#privacy

#privacy

I've been using open-source software for a very long time. In fact, the last time I didn't use open-source software, Bill Clinton was president of the US. Open-source software is available for nearly every operating system on the market, from desktops to phones, and I often find open-source apps are superior to their proprietary counterparts. If you're a Windows user, you don't have to remain locked into closed-source software, because there are so many alternatives from which you can choose.

Microsoft's OneDrive is increasing the creepiness quotient by using AI to spot faces in photos and group images accordingly. Don't worry, it can be turned off - three times a year. This writer has been enrolled in a OneDrive feature on mobile to group photos by people. We're not alone - others have also reported it turning up on their devices.

The CISA law was due for renewal along with the federal government's continuing funding resolution, but given the Senate's inability to pass it and the government shutdown that followed, Peters and Rounds want it extended without having to wait for the government to reopen in order to do so. The CISA law, for those unfamiliar, establishes a framework and legal protections for companies to share threat indicators with the government and each other.

The video was followed by a photo of the mother-daughter duo standing side by side while she held Lilibet's hand. Meghan penned an inspirational message in the caption, writing in part, "To all the girls - this world is yours." "Do everything you can to protect your rights, use your voice, support each other," she continued. "We will do the same for you. It's your right and our responsibility. Go get 'em girl! Happy International Day of the Girl."

Did you know that whenever you turn on your smart TV, you invite an unseen guest to watch it with you? These days, most mainstream TVs use automatic content recognition (ACR), a type of ad-tracking technology that collects data on everything you watch and sends it to a central database. Manufacturers then use this information to understand your viewing habits and deliver highly targeted ads.

allow Microsoft and other manufacturers to offer sophisticated AI experiences on devices with a more affordable price point.

"A disclosure, even with redactions, will reveal whether a security clearance was granted with or without conditions or a waiver," DCSA argued. Ultimately, DCSA failed to prove that Musk risked "embarrassment or humiliation" not only if the public learned what specific conditions or waivers applied to Musk's clearances but also if there were any conditions or waivers at all, Cote wrote.

Barcelona is about to get a lot more eyes on its streets. City Hall has confirmed plans to install 1,000 new CCTV cameras over the coming years, a major jump from the 160 currently in place. Mayor Jaume Collboni said the first cameras will appear in Ciutat Vella and along the waterfront, two of the city's busiest - and often most troubled - areas.

Who controls the data? Every meeting should be captured, but not every recording needs to be shared. Use private meeting settings, control access permissions, and set retention policies that auto-delete after a certain number of days. Who needs access? The power of AI is capturing everything. The responsibility is controlling who sees what. Share broadly for team updates, narrowly for performance reviews, not at all for sensitive discussions.

As the AI plagiarism machines continue to churn out ever-more semi-realistic slop, including videos of OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman eating a barbecued Pikachu, the harm to any number of industries is incalculable. But there is also the personal harm, and no one has captured it better than actor and director Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, in a recent post on her Instagram.

When you run a search via google.com, that search not only goes through the Google servers, but it also places AI answers front and center. That centralized service means Google is in complete control of your searches. What if you could instead use a decentralized server that runs across many devices, each of which is private and not under the control of a single organization? That's YaCy.

Instagram announced on Monday that it's updating its Map feature to make it easier to see whether you're sharing your location. The social network also announced that it's launching the Snap Map-like feature to users in India, following the initial rollout to users in the United States and Canada in August. When the feature first launched, it caused widespread confusion, with numerous social media posts urging users to turn off location sharing, incorrectly claiming it was enabled by default.

Researchers at UC Irvine uncovered a vulnerability that enables some gaming mice with polling rates of 4,000 Hz or higher many of which are developed in the Bay Area to be turned into spyware, capturing conversations through desk vibrations using AI. As Tom's Hardware reports, security researchers from the University of California Irvine found a way to use high-end optical gaming mice containing advanced sensors that can sample data up to 8,000 times per second, per Hoodline, to record users' conversations via desk vibrations.

There are those among us who like the idea of swiping and tapping their way through life, armed with a lifetime of digital information as they enter buildings, book online appointments and take train rides to work. Others are not so keen, fearing that big brother databases chock full of personal details will one day control their movements, if that is not happening already.

Meet Rewarded Interest, a company launched last year by Scott Spencer and Thede Loder. Spencer was a long-time Google ad tech product leader who joined with the DoubleClick acquisition and Loder was most recently an engineering leader at Microsoft via the acquisition of RiskIQ. Spencer and Loder are attempting an idea that has been tested many times, but never brought to life successfully - although there's a new twist this time. Rewarded Interest has a Chrome browser extension that promises users a cut of the revenue they generate from online tracking data.

It's been almost 10 years since Brave launched, and slowly but surely the privacy-focused web browser is attracting more and more users. It's been a long road with some ups and downs, but it's paying off. According to a recent company blog post, Brave says its browser has crossed a new milestone: 100 million active monthly users. That's as of September 2025, representing a huge jump up from the 50 million users milestone it reached back in 2021. That's a four-year doubling!

The UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a 'back door' that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties,

The wearable looks a bit like an Apple AirTag on a necklace. Friend is designed to be always-on to hear whatever the wearer says (as well as any other noise they're near), use AI to process those inputs, and formulate its own responses, which it then sends via text message to the wearer. "The more you talk to it, the more you build up a relationship with it. And that's really the whole goal of the product," Schiffmann told Fast Company in July 2024.

AI isn't going anywhere, and everyone knows that by now. People around the world are using AI for just about any reason or task that you can imagine. I know people who consider the AI chatbots to be friends. I also know people who look at AI as a tool for research. And then there are those who use AI to write correspondence and other types of documents.

Without directly naming SafetyCore, Google explained that the optional setting can blur photos that may contain nudity and display a warning before you view or share them. Sensitive Content Warnings appears to use SafetyCore to analyze images locally on your device. Google has emphasized that SafetyCore runs entirely on your phone -- images don't leave your device, and Google doesn't know if nudity was flagged.