Privacy is a growing concern in today’s world. Follow along with all our coverage related to privacy, security, what Apple and other companies are doing to keep your information safe, and what steps you can take to keep your information private.
Security researchers have found a surprising method for exposing location data in otherwise secure messaging apps WhatsApp, Signal, and Threema.
While the method sounds imprecise, tests showed that it provided greater than 80% reliability …
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A security researcher back in August found a significant flaw in iOS VPN apps, and a second researcher has now demonstrated another major issue.
The first problem was that opening a VPN app should close all existing connections, but didn’t. The second is that many Apple apps send private data outside the VPN tunnel, including Health (above) and Wallet …
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A new report reveals that Pegasus spyware was used in Mexico after the president expressly said that the government no longer used the malware.
It was used to capture data from the phones of two journalists specialising in reporting on government corruption, as well as a prominent human rights defender …
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We imagine no 9to5Mac reader needs to be told to use two-factor authentication (2FA) security wherever possible, but how do you know which websites support it … ?
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One of the important new features in iOS 16 is Safety Check. Designed as a tool for those at risk for domestic abuse or similar situations, Safety Check for iPhone lets users immediately revoke location access others have – including apps – and also walks through a security review.
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Meta is facing a class action lawsuit after both Facebook and Instagram were found to be using an App Tracking Transparency workaround to track users on the web, even after they were denied permission to do so.
The company is accused not just of breaking Apple’s privacy rules, but also violating both state and federal laws …
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An Uber hacker who has gained access to a number of the company’s internal systems, including its Slack channels, claims to have full control of the company’s cloud-based servers and more. This includes the company’s servers on both Amazon Web Services and Google’s GSuite.
Incredibly, the attack appears to have mimicked the one back in 2016, which compromised the personal data of 57 million. This suggests that Uber failed to fix a massive security hole, enabling the same attack to be made six years later …
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A report shows the average price of in-app purchase has increased 40% on iOS since last year, and one of the main reasons is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency function that it’s making it more expensive to reach the right users.
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Ring doorbell security has been a source of controversy for some time, but the company finally appears to be taking privacy issues seriously. It is now supporting end-to-end encryption of video footage for wireless as well as wired products.
The change will finally address security flaws which have been highlighted as far back as 2019 …
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There have been plenty of signs lately that the Apple ad business is growing fast, and that the company plans to turn it into a significant source of revenue. But while there is plenty of money to be made, some are accusing Apple of making a U-turn – and even Machiavellian-level plotting to take business from companies like Google and Facebook.
The latest report suggests that Apple has quadrupled its hires for ad roles in the past couple of years, and one research group has suggested the company’s ad business could be worth $30B a year by 2026 …
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We argued only this week that the sale of smartphone location data is out of control, and a new report today provides a perfect illustration. It found that location data was pulled from a number of popular smartphone apps for use by US police, without the knowledge of app users – or even the companies who created the apps.
Billions of location records from some 250 million phones were searched by more than 20 US government agencies, after the private data was purchased from a company called Fog Data Science…
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Major VPN services have shut down service in India, as there is no way to comply with a new law without breaching their own privacy protection standards.
The law also applies to iCloud Private Relay, but Apple has not yet commented on its own plans …
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A Californian bill colloquially known as the Kids’ Code has been unanimously passed by the State Senate, following earlier approval by the State Assembly. It now requires the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom to take effect.
The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act addresses a key loophole in the equivalent federal law, the much weaker Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 …
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The sale of location data sales has become both big business, and one of the biggest privacy threats in recent years. While the companies involved in this $14B industry claim that only aggregated and anonymized data is sold, numerous investigations have shown that this simply isn’t true.
Just yesterday, we learned that the Federal Trade Commission is suing a data broker that can identify people seeking abortions, and that it made samples of that data publicly available. In the past, we’ve seen how location data can reveal everything from where cops’ kids go to school to US troop movements in war zones …
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A DoorDash hack has been confirmed by the company, with full customer contact details exposed by the security breach: name, address, and phone numbers.
Separately, LastPass has also confirmed an attack on its own systems, but says it doesn’t believe that any user data was obtained …
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iPhone Lockdown Mode is an extreme form of security designed to protect people who might find themselves targets of state-sponsored spyware, like Pegasus. However, a privacy activist says it also makes it easy for a website to detect when someone is using it – and has demonstrated this.
So what is designed to be protection against rogue governments could actually end up helping them identify people who may be of interest …
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Apple holds privacy and security as two of its core values and it has detailed resources on how to protect your devices, accounts, and personal safety. Follow along for a look at the recommended steps to check who can see your iPhone location including how to make sure no one can track you.
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A DuckDuckGo Email Protection service was last year launched as a limited beta, with a waiting list for those wanting to use it. The waitlist is now gone, and anyone can get access to it right away.
The privacy-focused email forwarding service strips out trackers, and offers the ability to create disposable email addresses, all without changing your email provider – similar to Apple’s Hide My Email feature …
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Apple’s known for its push for privacy by stating this is a “fundamental human right.” Different from most Big Tech companies, Apple says it’s not a company driven by ads, which means it doesn’t need to collect your data to sell products. Now, a new study shows that, in fact, Apple is the company that collects less data compared to other companies.
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A Twitter investigation has been announced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, following claims of “extreme” security failings at the social network. The claims were made in an 84-page report by the company’s former head of security, Peiter Zatko.
Concerns have been expressed about the national security risks of bad actors being able to fake tweets from the accounts of world leaders and major media organizations …
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A Facebook privacy lawsuit looks likely to be settled after parent company Meta offered a total of $37.5M to settle claims by US users.
The lawsuit relates to Facebook tracking user locations even after they had switched off Location Services …
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Update: Elon Musk’s lawyers have now issued a subpoena to speak to Zatko about the claims.
Former Twitter security head Peiter Zatko has filed a formal complaint that the company has “extreme, egregious deficiencies” in its protections against hackers, and has done little to defeat spam.
He accuses the company of deceiving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), following promises made back in 2011 after hackers twice took full control of Twitter …
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The British government has backed a call by the country’s security services for client-side scanning for child sexual abuse material – aka Apple’s CSAM approach.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has written an op-ed in which she indicates government support for the stance, while also attacking Facebook’s plans to make all Messenger chats end-to-end encrypted by default …
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Spyware company NSO, whose Pegasus app can be used to give attackers almost full remote access to an iPhone, has announced that it is downsizing, and losing its CEO.
Bizarrely, the company argues that this is in order to prepare for growth …
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