Privacy Stories for 2020

T-Mobile Data Breach Exposed Phone Numbers, Call Records 14
NSO Used Real People's Location Data To Pitch Its Contact-Tracing Tech, Researchers Say 19
Police Turn To Car Data To Destroy Suspects' Alibis 194
Tech Giants Are Giving China a Vital Edge In Espionage. 108
Finland Says Hackers Accessed MPs' Emails Accounts 17
The ACLU Is Suing For More Information About the FBI's Phone-Hacking Lab 31
Dozens Sue Amazon's Ring After Camera Hack Leads To Threats and Racial Slurs 71
Hackers Threaten To Leak Plastic Surgery Pictures 33
BMW Backtracks: 'We Do Not Draw on Warranty Status' For Targeted Ads 29
Nintendo Conducted Invasive Surveillance Operation Against Homebrew Hacker 23
DHS Is Looking Into Backdoors In Smart TVs By China's TCL 85
'Dozens of Email Accounts' Were Hacked At US Treasury 24
New York Halts Use of Facial Recognition in Schools 51
Law Enforcement Take Down Three Bulletproof VPN Providers 36
2,000 Parents Demand Major Academic Publisher Drop Proctorio Surveillance Tech 66
Firefox To Ship 'Network Partitioning' As a New Anti-Tracking Defense 65
Civil Rights Groups Move To Block Expansion of Facial Recognition in Airports 26
Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla Ban Kazakhstan's MitM HTTPS Certificate 45
Dozens of Journalists' iPhones Hacked With NSO 'Zero-Click' Spyware, Says Citizen Lab 45
Capella Space Defends High-Resolution Satellite Photos Described as 'Eerily Observant' 79
Apple-Criticizing Banner Ads Now Added to Some of Facebook's iOS Apps 82
Tech Giants Will Block Kazakhstan's Web Surveillance Efforts Again 47
Microsoft: 2021 Is the Year Passwords Die 185
'Evil Mobile Emulator Farms' Used To Steal Millions From US and EU Banks 59
Facebook Hits Back at Apple With Second Critical Newspaper Ad 109
Amazon Wants To Scan Your Body To Make Perfectly Fitting Shirts 112
Nigeria Orders Mobile Users To Link Phones To National ID Numbers 38
Australia Sues Facebook Over Its Use of Onavo To Snoop 28
SolarWinds Hides List of High-Profile Customers After Devastating Hack 58
Facebook To Move UK Users To California Terms, Avoiding EU Privacy Rules 67
Israeli Spy Tech Firm Says It Can Break Into Signal App 87
Apple Launches New App Store Privacy Labels So You Can See How iOS Apps Use Your Data 7
FTC Launches Sweeping Privacy Study of Top Tech Platforms 16
U.S. Schools are Buying Phone-Hacking Tech That the FBI Uses to Investigate Terrorists 115
Why Apple, Cloudflare, and Fastly Proposed a New Privacy-Focused DNS Standard Called 'Oblivious DoH' 64
Brave Browser-Maker Launches Privacy-Friendly News Reader 12
Google Will Change How Chrome Extensions Access Data in 2021 9
Did COVID Data Whistleblower Hack Florida's Emergency Alert System? Police Raid Home 210
US Used Patriot Act To Gather Logs of Website Visitors 34
Data of 243 Million Brazilians Exposed Online via Website Source Code 34
Massachusetts Lawmakers Vote To Pass a Statewide Police Ban On Facial Recognition 50
Microsoft Will Remove User Names from 'Productivity Score' Feature After Privacy Backlash 37
Microsoft Also Patented Tech to Score Meetings Using Filmed Body Language, Facial Expressions 78
Will Tesla Update Bring Remote Access To Car Cameras? 59
A Hacker is Selling Access To the Email Accounts of Hundreds of C-Level Executives 40
Microsoft Productivity Score Feature Criticised as Workplace Surveillance 60
hCaptcha Runs On 15% Of the Internet 66
IRS Could Search Warrantless Location Database Over 10,000 Times 16
2FA Bypass Discovered In Web Hosting Software cPanel 9
India Bans Another 43 Chinese Apps Over Cybersecurity Concerns 13
