand. We’re learning today that this isn’t in fact the case …

A bizarre app that invites you to record and share your audio calls so that it can sell the data to AI companies has become the second most downloaded social app in the app store.

Neon Mobile says that users can sell their privacy for hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year by allowing their audio conversations to be used for AI training …

A TransUnion data breach has exposed sensitive personal information for millions of US consumers, including dates of birth and social security numbers.

However, reports of a major Gmail security problem affecting all 2.5 billion users are false, though loosely based on a far more contained incident back in June …

The UK has become the first major country to introduce a legal requirement for internet age verification, but it affects all websites and apps worldwide. Additionally, the US has recently revived a bill very similar to the British legislation.

While the law was presented as a way to prevent children accessing adult websites, the reality is very different, and we’re already seeing the privacy risks of good intentions being turned into bad legislation – with iMessage and FaceTime in the firing line …

The company behind encrypted email service Proton Mail has today launched a new freemium AI chatbot which promises that your chats will remain completely private.

Proton Lumo offers five protections it says aren’t matched by any of the existing mainstream AI services like ChatGPT and Gemini, and has even thrown shade at Apple Intelligence privacy …

More than 10,000 organizations around the world are at risk from hackers after a serious security flaw was discovered in Microsoft’s popular Sharepoint platform, used to store and share confidential documents. The majority of companies at risk are said to be in the US.

Update: Bloomberg reports that the National Nuclear Security Administration was among the organizations breached – see the end of the piece …

We learned earlier this year that the British government had secretly ordered Apple to create a backdoor into encrypted data for all iCloud users worldwide. Specifically, it wanted a way to see personal data protected by Apple’s introduction of Advanced Data Protection (ADP), which extended end-to-end encryption to almost all iCloud data, meaning not even the iPhone maker could access it.

Apple has been fighting the secret order in secret court hearings, but it now appears that the US government is using technology agreement negotiations to force Britain to back down …

An alleged Verizon data breach has seen hackers offering for sale a database of 61 million customer records, which includes personal information useful for both phishing attempts and identity theft.

Update: Verizon told us it has checked the data and it is not from its customers – see the end of the piece.

Update: Business Insider notes that Meta has now added a warning message when users share chat queries.

The Meta AI app has been described as “a privacy disaster,” as users unknowingly make their embarrassing questions public.

One tech writer described it as like discovering your web browser history has been public all along without you knowing it …