Privacy Blog

"Friends don’t let friends get spied on.' – Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation and longtime advocate of privacy in technology.

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The Most Important Privacy Case You’ve Never Heard Of

“One of the most important privacy cases you’ve never heard of is being litigated right now in a federal district court in Maine. ACA v. Frey is a challenge by the nation’s largest broadband Internet access providers to a Maine law that protects the privacy of the state’s broadband Internet users. If the broadband providers prevail, this case could eliminate sector-specific privacy laws across the nation, foreclose national privacy legislation, […]

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Blockchain Can Provide the Right to Privacy That Everyone Deserves

Reuben Yap has just published an article that I believe everyone should read, especially our elected representatives. He writes (in part): “Contrary to popular belief, privacy is not for those with something to hide but with everything to lose. Authoritarian governments across the globe are increasingly using surveillance to control their citizens at the expense of personal freedoms and civil liberties. The privacy of one’s financial transactions is intricately linked […]

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Under This New Law, Cryptocurrency Could Become Illegal

I wrote about an absurd proposed piece of legislation 5 days ago at https://bit.ly/2VwfKhN. If passed, a new bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate will destroy personal, corporate, and most other private online communications. It will be a gift to credit card thieves, identity thieves, Facebook’s advertisers, as well as to local and foreign governments alike. In short, the bill proposes requiring “back doors” in all encrypted communications created […]

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CryptPad: a Privacy-Focused Collaborative Online Office Suite with Chat

If you or your family or your team at work need privacy and security, you might want to check out CryptPad. CryptPad is a privacy protecting alternative to Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online, and other online office suites. And while protecting privacy, it still allows for real-time collaboration between creative partners. Yes, you can (optionally) share your documents with others. The suite includes rich text (like a word processor), presentation, […]

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GoldenSpy: Chinese Bank Requires a Foreign Firm to Install App With Covert Backdoor

Here is another reason to never use Windows: A large, multinational technology company got a nasty surprise recently as it was expanding its operations to China. A local bank required the company to install another program that contained an advanced backdoor. The cautionary tale, detailed in a report published Thursday, said the software package, called Intelligent Tax and produced by Beijing-based Aisino Corporation, worked as advertised. Behind the scenes, it […]

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Government Use of Facial Recognition Is Banned in Boston

Boston is the latest city to ban the use of facial recognition, joining a growing list of administrations to outlaw the tech. The decision comes amid a growing backlash against the software, which research shows consistently misidentifies people of color. An MIT study found that facial recognition algorithms designed by Microsoft, IBM, and Face++ made up to 35% more errors when detecting the gender of darker-skinned women. For light-skinned men, […]

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Google to Auto-Delete Users’ Records by Default

Google is changing its default settings to automatically delete some of the data it collects about users. Web and app activity, including a log of website searches and pages visited, as well as location data, will now be wiped after 18 months. YouTube histories – including which clips were watched and for how long – will be erased after 36 months. The changes apply to new accounts only but existing […]

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Census Has New Method for Privacy but Researchers Want Proof

The Census Bureau claims to have improved its ability to provide accurate data without risking the privacy of its responses, but experts are concerned there isn’t time to test the method before the data is published. The tweaks to the new method are critical to an accurate population count, one that will affect legislative mapmaking and the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funds. “Unfortunately, the tabulation, documentation and quality […]

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Republicans Push Bill Requiring Tech Companies to Help with the Impossible Task of Accessing Encrypted Data

Maybe someone should tell the bill’s sponsors that decrypting information that has been encrypted properly is technically impossible. Of course, these senators are not noted for their technical expertise. (Yes, it is theoretically possible to capture the information at the originating location if that information is captured before or during encryption.However, any well-designed encryption product will make that very difficult.) So, in total disregard of the facts, a group of […]

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Fed Up With Facebook? Here Are 5 Alternatives

“Facebook is unparalleled as a tool for social connection and organization. The same massive scale that makes it so useful, though, also makes its privacy issues, constant tracking, security breaches, and general dominance extra-concerning. That’s probably why you are looking for Facebook alternatives.” You can read a lot more in an article by Andrew Braun in the MakeTechEasier web site at https://www.maketecheasier.com/facebook-alternatives-social-networks.

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