Baidu's Android Apps Caught Collecting Sensitive User Details 19
'Smart' Doorbells For Sale On Amazon, eBay Came Stocked With Security Vulnerabilities 30
Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company's Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups 53
Ask Slashdot: Why Haven't We Implemented Public Key Infrastructure Voting? 433
Apple Lets Some Network Traffic Bypass Firewalls on MacOS Big Sur 113
Why Amazon's Echo Shines an Ominous Red Light When Its Microphone is Muted 94
Google, Facebook and Twitter Threaten To Leave Pakistan Over Censorship Law 37
Apple Defends Delay of Privacy Feature, Slams Facebook 22
Messaging App Go SMS Pro Exposed Millions of Users' Private Photos and Files 17
LidarPhone Attack Converts Smart Vacuums Into Microphones 33
'Extremely Aggressive' Internet Censorship Spreads In the World's Democracies 239
The Worst Passwords of 2020 Show We Are Just As Lazy About Security As Ever 128
Starting Next Year, Chrome Extensions Will Show What Data They Collect from Users 15
Companies Could Face Hefty Fines Under New Canadian Privacy Law 35
Micropayments Company Coil Distributes New Privacy Policy With Email That Puts Users' Addresses in the 'To:' Field 22
Apple Hits Back at European Activist Complaints Against Tracking Tool 29
Google Will Make It Slightly Easier To Turn Off Smart Features 15
How the US Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps 40
Apple Responds To Gatekeeper Issue With Upcoming Fixes 54
Cheating-Detection Software Provokes 'School-Surveillance Revolt' 143
Credit Card Numbers For Millions of Hotel Guests Exposed By Misconfigured Cloud Database 46
EFF Launches New Podcast: How to Fix the Internet 76
Election Was Most Secure In American History, US Officials Say 423
Your Computer Isn't Yours 345
Six Reasons Why Google Maps Is the Creepiest App On Your Phone 121
Swiss Report Reveals New Details On CIA Spying Operation 36
Face For Sale: Leaks and Lawsuits Blight Russia Facial Recognition 13
Tim Berners Lee's Startup Inrupt Releases Privacy Platform for Enterprises 20
Apple Says New 'Nutrition Labels' For App Privacy Will Be Required Starting December 8 11
Dell Adding Hardware Privacy Driver For Linux 46
Proposition 24 Passes in California, Pushing Privacy Rights To the Forefront Again 19
Police Will Pilot a Program To Live-Stream Amazon Ring Cameras 84
Therapy Patients Blackmailed For Cash After Clinic Data Breach 55
Privacy Investigation Finds 5 Million Shoppers' Images Collected At Malls Across Canada 36
Brave Browser First To Nix CNAME Deception 47
Facebook Targeted In UK Legal Action Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal 23
NSA Ducks Questions About Backdoors In Tech Products 84
Trump's Campaign Website Hacked By Cryptocurrency Scammers 108
Facebook Tells Academics To Stop Monitoring Its Political Ads 63
CBP Refuses To Tell Congress How It's Tracking Americans Without a Warrant 72
Surveillance Startup Used Own Cameras To Harass Coworkers 54
CNET: Police Are Using Facial Recognition For Minor Crimes, 'Because They Can' 196
Bot Generated Fake Nudes of Over 100,000 Women Without Their Knowledge, Says Report 57
Firefox 'Site Isolation' Feature Enters User Testing, Expected Next Year 14
How a Secretive Phone Company Helped the Crime World Go Dark 18
Instagram's Handling of Kids' Data Is Now Being Probed In the EU 2
Privacy Advocates Alarmed By Singapore's World-First Face-Scanning Plans 25
3 TB of Private Webcam/Home Security Video Leaked on Porn Sites 44
France and the Netherlands Call For Tough EU Powers To Curb Big Tech 25
