Pornhub disables website in Texas after AG sues for not verifying users’ ages

Pornhub has disabled its site in Texas to object to a state law that requires the company to verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing the site. Texas residents who visit the site are met with a message from the company that criticizes the state’s elected officials who are requiring them to Read more about Pornhub disables website in Texas after AG sues for not verifying users’ ages[…]

Microsoft is once again asking Chrome users to try Bing through unblockable pop-ups – wait, you are not using Firefox?

Microsoft has been pushing Bing pop-up ads in Chrome on Windows 10 and 11. Windows Latest and The Verge reported on Friday that the ad encourages Chrome users (in bold lettering) to use Bing instead of Google search. “Chat with GPT-4 for free on Chrome! Get hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing Al”, the Read more about Microsoft is once again asking Chrome users to try Bing through unblockable pop-ups – wait, you are not using Firefox?[…]

Makers of Switch emulator Yuzu crushed quickly by Nintendo

Tropic Haze, the popular Yuzu Nintendo Switch emulator developer, appears to have agreed to settle Nintendo’s lawsuit against it. Less than a week after Nintendo filed the legal action, accusing the emulator’s creators of “piracy at a colossal scale,” a joint final judgment and permanent injunction filed Tuesday says Tropic Haze has agreed to pay Read more about Makers of Switch emulator Yuzu crushed quickly by Nintendo[…]

car with eye in sky

Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident. So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies Read more about Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies[…]

European Commission broke data protection law with Microsoft Office 365 – duh

The European Commission has been reprimanded for infringing data protection regulations when using Microsoft 365. The rebuke came from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and is the culmination of an investigation that kicked off in May 2021, following the Schrems II judgement. According to the EDPS, the EC infringed several data protection regulations, including Read more about European Commission broke data protection law with Microsoft Office 365 – duh[…]

Black Trump Supporters Are Being AI-Generated – Trumpistas fall for them though

Donald Trump supporters are creating and sharing AI-generated images of the former president with Black voters. The photos appear to be an attempt to inflate Trump’s popularity with the Black community, which may be irreparably harmed by his ties to white supremacist groups, but the photos are nothing but fakes. In the leadup to the Read more about Black Trump Supporters Are Being AI-Generated – Trumpistas fall for them though[…]

roku remote with dollar bills around it

You don’t own what you bought: Roku Issues a Mandatory Terms of Service Update That You Must Agree To or You Can’t Use Your Roku

Over the last 48 hours, Roku has slowly been rolling out a mandatory update to its terms of service. In this terms it changes the dispute resolution terms but it is not clear exactly why. When the new terms and conditions message shows up on a Roku Player or TV, your only option is to Read more about You don’t own what you bought: Roku Issues a Mandatory Terms of Service Update That You Must Agree To or You Can’t Use Your Roku[…]

Biden executive order aims to stop a few countries from buying Americans’ personal data – a watered down EU GDPR

[…] President Joe Biden will issue an executive order that aims to limit the mass-sale of Americans’ personal data to “countries of concern,” including Russia and China. The order specifically targets the bulk sale of geolocation, genomic, financial, biometric, health and other personally identifying information. During a briefing with reporters, a senior administration official said Read more about Biden executive order aims to stop a few countries from buying Americans’ personal data – a watered down EU GDPR[…]

Investigators seek push notification metadata in 130 cases – this is scarier than you think

More than 130 petitions seeking access to push notification metadata have been filed in US courts, according to a Washington Post investigation – a finding that underscores the lack of privacy protection available to users of mobile devices. The poor state of mobile device privacy has provided US state and federal investigators with valuable information Read more about Investigators seek push notification metadata in 130 cases – this is scarier than you think[…]

baby throwing a tantrum

Apple reverses hissy fit decision to remove Home Screen web apps in EU

Apple has reversed its decision to limit the functionality of Home Screen web apps in Europe following an outcry from the developer community and the prospect of further investigation. “We have received requests to continue to offer support for Home Screen web apps in iOS, therefore we will continue to offer the existing Home Screen Read more about Apple reverses hissy fit decision to remove Home Screen web apps in EU[…]

stop using hdmi

HDMI Forum blocks AMD open sourcing drivers due to 2.1

As spotted by Linux benchmarking outfit Phoronix, AMD is having problems releasing certain versions of open-source drivers it’s developed for its GPUs – because, according to the Ryzen processor designer, the HDMI Forum won’t allow the code to be released as open source. Specifically, we’re talking about AMD’s FOSS drivers for HDMI 2.1 here. For Read more about HDMI Forum blocks AMD open sourcing drivers due to 2.1[…]

Scammers Are Now Scanning Faces To Defeat Age verification Biometric Security Measures

For quite some time now we’ve been pointing out the many harms of age verification technologies, and how they’re a disaster for privacy. In particular, we’ve noted that if you have someone collecting biometric information on people, that data itself becomes a massive risk since it will be targeted. And, remember, a year and a Read more about Scammers Are Now Scanning Faces To Defeat Age verification Biometric Security Measures[…]

Meta will start collecting much more “anonymized” data about Quest headset usage

Meta will soon begin “collecting anonymized data” from users of its Quest headsets, a move that could see the company aggregating information about hand, body, and eye tracking; camera information; “information about your physical environment”; and information about “the virtual reality events you attend.” In an email sent to Quest users Monday, Meta notes that Read more about Meta will start collecting much more “anonymized” data about Quest headset usage[…]

