All posts tagged: privacy

It Takes 2 Minutes to Hack the EU’s New Age-Verification App

It Takes 2 Minutes to Hack the EU’s New Age-Verification App

Published by skeptic

Planning a big night out at Madison Square Garden? Have fun—but don’t say we didn’t warn you. A WIRED investigation this week revealed new details about the private surveillance state instituted by MSG owner Jim Dolan and his head of security, John Eversole. According to court records and WIRED sources, visitors to the Garden and some other Dolan-owned venues have been subjected to face recognition, social media monitoring, in-person surveillance, and more. The US government’s warrantless wiretap powers hit a roadblock this week. Despite a push from President Donald Trump for a long-term reauthorization of the so-called Section 702 spy program, 20 Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted against a full reauthorization, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to merely extend the program for an additional 10 days. Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley AI smartglasses have an image problem—for good reason. More than 70 civil society groups, including the ACLU and the National Organization for Women, sent a letter to the company this week, demanding that it abandon any plans it may have to equip its …

US Congress extends controversial surveillance power under FISA for 10 days | Privacy News

US Congress extends controversial surveillance power under FISA for 10 days | Privacy News

Published by Sam Flores

The measure has long been criticised for allowing US intelligence agencies to collect citizen data without a warrant. Published On 17 Apr 202617 Apr 2026 The United States Congress has temporarily extended a controversial surveillance law which allows federal intelligence agencies to collect the data of foreigners, including their contacts with US citizens. The move allows a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to continue until April 30. The short-term extension was passed by the House of Representatives and approved by the Senate on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The patch comes after President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a more lasting extension broke down. Section 702 of FISA allows the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence services to collect data from foreigners outside of the country. That could include their interactions with US citizens, a prospect that has alarmed rights advocates. Collecting such data, which can include correspondence on email and telecommunications platforms, typically requires a warrant approved by a court. The process has been described by …

Republican Mutiny Sinks Trump’s Push to Extend Warrantless Surveillance

Republican Mutiny Sinks Trump’s Push to Extend Warrantless Surveillance

Published by skeptic

House Speaker Mike Johnson convened a vote in the dead of night on Friday, calling lawmakers back to the floor after midnight in a push to preserve a surveillance program that allows federal agents to read the communications of Americans without a warrant. Twenty Republicans broke ranks and sank it, a sharp rebuke of both Johnson and President Donald Trump, who had spent the week personally working holdouts to back the bill. The failed vote caps weeks of bipartisan resistance to a clean reauthorization of the surveillance program, authorized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The 702 program permits wiretaps of communications ostensibly belonging to foreigners overseas, but is also known to intercept vast amounts of Americans’ emails, texts, phone calls, and other data—private messages that the FBI and other agencies routinely access without a warrant. Congressional authorization for the program will expire on Tuesday. The White House and GOP leadership have spent weeks pressing for a “clean” reauthorization, fending off a bipartisan alliance of House Freedom Caucus Republicans and progressive Democrats …

The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine

The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine

Published by skeptic

If those posts could be interpreted in any way as threats, Eversole would contact their hometown police, multiple security team sources say. “He would take it upon himself to reach out to someone somewhere and introduce himself as the CSO of Madison Square Garden and demand that the local PD take action,” the security veteran adds. One teenager posted a tweet, and MSG security asked local law enforcement to visit him. “They scared the crap [poop emoji] out of some 14 year old kid in Colorado,” one MSG security staffer texted in a message we reviewed. Cops would at times ignore Eversole’s demands. He and his deputies would then “freak the fuck out when a PD somewhere would not play ball,” the second veteran continues. Eversole would also allegedly push his subordinates to act more like municipal cops. He’d urge them to patrol the streets surrounding MSG, which is located in one of Manhattan’s more derelict neighborhoods, functionally acting as a second, ersatz police force—without formal permission of New York’s real one. “On many occasions, …

ChatGPT Increases Data Collection by 70%: 2026 Privacy Report

ChatGPT Increases Data Collection by 70%: 2026 Privacy Report

Published by skeptic

A recent analysis by Surfshark highlights a striking 70% increase in data collection practices among AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, over the past year. Notably, ChatGPT now gathers 17 out of 35 possible data types, ranging from search history to health metrics, marking a significant expansion from prior years. This shift reflects a broader industry trend, with 70% of AI chatbots now collecting user location data compared to just 40% a year ago. While these practices are often justified as essential for improving functionality and personalization, they also raise critical questions about privacy and the potential misuse of sensitive information. Explore how this growing reliance on data impacts users and the broader AI landscape. This overview will examine key findings from the study, including which platforms collect the most data and how these practices vary across the industry. Gain insight into the ethical concerns surrounding data storage and regulatory compliance, particularly for platforms like DeepSeek that operate outside established privacy frameworks. By understanding these dynamics, you can better navigate the evolving relationship between AI technologies and …