Robinhood Estimates Hackers Infiltrated Almost 2,000 Accounts 19
Google and Intel Warn of High-Severity Bluetooth Security Bug In Linux 41
Florida Could Become First State To Offer Digital Driver's Licenses 55
Zoom To Roll Out End-to-End Encrypted (E2EE) Calls 31
Philippines Starts Registering Millions for National ID Cards 28
Amazon's Latest Gimmicks Are Pushing the Limits of Privacy 49
How Many Americans Still Secretly Use Their Ex's Passwords 42
Backdoor In Kids' Smartwatch Makes It Possible For Someone To Covertly Take Pictures, Record Audio 16
Should Colleges Do Admissions Without Standardized Tests? 156
Chrome Changes How Its Cache System Works To Improve Privacy 21
EU Lawmakers Ask Jeff Bezos Whether Amazon Spies on Politicians 49
The IRS Is Being Investigated For Using Location Data Without a Warrant 57
Europe's Top Court Confirms No Mass Surveillance Without Limits 23
A Security Flaw In Grindr Let Anyone Easily Hijack User Accounts 11
Cloudflare's Privacy Crusade Continues With a Challenge To Google Analytics 21
Hacker Publishes Info On Las Vegas-Area Students After Demanding Ransom 114
Healthcare Giant UHS Hit By Ransomware Attack, Sources Say 19
Singapore Becomes First Country To Use Facial Verification For a National ID Service 18
The Best Chrome Extensions To Prevent Creepy Web Tracking 38
Illinois Facebook Users Can Claim Up To $400 In Class-Action Suit 18
Amazon Alexa Can Now Immediately Delete Your Voice Recordings 27
DHS Admits Facial Recognition Photos Were Hacked, Released On Dark Web 22
Russia Wants To Ban the Use of Secure Protocols Such As TLS 1.3, DoH, DoT, ESNI 59
Trump Pushes To Reap Biometric Data From Immigrants, Americans 87
Browser Extension uMatrix Ends Active Development 38
Chinese Intelligence Compiles 'Vast Database' About Millions Around the World 75
Iranian Hackers Found Way Into Encrypted Apps, Researchers Say 28
Facebook Accused of Watching Instagram Users Through Cameras 58
DuckDuckGo Is Growing Fast 65
Google 'Formally' Bans Stalkerware Apps From the Play Store 32
Facebook Will Release Its First AR Glasses in 2021 18
Personal Information of Roughly 46,000 Veterans Exposed In VA Hack 19
A Bug In Joe Biden's Campaign App Gave Anyone Access To Millions of Voter Files 83
Francisco-Backed Sandvine Cancels Belarus Deal, Citing Abuses 10
European Police Malware Could Harvest GPS, Messages, Passwords, More 29
Google Faces $3 Billion UK Suit Over Use of Children's Data 28
Portland Passes Groundbreaking Ban on Facial Recognition in Stores, Banks, Restaurants and More 264
China To Launch Initiative To Set Global Data-Security Rules 81
Apple Opens Up -- Slightly -- on Hong Kong's National Security Law 22
Apple Commits To Freedom of Speech After Criticism of China Censorship 44
Facebook Halts Oculus Quest Sales In Germany Amid Privacy Concerns 27
Apple To Delay Privacy Change Threatening Facebook, Mobile Ad Market 13
Google Removes Android App That Was Used To Spy On Belarusian Protesters 26
CBP Does Not Make it Clear Americans Can Opt-out of Airport Face Scanning, Watchdog Says 81
Court Rules NSA Phone Snooping Illegal -- After Seven-Year Delay 81
Private Intel Firm Buys Location Data to Track People to their 'Doorstep' 20
Andrew Yang Takes Lead Role In California Data Privacy Campaign 26
Kingpin Behind Massive Identity-Theft Service Says He's Sorry 24
Your Browsing History Can Uniquely Identify You 32
FTC Probes Huge Financial Data Broker Yodlee 9
Facebook Sues Maker of Advertising SDK for Refusing To Participate in Audit 18
Amazon announces Halo, a fitness band and app that scans your body and voice 30
