"Complexity is Fraud": Why We Must Drop Micro-Targeted Ads to Help Publishers and to Protect Online Privacy

It has been clear for years that the widespread use of micro-targeted advertising and real-time bidding represents a huge threat to online privacy. complexity is fraud

No esKAPE From Kape? Don’t Run From Five Eyes, They Are Your Friends! -“Private” Internet Access

Guest post by Ryan, reprinted with permission

5 Really Wrong Myths About US-Based VPNs [Digital Privacy]

VPNs based in the United States frequently get unwarranted criticism, claiming that, by nature of them being based in the US, they are somehow

Top Security Experts Warn: Client-side Scanning "Tears at the Heart of Privacy of Individual Citizens"

A couple of months ago, this blog wrote about Apple's Expanded Protections for Children, which turned out to mean client-side scanning (CSS). That is, security experts

Hacking the World – Part 4: The Cost and Future of Hacking (Plus: Safety Tips)

Each week in October, as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we'll publish an article packed with facts and stats, to give you an in-depth look at the Part 4

European Parliament Calls for Bans on AI-based Biometric Recognition in Public Spaces, Predictive Policing, and Social Scoring

Back in April, Privacy News Online reported on an important set of proposals from the European Commission to regulate the use of artificial intelligence biometric recognition

Do We Really Want Amazon's Internet-Connected Autonomous Surveillance Robots Wandering Around our Homes?

It might seem strange that Amazon has figured so many times on this blog, what with its facial recognition service, eavesdropping Alexa devices, Ring home autonomous

Facebook’s Very Bad, No Good Week: What It Means for Privacy, and How to Make Things Better

On 5 October, Mark Zuckerberg sent a note to Facebook employees, beginning: "Hey everyone: it's been quite a week, and I wanted to share some thoughts

Hacking the World – Part 3: The Hackers and the Hacked

Each week in October, as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we'll publish an article packed with facts and stats, to give you an in-depth look at the

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is Great for Catching Bad Actors; But It Can Also Be Used Against the Good Ones - You and Me

Most people have heard of open source these days – after all, it has conquered every aspect of computing, with the possible exception of the desktop. But

Hacking the World – Part 2: What's Being Hacked (And What Changed with Covid)

Each week in October, as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we'll publish an article packed with facts and stats, to give you an in-depth look at the

From Surveillance Capitalism to "Influence Government": Using Microtargeted Ads to "Nudge" People's Everyday Behavior

Privacy News Online has written a number of times about "surveillance capitalism", and its use of micro-targeted advertising to influence people's buying

Australian Police Can Now Spy On Citizens, Disrupt Their Computers, Take Over Their Online Accounts, and Change Their Data

Privacy News Online has just written about a troubling proposal by Apple to carry out surveillance directly on iPhones. In Australia, the situation is

Hacking the World – Part 1: Hacking Basics

Each week in October, as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we'll publish an article packed with facts and stats, to give you an in-depth look at the

EU is Spending More Than a Billion Dollars Expanding Biometric Honeypots, Despite Risks to Privacy and Freedom

Privacy News Online has just reported on a major privacy disaster in Afghanistan, where biometric and other highly personal data is now in the hands of

UK Leads the Charge Against End-to-End Encryption, Calls on Tech Companies to "Nerd Harder"

As Privacy News Online has reported, for years governments around the world have kept up a constant assault on end-to-end encryption. One of the leaders

50 Key Stats About Freedom of the Internet Around the World

Almost every part of our everyday lives is closely connected to the internet – we depend on it for communication, entertainment, information, running our

Apple Has Betrayed Its Privacy Legacy – and Will Undermine End-to-end Encryption Everywhere

Apple is a company that has always made much of its commitment to privacy, and has succeeded in turning it into a unique selling point of its products.