Canadian college M&M Vending machines secretly scanning faces – revealed by error message

[…] The scandal started when a student using the alias SquidKid47 posted an image on Reddit showing a campus vending machine error message, “Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognitionApp.exe,” displayed after the machine failed to launch a facial recognition application that nobody expected to be part of the process of using a vending machine. Enlarge / Reddit post shows error Read more about Canadian college M&M Vending machines secretly scanning faces – revealed by error message[…]

a picture of an eye staring at your from your mobile phone

European human rights court says backdooring encrypted comms is against human rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that laws requiring crippled encryption and extensive data retention violate the European Convention on Human Rights – a decision that may derail European data surveillance legislation known as Chat Control. The Court issued a decision on Tuesday stating that “the contested legislation providing for the retention Read more about European human rights court says backdooring encrypted comms is against human rights[…]

23andMe Thinks ‘Mining’ Your DNA Data Is Its Last Hope

23andMe is in a death spiral. Almost everyone who wants a DNA test already bought one, a nightmare data breach ruined the company’s reputation, and 23andMe’s stock is so close to worthless it might get kicked off the Nasdaq. CEO Anne Wojcicki is on a crisis tour, promising investors the company isn’t going out of Read more about 23andMe Thinks ‘Mining’ Your DNA Data Is Its Last Hope[…]

US judge dismisses authors’ ridiculous copyright claim against OpenAI

A US judge has dismissed some of the claims made by writers in a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, though gave the wordsmiths another chance to amend their complaint. The case – Paul Tremblay et al vs OpenAI – kicked off in 2023 when novelists Paul Tremblay, Christopher Golden, and Richard Kadrey, and writer-comedian-actress Sarah Read more about US judge dismisses authors’ ridiculous copyright claim against OpenAI[…]

France uncovers a vast Russian disinformation campaign in Europe

RUSSIA HAS been at the forefront of internet disinformation techniques at least since 2014, when it pioneered the use of bot farms to spread fake news about its invasion of Crimea. According to French authorities, the Kremlin is at it again. On February 12th Viginum, the French foreign-disinformation watchdog, announced it had detected preparations for Read more about France uncovers a vast Russian disinformation campaign in Europe[…]

The EU wants to criminalize AI-generated deepfakes and the non-consensual sending of intimate images

[…] the European Council and Parliament have agreed with the proposal to criminalize, among other things, different types of cyber-violence. The proposed rules will criminalize the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, including deepfakes made by AI tools, which could help deter revenge porn. Cyber-stalking, online harassment, misogynous hate speech and “cyber-flashing,” or the sending of Read more about The EU wants to criminalize AI-generated deepfakes and the non-consensual sending of intimate images[…]

Criticism as Dutch domain registry plans move to Amazon cloud

Questions are being asked in parliament about the decision by Dutch domain registration foundation SIDN to transfer the dot nl domain and its “complete ICT services” to Amazon’s cloud services.  SIDN says the move will make managing the technology easier but some tech entrepreneurs have doubts, and now MPs have asked the government, which supports Read more about Criticism as Dutch domain registry plans move to Amazon cloud[…]

Cory Doctorow’s McLuhan lecture on enshittification (30 Jan 2024)

Last year, I coined the term ‘enshittification,’ to describe the way that platforms decay. That obscene little word did big numbers, it really hit the zeitgeist. I mean, the American Dialect Society made it their Word of the Year for 2023 (which, I suppose, means that now I’m definitely getting a poop emoji on my Read more about Cory Doctorow’s McLuhan lecture on enshittification (30 Jan 2024)[…]

Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens ‘wrongly fined for driving in London Ulez’ in one of EUs largest privacy breaches

Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens were wrongly fined for driving in London’s Ulez clean air zone, according to European governments, in what has been described as “possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history”. The Guardian can reveal Transport for London (TfL) has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining Read more about Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens ‘wrongly fined for driving in London Ulez’ in one of EUs largest privacy breaches[…]

Palworld Is a Great Example Of The Idea/Expression Dichotomy | Techdirt

When it comes to copyright suits or conflicts that never should have existed, one of the most common misunderstandings that births them is not understanding the idea/expression dichotomy in copyright law. Even to most laypeople, once you explain it, it’s quite simple. You can copyright a specific expression of something, such as literature, recorded music, Read more about Palworld Is a Great Example Of The Idea/Expression Dichotomy | Techdirt[…]

iPhone Apps Secretly Harvest Data When They Send You Notifications, Researchers Find

iPhone apps including Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X/Twitter are skirting Apple’s privacy rules to collect user data through notifications, according to tests by security researchers at Mysk Inc., an app development company. Users sometimes close apps to stop them from collecting data in the background, but this technique gets around that protection. The data is Read more about iPhone Apps Secretly Harvest Data When They Send You Notifications, Researchers Find[…]

France fines Amazon $35 million over intrusive employee surveillance

France’s data privacy watchdog organization, the CNIL, has fined a logistics subsidiary of Amazon €32 million, or $35 million in US dollars, over the company’s use of an “overly intrusive” employee surveillance system. The CNIL says that the system employed by Amazon France Logistique “measured work interruptions with such accuracy, potentially requiring employees to justify Read more about France fines Amazon $35 million over intrusive employee surveillance[…]