Clearview AI CEO Says 'Over 2,400 Police Agencies' Are Using Its Facial Recognition Software 14
Facebook Warns Advertisers on Apple Privacy Changes 63
Unredacted Suit Shows Google's Own Engineers Confused By Privacy Settings 51
Facial Recognition Designed To Detect Around Face Masks Is Failing, Study Finds 37
A New Botnet Is Covertly Targeting Millions of Servers 27
Bridgefy, the Messenger Promoted For Mass Protests, Is a Privacy Disaster 80
People In The Developing World Thought They Were Buying Cheap Cellphones. They Were Also Getting Robbed. 57
Police in Several US Cities Used Facial Recognition To Hunt Down and Arrest Protesters 254
Fearing Coronavirus, a Michigan College is Tracking Its Students With a Flawed App 105
Weather Channel App To Change Practices After LA Lawsuit 32
235 Million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube User Profiles Exposed In Massive Data Leak 19
Android 11 Is Taking Away the Camera Picker, Forcing People To Only Use the Built-In Camera 156
Researchers Can Duplicate Keys From the Sounds They Make In Locks 33
AI Company Leaks Over 2.5 Million Medical Records 23
New Toyotas Will Upload Data To AWS To Help Create Custom Insurance Premiums Based On Driver Behavior 206
'Landlord Tech Watch' Site Lets You Report Landlords Using Tech To Screw Over Tenants 114
Secret Service Paid To Get Americans' Location Data Without a Warrant, Documents Show 68
An Alexa Bug Could Have Exposed Your Voice History To Hackers 42
The NSA's Guidelines for Protecting Location Data 30
Should the U.S. Pardon Edward Snowden? 191
San Diego's Police Are Using Video from 'Smart' Streetlights 100
Homeland Security Details New Tools For Extracting Device Data at US Borders 113
'Stalkerware' Phone Spying Apps Have Escaped Google's Ad Ban 25
Police Use of Facial Recognition Violates Human Rights, UK Court Rules 58
TikTok Tracked User Data Using Tactic Banned By Google 46
University of Michigan Study Advocates Ban of Facial Recognition in Schools 18
Zoom Sued By Consumer Group For Misrepresenting Its Encryption Protections 11
Richard Stallman Discusses Privacy Risks of Bitcoin, Suggests 'Something Much Better' 168
At Talkspace, Startup Culture Collides With Mental Health Concerns 19
US Government Contractor Embedded Software in Apps To Track Phones 32
Lawmakers Ask California DMV How It Makes $50 Million a Year Selling Drivers' Data 67
Twitter Says Android Security Bug Gave Access To Direct Messages 4
Firefox 79 Clears Redirect Tracking Cookies Every 24 Hours 29
Chinese Games Will Force Players To Use Their Real Names 60
Will China's AI Surveillance State Go Global? 109
Google Victory In German Top Court Over Right To Be Forgotten 23
Amazon Says Police Demands For Customer Data Have Gone Up 11
The Vatican Is Said To Be Hacked From China Before Talks With Beijing 55
Alcohol Delivery Service Drizly Confirms Data Breach 15
Rite Aid Deployed Facial Recognition Systems In Hundreds of US Stores 36
Huge Apparent Leak Unearths Nintendo's Prototype History 21
Australian Regulator Says Google Misled Users Over Data Privacy Issues 11
Digital Banking Site 'Dave' Admits Security Breach Impacting 7.5 Million Users 21
Judge Urged To Release Documents About Google's Cellphone Tracking 20
FBI Warns US Companies About Backdoors In Chinese Tax Software 36
More Than 1,000 People at Twitter Had Ability To Aid Hack of Accounts 29
EU Demands Major Concessions From Google Over Fitbit Deal 24
Garmin Services and Production Go Down After Ransomware Attack 22
New York Bans Use of Facial Recognition In Schools Statewide 29
Security Breach Exposes More Than One Million DNA Profiles On Major Genealogy Database 28
