Tag Archives: privacy

Apple scored a legal win in France on Wednesday when the country’s competition authority, known as the Autorité de la Concurrence, declined to prohibit the tech giant from instituting new privacy rules for its devices. Apple’s upcoming iOS 14.5 software update will ask users if they want to allow ad tracking across various apps and …

Clubhouse, the invite-only audio-chat app that’s all the rage in Silicon Valley, is under investigation by the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL), a French privacy watchdog group, after a complaint. The complaint called into question Clubhouse’s compliance with European data privacy regulations, and initial verification from the CNIL found that the company isn’t established with the European Union, …

Google failed to win dismissal of a lawsuit alleging it collects users’ data on internet activity even when they browse in a browser’s private incognito mode. The lawsuit, filed in June, alleges Google violates wiretapping and privacy laws by continuing to “intercept, track, and collect communications” even when people use Chrome’s incognito mode and other private web browser modes. A …

T-Mobile is starting a new program that collects and shares data with advertisers in order to show you ads more relevant to your interests. Customers will be included by default, but will be allowed to opt out. The carrier announced the change in a privacy policy update last month, and it was spotted by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.  The new policy …

Google on Wednesday said it will stop selling ads based on a person’s individual browsing across websites, a move that could shake up the digital advertising industry as consumers call for more privacy online.  Last year, the search giant said it will phase out third-party cookies, little bits of code that can let advertisers track user history across the web. …

Browser maker Brave has acquired a search engine project that prioritizes user privacy, a distinction it hopes will set it apart from Google, the undisputed leader in internet search.  On Wednesday, Brave said it had purchased Tailcat, which was developed by Cliqz, a privacy-minded subsidiary of Germany’s Hubert Burda Media. Tailcat, which Burda shuttered in 2020, was designed to show …

A judge has approved what he called one of the largest-ever settlements of a privacy lawsuit, giving a thumbs-up Friday to Facebook paying $650 million to users who alleged the company created and stored scans of their faces without permission. The class-action suit, filed in Illinois in 2015, involved Facebook’s use of facial recognition technology in its photo-tagging feature. With …

LastPass‘ slate of web trackers is in the spotlight after a security researcher recommended switching away from the password manager based on the findings of a well-known privacy advocacy app. The analysis follows LastPass’ recently announced restrictions to its free-tier service, which will become effective in March.  The Exodus Privacy app, developed by the Guardian Project to document the number …

TikTok has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that the app captured biometric and private data from users in the US. Several law firms reached a settlement with the social media app on Thursday, with TikTok agreeing to pay $92 million.  The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok passed private user data on to third parties. The settlement would require the …

Facebook is expected to launch its first pair of smart glasses this year, but there’s one issue company employees are still discussing: whether to add facial recognition technology to the product. BuzzFeed News, citing remarks from an internal meeting, reported on Thursday that Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, who oversees the company’s augmented and virtual reality efforts, told employees that the company …