Swiss Privacy Goes Global: Proton VPN Grows Coverage to 145 Countries

Swiss Privacy Goes Global: Proton VPN Grows Coverage to 145 Countries

Published by skeptic

Privacy in the digital age is more important than ever, and using a strong VPN can help keep your internet behavior safe from prying eyes. We write a lot about VPNs, and one provider has been making moves over the past two weeks to expand its global coverage.  Proton VPN is the privacy tool in question, and the Swiss-based company’s network, which has the best free VPN option on the market, now spans roughly 20,000 servers across 145 countries — with new server locations in Lebanon, Nicaragua, Gabon, Papua New Guinea, Kyrgyzstan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — making it the top provider on our best VPN list for worldwide coverage.  VPNs, or virtual private networks, operate by masking your actual IP address with one from a remote server, allowing you to disguise your location and keep your internet activity secure. There are a multitude of ways a VPN can enhance your experience, whether you’re looking to access streaming titles from another country or get around oppressive government firewalls that can block important …

Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here

Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here

Published by skeptic

The European online age verification app is ready. The app works with passports or ID cards, is built to be “completely anonymous” for the people who use it, works on any device (smartphones, tablets, and PCs), and is open source. “Best of all, online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app, so there are no more excuses,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Wednesday. “Europe offers a free and easy-to-use solution that can protect our children from harmful and illegal content.” High Expectations “It is our duty to protect our children in the online world just as we do in the offline world. And to do that effectively, we need a harmonized European approach,” von der Leyen said at Wednesday’s press conference. “And one of the central issues is the question, how can we ensure a technical solution for age verification that is valid throughout Europe? Today, I can announce that we have the answer.” This answer takes the form of an open source app that …

David and Victoria Beckham quietly win privacy battle amid ongoing Brooklyn fallout

David and Victoria Beckham quietly win privacy battle amid ongoing Brooklyn fallout

Published by Daniella Wilson

David and Victoria Beckham are quietly celebrating a privacy win after having planning permission granted for new measures at their impressive farmhouse in the Cotswolds. The couple has been given the go-ahead for a forest to be planted to shield their property from prying eyes. The plans detail that there will be 79 trees and a wildflower meadow created at their property, as reported by the Daily Mail. At first, the proposal to the West Oxfordshire District Council was met with neighbourhood backlash, but ultimately, the Beckhams won the fight. This follows changes to their private driveway, which had already been granted. Both measures are to ensure heightened privacy and security after a few burglary scares. © InstagramDavid and Victoria have created a lake at their stunning property Beckham break-in scare  The A-list family have had attempted break-ins at both their London and Cotswolds properties, meaning they have stepped up protocol around each estate to ensure their family and homes are protected.  Celebrity homes are often targeted by thieves, firstly due to the high-value belongings …

Online age checks are coming in Europe – POLITICO

Online age checks are coming in Europe – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Gaining momentum Von der Leyen’s announcement — although technical — is indicative of the huge momentum behind social media bans to keep kids and teenagers away from platforms and their addictive algorithms. Seven countries that had already been working on their own apps in coordination with the EU will deploy their versions by the end of the year, the senior Commission official said: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain. The app gives people three ways to prove their age: passports, national IDs and a third way dubbed a “QR code” under which a trusted provider such as a school or a bank can attest to a user’s age. The application will then store the information as to whether the user is over 13, 15 or 18 years of age without retaining other data, the Commission official said. Online services, like adult content sites or social media, can then call on the app to check if a user is over a certain age. Von der Leyen will present the solution to EU leaders on …

A data removal service helped me reclaim my privacy – see if you need one, too

A data removal service helped me reclaim my privacy – see if you need one, too

Published by skeptic

Kerry Wan/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Personal data is widely collected and sold by data brokers, mostly without our knowledge. Manual takedowns are impractical, which is where data removal services come in.  These services can remove huge amounts of sensitive information from the internet. There’s an uncomfortable amount of our personal information floating around the internet, much of it collected by data brokers. Phone numbers, home addresses, and email addresses are just the tip of the iceberg that these companies collect, package, and sell.  Much of this information comes from social media platforms, apps, and online services that routinely gather user data, and then feeds into a sprawling ecosystem that profits off knowing everything about you. In some other cases, those details come from major breaches. Also: Your router may be vulnerable to Russian hackers, FBI warns: 5 steps to take now Don’t want it out there? Sure, it’s possible to remove this information yourself by contacting data brokers directly and requesting its removal. But the sheer number …