Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook, on Friday announced the launch of a centralized Privacy Center that aims to "educate people" about its approach with regards to how it collects and processes personal information across its family of social media apps. "Privacy Center provides helpful information about five common privacy topics: sharing, security, data … [Read more...] about Facebook Launches ‘Privacy Center’ to Educate Users on Data Collection and Privacy Options
Privacy
Apple Delays Plans to Scan Devices for Child Abuse Images After Privacy Backlash
Apple is temporarily hitting the pause button on its controversial plans to screen users' devices for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after receiving sustained blowback over worries that the tool could be weaponized for mass surveillance and erode the privacy of users. "Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers, and others, we have decided to take … [Read more...] about Apple Delays Plans to Scan Devices for Child Abuse Images After Privacy Backlash
Apple to Scan Every Device for Child Abuse Content — But Experts Fear for Privacy
Apple on Thursday said it's introducing new child safety features in iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS as part of its efforts to limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in the U.S. To that effect, the iPhone maker said it intends to begin client-side scanning of images shared via every Apple device for known child abuse content as they are being uploaded into … [Read more...] about Apple to Scan Every Device for Child Abuse Content — But Experts Fear for Privacy
Mozilla Says Google’s New Ad Tech—FLoC—Doesn’t Protect User Privacy
Google's upcoming plans to replace third-party cookies with a less invasive ad targeted mechanism have a number of issues that could defeat its privacy objectives and allow for significant linkability of user behavior, possibly even identifying individual users. "FLoC is premised on a compelling idea: enable ad targeting without exposing users to risk," said Eric Rescorla, … [Read more...] about Mozilla Says Google’s New Ad Tech—FLoC—Doesn’t Protect User Privacy
Facebook Will Limit Your WhatsApp Features For Not Accepting Privacy Policy
WhatsApp on Friday disclosed that it won't deactivate accounts of users who don't accept its new privacy policy rolling out on May 15, adding it will continue to keep reminding them to accept the new terms. "No one will have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of WhatsApp on May 15 because of this update," the Facebook-owned messaging service said in a statement. The … [Read more...] about Facebook Will Limit Your WhatsApp Features For Not Accepting Privacy Policy
Privacy Bug in Brave Browser Exposes Dark-Web Browsing History of Its Users
Brave has fixed a privacy issue in its browser that sent queries for .onion domains to public internet DNS resolvers rather than routing them through Tor nodes, thus exposing users' visits to dark web websites. The bug was addressed in a hotfix release (V1.20.108) made available yesterday. Brave ships with a built-in feature called "Private Window with Tor" that integrates the … [Read more...] about Privacy Bug in Brave Browser Exposes Dark-Web Browsing History of Its Users
Privacy Comes of Age During the Pandemic
What happens to privacy protections in a pandemic? When any serious threat to our safety and well-being arises, many would think privacy protections would take a back seat. After all, our personal data, including our health status, social contacts, and physical locations, have been needed to help control the spread of COVID-19. What’s more, the rapid shift to remote working has … [Read more...] about Privacy Comes of Age During the Pandemic
WhatsApp Delays Controversial ‘Data-Sharing’ Privacy Policy Update By 3 Months
WhatsApp said on Friday that it wouldn't enforce its recently announced controversial data sharing policy update until May 15. Originally set to go into effect next month on February 8, the three-month delay comes following "a lot of misinformation" about a revision to its privacy policy that allows WhatsApp to share data with Facebook, sparking widespread concerns about the … [Read more...] about WhatsApp Delays Controversial ‘Data-Sharing’ Privacy Policy Update By 3 Months
Building trust through transparency and privacy by design
Privacy by design and default are principles that have been in the privacy engineering lexicon for decades, but only recently have come more broadly to light. These principles aren’t just recommendations or best practices anymore. Privacy by design and default are legally required of companies building products and services in or for the European Union market and other … [Read more...] about Building trust through transparency and privacy by design
Maintaining Data Privacy in the Age of COVID
As the world continues to struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, data and data privacy have never been more critical. Our health status; our test results; our physical locations; our contacts with others – these are exactly the types of information that governments want to collect from individuals to control the spread of the virus, and that companies need to … [Read more...] about Maintaining Data Privacy in the Age of COVID