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No Kings. Not Today. Not Ever.

The following is a personal statement, cross-posted with DataBreaches.net: Today is a day of national protest against the authoritarian regime being imposed by a narcissist and those who are afraid to stand up to him. Today is the day when my husband — an arch-Conservative who has never participated in a political protest in his...

Claro and Town of Dover, NJ Launch AI Video Analytics to Transform Public Safety

From a press release by Claro: The Town of Dover has taken a bold step forward in public safety by partnering with Claro to deploy advanced AI-driven surveillance technology across its municipal buildings. This initiative, which enhances both security and operational efficiency, is already being recognized as a model for smart city innovation. With the...

Labor Unions, EFF Sue Trump Administration to Stop Ideological Surveillance of Free Speech Online

NEW YORK—The United Automobile Workers (UAW), Communications Workers of America (CWA), and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) filed a lawsuit today against the Departments of State and Homeland Security for their viewpoint-based surveillance and suppression of protected expression online. The complaint asks a federal court to stop this unconstitutional surveillance program, which has silenced and...

The Surveillance Empire That Tracked World Leaders, a Vatican Enemy, and Maybe You

Gabriel Geiger, Crofton Black, Emmanuel Freudenthal, and Riccardo Coluccini report: … Operating from their base in Jakarta, where permissive export laws have allowed their surveillance business to flourish, First Wap’s European founders and executives have quietly built a phone-tracking empire, with a footprint extending from the Vatican to the Middle East to Silicon Valley. It...

LinkedIn Stuck With Three Lawsuits Over Online Data Tracking

Christopher Brown reports: LinkedIn Corp. must face three related lawsuits alleging it collected the sensitive information of visitors to several health-related websites without their consent in violation of California privacy laws. The individual plaintiffs in two of the proposed class actions adequately pleaded claims of invasion of privacy under the California Constitution and violations of...

Protecting Privacy to Combat Authoritarianism

GW Law Professor Daniel Solove talks with GW Research Magazine About His Latest Research October 9, 2025 For authoritarian governments, surveillance has always been a powerful tool for stifling dissent and ensuring obedience in a population. Private information gathered on individuals can be used to manipulate, blackmail or threaten them with punishment. In his article,...

Microsoft ‘illegally’ tracked students via 365 Education, says data watchdog

Joe Fay reports: An Austrian digital privacy group has claimed victory over Microsoft after the country’s data protection regulator ruled the software giant “illegally” tracked students via its 365 Education platform and used their data. noyb said the ruling [PDF] by the Austrian Data Protection Authority also confirmed that Microsoft had tried to shift responsibility for access requests to...

Article: The Great Scrape: The Clash Between Scraping and Privacy

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) systems depend on massive quantities of data, often gathered by “scraping”—the automated extraction of large amounts of data from the internet. A great deal of scraped data contains people’s personal information. This personal data provides the grist for AI tools such as facial recognition, deep fakes, and generative AI. Although scraping...

UK Upper Tribunal hands down judgment on Clearview AI Inc

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has handed down its judgment in the UK Information Commissioner’s appeal against the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) decision on Clearview AI Inc (Clearview). In May 2022, the Commissioner fined US-based company Clearview £7.5m and issued an enforcement notice for scraping images of UK residents from the web and social media, and then uploading them into its global online...

California’s New Delete Request Tool Impacts Data Brokers and Residents

How many readers would think about moving to California because of this regulation? It sounds great. Hunton Andrews Kurth writes: On September 26, 2025, following a public comment period, the California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) adopted its regulations concerning the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (“DROP”). The DROP is a tool developed to address the California Delete Act’s requirement...

Researchers uncover spyware targeting messaging app users in the UAE

Suzanne Smalley reports: Researchers have discovered new spyware embedded in fake messaging apps being used to target people in the United Arab Emirates. The cybersecurity firm ESET said Thursday its experts found two Android spyware campaigns, dubbed ProSpy and ToSpy, which pose as Signal and ToTok — a free messaging and calling app that originated...

Words from the incomparable Jane Goodall

In an interview recorded in March with the understanding that it would only be released after her death, Jane Goodall shared her views on a number of topics.  You can read more about the interview or watch a clip from the interview, which is transcribed below: “I would say I was somebody sent to this...

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Joseph Cox reports: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has bought access to a surveillance tool that is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones, according to ICE documents reviewed by 404 Media. The documents explicitly show that ICE is choosing this product over others offered...

Louisiana issues arrest warrant for California doctor who allegedly sent abortion pills

Nada Hassanein reports: Louisiana has issued an arrest warrant for a California doctor for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a Louisiana woman — the latest legal volley in an ongoing fight between states with abortion bans and those that have enacted protections for abortion providers who use telemedicine to send abortion medication over state lines....
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