Alexander Martin reports: A 20-year-old man was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for coercing more than 100 girls worldwide into sexual and self-harm activity using platforms such as Snapchat, Telegram and Discord, British authorities said. Justin Swaddle, of Leeds in northern England, targeted 117 female victims aged 13 to 17, according to the...

Lindsey Tonsager, Jenna Zhang, and Irene Kim of Covington and Burling write: On July 28, 2026, the New York Office of the Attorney General released final rules (the “Rules”) implementing the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, which goes into effect on January 25, 2027. The SAFE for Kids Act requires online “addictive social media...

Oh, FFS. Ravie Lakshmanan reports: Meta has announced that its new artificial intelligence (AI) model Muse Image lets people use public Instagram posts and reels to generate AI content, and it’s enabled by default. “You can also @-mention Instagram accounts in the Meta AI app to bring specific Instagram profiles right into your images,” the...

Suzanne Smalley reports: The European Parliament has voted to bring back a rule giving big tech permission to scan users’ messages to hunt for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a process that critics call Chat Control. Thursday’s vote occurred the day before summer recess and was the product of an unusual legislative procedure requiring an...

Steve Alder writes: Memorial Healthcare Services, a nonprofit healthcare provider serving patients in Southern California, has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over its use of pixels and other tracking, web analytics, and advertising technologies on its website. The tools are alleged to have been added to the website without the knowledge or consent...

Julia Conley writes: Opponents of a bill that is purported to protect children online said Monday night, after the legislation passed in the US House, that laws are “urgently” needed to stop Big Tech companies from preying on kids’ vulnerabilities. “The KIDS Act is not that piece of legislation,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who was one of 117 lawmakers who voted against the Kids Internet...

Seen on FourthAmendment.com: Yahoo and NCMEC didn’t act as government agents when they scanned defendant’s email account for hash values of CSAM. They were not required to do so, but did so and warned customers they would. NCMEC passed on the information to the local police who got a search warrant. United States v. Williamson, 2026...

Sergiu Gatlan reports: WhatsApp is finally allowing users to reserve usernames, a privacy feature that lets them hide their phone numbers from people not in their contact list. Meta says that more than 3 billion people in over 180 countries use WhatsApp’s instant messaging and video-calling platform, which started as an alternative to the Short...

Paige Collings and Jillian C. York write: This week, politicians in the UK pushed forward with plans to eviscerate privacy and free speech on the internet by announcing a ban on social media for users under 16 that is set to take effect in Spring 2027. The UK government continues to falsely characterize this policy as a necessary response...

Zack Whittaker reports: Apple’s plan to change a privacy feature that lets paying customers hide their real email addresses when creating online accounts could make it easier for apps and websites to block anonymous sign-ups. Apple’s Hide My Email is an iCloud+ feature that generates anonymous email addresses under the @icloud.com domain, which then forward messages to...

Naomi Diaz reports: The American Hospital Association and Illinois Health and Hospital Association are urging the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court ruling in a website-tracking lawsuit against Evanston, Ill.-based Endeavor Health, formerly known as Edward-Elmhurst Health. In a May 27 amicus brief, the hospital groups said they support Endeavor Health and...

A May 21, 2026 press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton: Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC (collectively “WhatsApp”) after the company misled consumers regarding the strength and scope of its privacy protections for its messaging app, WhatsApp. WhatsApp is widely marketed as a secure messaging service...

Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft are ignoring data controls mandated under California law, researchers say. By: Colin Lecher A new audit has found that websites across the internet may be failing to abide by California privacy law, ignoring a requirement to not track visitors who set a privacy control. The report, from researchers...

FBI Milwaukee Public Affairs Officer Caroline Clancy (414) 489-3644 April 22, 2026 Dear Parents and Guardians, Over the course of the last few years, the FBI has observed a concerning increase in activity by online actors involved in predatory activity. These predators target children across the United States, including in Wisconsin. “764” is often used...

Chris Smith writes: Incognito Mode is an internet browsing mode that most web browsers support to allow the user to visit websites without leaving traces on the computer, like browsing history. It’s a useful tool for visiting specific websites on a shared computer, or for testing websites and services in a different browser. However, Incognito...

 Gail Menius // We avoid tasks that are too hard. When we avoid them (consciously or unconsciously) the things we do instead are called “avoidance behaviors.” Adults and teachers alike […]

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