Google Promises Privacy With Virus App But Can Still Collection Location Data 83
Most Dedicated VPN IP-Addresses Are Not Anonymous 27
America's Border Patrol 'Can Track Everyone's Car' By Buying License Plate-Reader Data 142
'Mozilla VPN' Launches in Six Countries 69
The FBI Secretly Used Travel Company 'Sabre' As A Global Surveillance Tool 74
VPN With 'Strict No-Logs Policy' Exposed Millions of User Log Files 86
Russian Hackers Are Linked To Sweeping Bid To Steal Vaccine Data 69
Iranian Spies Accidentally Leaked Videos of Themselves Hacking 41
Tech Firms Like Facebook Must Restrict Data Sent From EU To US, Court Rules 74
US Threatens To Restrict WeChat Following TikTok Backlash 36
iPhone User Sues Microsoft's LinkedIn For Spying Through Apple's 'Clipboard' 39
Wells Fargo Tells Employees: Delete TikTok from Company Phones 95
Why Did a Tech Executive Install 1,000 Security Cameras Around San Francisco? 148
DuckDuckGo Restored in India, Responds to Favicon Concerns 13
Canadian Genetic Non-Discrimination Act Upheld 57
Signal's New PIN Feature Worries Cybersecurity Experts 45
Apple Advises Against MacBook Camera Covers Due To Display Cracking 126
Amazon Makes Employees Delete TikTok From Phones, Citing Security Risk [Update] 64
Indian Army Personnel Banned From Using 89 Apps 15
Security Cameras Can Tell Burglars When You're Not Home, Study Shows 119
Only 9% of Visitors Give GDPR Consent To Be Tracked 33
Hackers Are Exploiting a 5-Alarm Bug In Networking Equipment 32
Facial-Recognition Firm Ends Operations in Canada, Watchdog Says 11
US Tech Giants Halt Reviews of Hong Kong Demands For User Data 45
Body Cam with Military Police Footage Sold on Ebay 17
Former Yahoo Engineer Who Infiltrated 6,000 Accounts Avoids Jail 35
Google-backed Groups Criticize Apple's New Warnings on User Tracking 46
LinkedIn Says iOS Clipboard Snooping After Every Key Press is a Bug, Will Fix 38
Facebook Says 5,000 App Developers Got User Data After Cutoff Date 3
One Out of Every 142 Passwords is '123456' 71
How Police Secretly Took Over a Global Phone Network for Organized Crime 87
New Mac Ransomware Is Even More Sinister Than It Appears 49
Uncovered: 1,000 Phrases That Incorrectly Trigger Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant 53
Zoom Misses Its Own Deadline To Publish Its First Transparency Report 5
China's Influence Via WeChat Is 'Flying Under the Radar' of Most Western Democracies 19
Google Removes 25 Android Apps Caught Stealing Facebook Credentials 33
Apple Declined To Implement 16 Web APIs in Safari Due To Privacy Concerns 120
IBM's New Differential Privacy Library Works With Just a Single Line of Code 45
Apple Will Force Apps to Ask for Permission Before Tracking Users 47
Journalist's Phone Hacked: All He Had To Do Was Visit a Website. Any Website. 123
Apple 'Suddenly Catches TikTok Secretly Spying On Millions Of iPhone Users', Claims Forbes 61
Mobilewalla Used Cellphone Data To Estimate the Demographics of Protesters 24
Facial Recognition Bill Would Ban Use By Federal Law Enforcement 56
Comcast Becomes the First ISP To Join Mozilla's TRR Program 85
Safari 14 Will Let You Log in To Websites With Your Face or Finger 42
Boston Votes To Ban Government Use of Facial Recognition 51
Google Says It Will Keep Less Browser History and Location Data By Default 36
It's Unconstitutional For Cops To Force Phone Unlocking, Court Rules 116
Safari 14 Removes Flash, Gets Support for Breach Alerts, HTTP/3, and WebP 54

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Work continues in this area. -- DEC's SPR-Answering-Automaton