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.
Update: PrivacyShark appears to have been the first to report this, and has now obtained a statement from LinkedIn, below.
A second massive LinkedIn breach reportedly exposes the data of 700M users, which is more than 92% of the total 756M users. The database is for sale on the dark web, with records including phone numbers, physical addresses, geolocation data, and inferred salaries.
The hacker who obtained the data has posted a sample of 1M records, and checks confirm that the data is both genuine and up-to-date …
Expand Expanding Close
Alongside a 16-page essay on why App Store protections are good and sideloading is bad, and lobbying calls to Congress by Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company’s head of user privacy is also arguing its case in a Fast Company interview.
While those in favor of third-party app stores for iOS apps argue that they would offer users and developers alike greater choice, Eric Neuenschwander suggests the exact opposite is true …
Expand Expanding Close
The developers of Brave, a privacy-focused web browser, have been testing their own search engine for a while now with a small number of invited users. Starting today, Brave Search will be available to everyone as a public beta through the official browser apps and also a new website.
Expand Expanding Close
CEO Tim Cook has highlighted Apple’s new privacy features to European users, with a new video on the Apple UK YouTube channel (embedded below).
Cook tops and tails a six-minute video, which mostly comprises privacy-related clips from WWDC …
Expand Expanding Close
The US Department of Justice has been investigating a major leak of classified data that occurred in the early days of the Trump administration in 2017. However, it has now been revealed that the DOJ has subpoenaed Apple for data related to this leaked information, which has obviously raised new concerns about privacy.
Expand Expanding Close
One of the new privacy features included in iCloud+ is what Apple calls Mail Privacy Protection. While that’s designed to protect Apple Mail users from overly intrusive marketeers, some are worried that it could badly hurt small publishers of email newsletters.
That’s because it will deny them access to a key metric used to sell the advertising that makes many such newsletters viable …
Expand Expanding Close
An update to the TikTok privacy policy says that the app will now collect more personal data from US users, including “faceprints and voiceprints” …
Expand Expanding Close
Police and other law enforcement agencies requesting Ring video surveillance footage to help solve crimes will now need to make those requests in public. Previously, they had the ability to email Ring users to request copies of video that might show crimes in progress, or otherwise help to bring criminals to justice …
Expand Expanding Close
Okay, it’s a rather obvious PSA not to install a Chinese web browser on your iPhone, but Alibaba’s UC Browser is actually the fourth most popular browser in the world by user numbers, and the eighth most downloaded mobile app in the last decade …
Expand Expanding Close
If you own any one of a number of Amazon devices, and are in the US, you have just over a week to opt out of a feature the company calls Amazon Sidewalk, to avoid potential security and privacy issues …
Expand Expanding Close
If you want to be alerted to security breaches of user IDs and passwords, Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) is one of the most useful sites around – and it’s about to get even more so …
Expand Expanding Close
Millions of Brits had their location tracked without permission. A government report revealed the tracking, which was intended to find out whether being vaccinated against COVID-19 resulted in people being more willing to spend time away from home.
The report discloses 10% of British mobile phone owners were included in a study that used cell tower data to track approximate locations …
Expand Expanding Close
Four members of Congress have accused Apple of being “a pawn in China’s malfeasance” in putting the privacy of customer data at risk in the country.
They have urged Apple to reassess its business practices in the country, and its relationship with the Chinese government …
Expand Expanding Close
A bipartisan data privacy bill would force all tech giants to follow Apple’s example in allowing users to opt out of tracking by apps and websites.
Apple recently switched on App Tracking Transparency, which lets users decide whether or not they want to be tracked by apps in order to deliver personalized ads …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple released its 2021 Platform Security guide back in February with new details on M1 Macs, iOS 14, macOS Big Sur, watchOS 7, and more. Now the guide has been updated with specifics on how Touch ID on the new Magic Keyboard works, how iPhone unlock with Apple Watch in iOS 14.5 cryptography works, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
Update: Eufy has acknowledged the issue, and made a statement – below.
A huge Eufy privacy breach has resulted in both live and recorded camera feeds being shown to complete strangers. They also have complete access to the account, including control of pan-and-tilt cameras where fitted.
The issue was first noted on Reddit, and an Eufy cam owner at 9to5Mac has been able to confirm that he saw the same thing …
Expand Expanding Close
A senator investigating reports of the DoD tracking US citizens without warrants says that he is unable to share his findings with the public. Senator Ron Wyden says that, although he received responses from the Department of Defense, the answers given to him included classified information.
Wyden is calling for the DoD to release the information to the public in order to determine whether the people consider its actions acceptable …
Expand Expanding Close
Most people don’t want to be tracked by apps or websites for privacy reasons, but there are those who actively want their location to be constantly tracked for tax reasons – and there are apps to meet that need …
Expand Expanding Close
The new WhatsApp privacy policy has seen yet more backtracking by platform owner Facebook. It now seems that the company has given up on trying to force users to agree to its new privacy policy …
Expand Expanding Close
A new report today says that AirTag stalking is “frighteningly easy” thanks to a number of weaknesses in Apple’s privacy protections.
It reveals several ways that an abusive partner could circumvent the measures Apple takes to alert stalking victims …
Expand Expanding Close
A new study published today takes an in-depth look at how apps used in schools are sharing children’s data with third parties. The research found the majority of school apps transmit data and that Android is 8x more likely to be sending that data to “very high-risk” third parties than iOS.
Expand Expanding Close
The long-awaited App Tracking Transparency feature became available to iPhone and iPad users this week with the release of iOS 14.5, and users can now opt out of being tracked by third-party apps. Now, app analysis firm AppFigures has revealed some statistics on the adoption of this feature.
Expand Expanding Close
With the release of iOS 14.5 and the App Tracking Transparency feature, multiple companies that have ad-based businesses have been getting concerned as Apple’s privacy policies now let users opt-out of being tracked by third-party apps. Last week, Alibaba Group invited some marketing executives to discuss what to do about the changes introduced with iOS 14.5.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple finally introduced iOS 14.5 this week, which comes with the long-awaited App Tracking Transparency feature to prevent third-party apps from tracking users across the web. Since the announcement of this feature, Facebook has been complaining about the impact this option will have on its business model, and now a leaked company memo reveals how advertisers will be affected.
Expand Expanding Close