All articles tagged with #privacy
Apple has reversed its plan to move Hide My Email to a private.icloud.com domain and will keep Hide My Email addresses on icloud.com; Sign in with Apple will use private.icloud.com later this year, and developers should allow both domains.
John Oliver argues that subscription models have exploded across industries—from media to household devices—so you pay for ongoing services rather than ownership. He highlights examples like auto services, printer ink, and smart appliances that collect data, and notes how ‘dark patterns’ make signing up easy while canceling can be intentionally hard. The piece emphasizes checking bank statements and device subscriptions, and mentions regulatory efforts such as the FTC’s proposed ‘click to cancel’ rule as a potential fix to a widespread consumer pain point.
Ads and tracking once confined to smart TVs are spreading to computer monitors, with LG’s Monitor App Installer pushing ads onto connected PCs (a move Microsoft forced LG to reverse). The piece notes that smart monitors run OSes and can use ACR to track activity, meaning data could be shared with advertisers under current privacy policies from LG, Samsung, and Acer. It calls for clearer privacy disclosures, easier setup-based privacy controls, and maintaining dumb, non‑advertising monitors to prevent a privacy‑nightmare trajectory.
Researchers found AliExpress used an obsolete inaudible-audio WebAudio fingerprinting trick to identify visitors via hidden scripts that analyze audio waveforms; Firefox’s 2023 fix with constant libraries and protections in Chrome/Safari have largely neutralized this method, though the retailer still relies on a suite of other fingerprinting techniques.
The Guardian reports that the Daily Mail followed and photographed a Detroit woman it believed to be Meg White, publishing photos about her “secret life.” The woman wasn’t White; she’s a friend of White’s who confirmed the mistaken identity. The Daily Mail removed the story and photos without issuing a correction, while Meg White has largely stayed out of the public eye since 2011, with Jack White continuing to tour.
Texas counties are grappling with growing backlash against Flock Safety's AI license-plate readers, but canceling or renegotiating multi-agency and ownership-fragmented contracts is extremely complex; while some locales have ended agreements, others defend the technology for public safety or push for policy safeguards and warrants, highlighting a clash between privacy concerns and crime-fighting tools.
GrapheneOS announced it will start official support for Motorola devices next year, beginning with flagship phones and later adding Razr foldables; the project aims to bring its privacy‑focused, de-Googled Android to Motorola hardware, with hardware security requirements (memory tagging, secure element) influencing timelines. The team expects next‑gen Snapdragon 8 Elite chips to meet its standards, targeting Motorola’s 2027 devices for initial support, while cheaper models would need stronger security features and longer software commitments.
Pixel users can unlock six handy features by enabling settings: Smooth display for 120Hz (Settings > Display & touch), Now Playing for local song recognition (Settings > Sound and vibration), Automatic Call Screening (Phone app > Spam and Call Screen), Private Space (Settings > Security & privacy), Adaptive vibration (Settings > Sound & vibration > Vibration & haptics), and Face Detection for smarter auto-rotate (Settings > Display & touch).
Researchers found a zero-volume Web Audio API script on AliExpress that taps the computer's audio hardware to generate a device fingerprint without cookies, collecting a range of signals and raising privacy concerns. Brave has blocked the script and warned fingerprinting will keep evolving, while other blockers may mitigate it at the cost of some site functionality, and the technique could even interfere with hardware like Bluetooth headphones.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen praised reporters who held back the private tragedy surrounding Ed Oliver’s two-year-old son, saying it was not anyone’s place to reveal the details and stressing teammates’ support as the ethics of reporting sensitive personal news are debated, with Oliver and his family seeking privacy and ESPN reporters confirming details.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly not planning to release first-day-of-school photos or birthday portraits of Archie and Lilibet as they return to the U.K., prioritizing their children’s privacy over the public milestone portraits favored by William and Kate. They may relocate to a private British residence and will continue sharing select family moments on their own terms, with media coverage guided by privacy considerations.
Flock’s AI-powered license-plate cameras are becoming a major midterm issue as politicians from both sides criticize privacy concerns and police misuse, with several municipalities cutting ties and lawmakers proposing bans on federal purchases; Flock defends the tech, citing privacy improvements and about 1 million investigations and 10,000 missing-persons cases aided.
A Tom's Guide feature explains seven personal details to share with ChatGPT to get better, more tailored answers: your goals, your AI tool expertise, how you’d like responses delivered, your constraints (budget, time, etc.), your hobbies/interests, the intended context for the information, and privacy boundaries. It also emphasizes avoiding sensitive data, and offers a reusable prompt approach to help ChatGPT build a useful personal profile while safeguarding privacy.
Business Insider examines how stressed parents turn to AI—from calendar assistants and meal planners to wearables that track interactions and moods—for practical help, not replacement of parenting. While many see AI as additive for scheduling, homework help, and coordinating activities, experts warn about privacy and surveillance concerns and the risk of tech-driven guidance shaping parenting decisions, a tension echoed even among tech leaders who advocate cautious, non-replace-ment use.
VPNs have gone mainstream, offering IP masking and encrypted connections, but the best choice depends on trust and needs. Proton VPN is highlighted as easy-to-use, privacy-focused, Swiss-owned with a no-logs stance and a paid VPN Plus for faster streaming; Mozilla Firefox’s built-in VPN provides free browsing up to 50GB/month and is simple to use but only protects Firefox traffic; WireGuard is a free, open-source protocol that can be installed on home routers for device-wide protection, yet it requires technical setup and may affect speeds. Consider ownership, data handling, and ease of use when choosing a VPN for your devices.