Privacy

Top Prosecutors in CA, NY and DC Are Speaking Up for End-to-End Encryption
We all should have the ability to have a private conversation, and it follows that we need ways to communicate privately online as well. In the digital world, end-to-end encryption is our best chance to maintain our privacy and security.
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EFF's Atlas of Surveillance Database Now Documents 10,000+ Police Tech Programs
The EFF has created a searchable and mappable repository of which law enforcement agencies in the U.S. use surveillance technologies such as body-worn cameras, drones, automated license plate readers, and face recognition.
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Improving Security for Smart Systems
In an increasingly connected and smart world, sensors collect and share large amounts of data to help people make decisions. Researchers has recently developed a way to statistically analyze such complex sensor data, so that the computer algorithms that make data-based decisions can be more resilient and better able to cope with small errors.
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Intrusive Surveillance and Interrogation of Portland Demonstrators by DHS Agents
DHS surveillance of 2020 protestors in Portland, Oregon was broader and more intrusive than had previously been knows. DHS agents created individual dossiers on many of the protestors, dossiers which included lists of friends and family, travel history, social media postings, and other records unrelated to securing federal property or homeland security. Documents also reveal that Trump appointees at DHS endorsed baseless conspiracy theories in justifying what Senator Ron Wyden D-Oregon) called “violations of Oregonians’ civil rights.”
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Extracting Personal Information from Anonymous Cell Phone Data
Researchers haves extracted personal information, specifically protected characteristics like age and gender, from anonymous cell phone data using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, raising questions about data security.
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China’s Extensive Use of Genetic Information Sounds a Warning
As China increasingly relies on biometric data collection for public and national security purposes, it is time for democracies to address its role in their systems.
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The Same App Can Pose a Bigger Security and Privacy Threat Depending on the Country Where You Download It, Study Finds
In a perfect world, access to apps and app security and privacy capabilities would be consistent everywhere. My colleagues and I found differences in app availability, security and privacy.
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More Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People, Compromising Privacy
The right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. Many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control and oppress their populations.
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EFF’s “Cover Your Tracks” Will Detect Your Use of iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode
Apple’s new iOS 16 offers a powerful tool for its most vulnerable users. Lockdown Mode reduces the avenues attackers have to hack into users’ phones by disabling certain often-exploited features. But there is a catch.
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Off-the-Shelf Crypto-Detectors Give a False Sense of Data Security
A team of computer scientists outlines a leading reason behind insecure data and makes recommendations about how to fix the problem.
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Privacy-Preserving Camera Captures Only the Objects You Want
As the sheer amount of image data being captured by digital cameras has grown, so have concerns about privacy protection. What if there was a way to take pictures that instantly capture only the objects of relevance in a frame while simultaneously blotting out unnecessary or potentially sensitive details, without the need for any editing, encryption or other digital post-processing work?
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Brain-Monitoring Tech Advances Could Change the Law
There is an ankle-bracelet for offenders. What about a brain-bracelet? A new reportscrutinizes advances in neurotechnology and what it might mean for the law and the legal profession.
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NSF Grants to Protect Data, User privacy
Researchers are working on two new cybersecurity projects, recently funded by the National Science Foundation, to ensure trustworthy cloud computing and increase computing privacy for marginalized and vulnerable populations.
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How Daycare Apps Can Spy on Parents and Children
Daycare apps are designed to make everyday life in daycare centers easier. Parents can use them, for example, to access reports on their children’s development and to communicate with teachers. However, some of these applications have serious security flaws.
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NIST Updates Guidance for Health Care Cybersecurity
In an effort to help health care organizations protect patients’ personal health information, NIST has updated its cybersecurity guidance for the health care industry. The revised draft publication aims to help organizations comply with HIPAA Security Rule.
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