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.
The Apple CSAM controversy doesn’t appear to be going away, as a British children’s charity accused the company of under-reporting incidents on its platforms.
However, the report appears to be based at least in part on a failure to understand how end-to-end encryption works …
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A report on J.D. Vance, Trump’s pick for the VP ticket, is the latest pointer to a continuing privacy fail in which Venmo connections and transactions are public by default …
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Leaked documents reveal that Cellebrite can’t unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 and later, at least as of the date of publication (April 2024). The company has confirmed that the documents are genuine.
Cellebrite devices, which are widely used by law enforcement agencies, can crack most Android phones, though there are exceptions …
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Apple isn’t the only company preferring a privacy-respecting on-device approach to artificial intelligence: Tinder AI processing will use the same approach to pick your most attractive photos for use in the dating app …
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More details are coming to light about the AT&T hack, which saw the personal data of around 110M customers compromised – including records of who they called and texted.
It’s reported that the carrier made a Bitcoin ransom payment in return for the hacker deleting the data, and that public disclosure of the security breach was delayed for two months in response to a request from the FBI …
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A long-standing Signal encryption key vulnerability in the company’s desktop apps is finally being fixed. The fix will fully secure the Mac app, but the company will only be able to offer a compromise solution for the Windows version …
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A massive AT&T data breach has seen hackers able to steal the personal data of almost every customer the company has – a total of some 110 million Americans.
In an incredible security fail, the stolen data includes not only customer phone numbers, but also records of who contacted whom – a potential privacy minefield …
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Apple has warned a significant number of iPhone users across 98 countries that they appear to have been targeted by “mercenary spyware attacks” which could compromise almost all the personal data on their devices.
The company says it can never be 100% certain in its conclusions, but has a high degree of confidence that it is correct, and urges message recipients to take the security warning seriously …
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A previously unreported lawsuit regarding hidden cameras in Airbnb properties reveals that the company generated 35,000 support tickets by customers complaining about surveillance devices …
See company response at the end
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Scams like phishing and social engineering are continuing to grow with some specifically targeting Apple users. With that in mind, Apple has shared a new support document with official tips on how to protect your Apple ID and other online accounts, how to spot and report scam emails, calls, and more.
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Apple Intelligence privacy is stronger than that of any other AI company, but even its security protections aren’t perfect once ChatGPT gets involved.
That’s the argument made by the security chief at Inrupt, the privacy-focused company co-founded by the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee …
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An attacker has obtained the phone numbers of 33 million users of the popular 2FA security app Authy, exposing them to an increased risk of phishing attacks.
Developer Twilio has confirmed the claim, and asked customers to take two precautions …
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Some Wise customer data was likely to have been obtained by the hackers behind the Evolve data breach back in May.
Multiple additional fintech firms may also be affected by the cybersecurity attack, and it’s possible that personal data may be leaked if companies refuse to give in to ransom demands …
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If there’s one type of company you definitely don’t want to see left vulnerable to hackers it’s an identity verification service with access to photo ID documents like driver’s licenses – but that’s exactly what appears to have happened with AU10TIX.
The cybersecurity company’s past or present clients include PayPal, Coinbase, X, TikTok, Uber, LinkedIn, Upwork, and Fiverr …
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As Meta ramps up its efforts to stay competitive in an industry dominated by artificial intelligence, users are becoming increasingly concerned after a significant update to its privacy policy. Beginning June 26, if you post or interact with chatbots on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, or WhatsApp, Meta may use your data to train its generative AI models–but you may be able to opt out depending on where you live.
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Both the EU and Australia have backed down on separate proposals to force tech companies to carry out CSAM scanning within messaging apps, which would have meant breaking end-to-end encryption.
It’s the latest development in the ongoing battle between tech companies and politicians who don’t understand how encryption works …
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Following up on advanced sharing options landing for Proton Drive last week, the company is out with its latest update today for iOS users. Its end-to-end encrypted Proton Drive app for iPhone now offers automatic photo and video backup to securely store and protect your most important memories.
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Sonos is probably wishing its only controversy was an app redesign. Today the company is receiving a lot of heat for a revision to its privacy policy that introduced a major policy reversal with the removal of a single line.
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A research paper explicitly says that Apple doesn’t use your data to train Apple Intelligence. This differs from OpenAI’s policy, which does use your ChatGPT sessions to help train its model.
However, Apple says that it does scrape websites for content via Applebot, and website owners must explicitly opt-out if they don’t want this to happen …
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A South Korean regulator has said that Apple collected user location data without consent, and fined the company 210 million won (around $153k) for a privacy violation.
Apple was one of 188 companies found to have violated the Act on the Protection and Use of Location Information …
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Apple Intelligence privacy is a key differentiator for the company’s own AI initiative, with the company taking a three-step approach to safeguard personal data.
But Apple says we won’t have to take the company’s word for it: It is taking an “extraordinary step” to enable third-party security researchers to fully and independently verify the privacy protections in place …
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Today at WWDC 2024, Apple introduced a slew of new iPhone features that will be available on all compatible devices later this Fall. While Apple Intelligence and enhanced customization were among the most heavily showcased, iOS 18 will also introduce some nice new privacy features, including improved Contacts permissions, the ability to lock and hide apps, Private Cloud Compute, a standalone Passwords app, and more.
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Microsoft Recall sounded like a very cool idea, but was very quickly revealed to be a security disaster. Instead of helping you recall everything you’ve done on your Windows PC, it was found that it could easily help a hacker do the same.
However, as much as the company messed-up the implementation, I do think there’s mileage in the concept, and if there’s one company I’d trust to do it with proper privacy protections, it’s Apple …
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A Frontier hack exposed the personal data of at least 750,000 customers, including full names and social security numbers, which places them at significant risk of identity theft. The ransomware group said to be behind the attack claims that the actual number is two million.
The company has now notified the customers it believes to have been impacted by the security breach, but waited almost two months to do so …
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