Privacy
55 posts
News
Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit
“This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”
Privacy
FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
The case was the first time authorities charged people for alleged “Antifa” activities after President Trump designated the umbrella term a terrorist organization.
Privacy
A 'Self-Doxing' Rave Helps Trans People Stay Safe Online
At a New York party, attendees spent Trans Day of Visibility dancing, DJing, and learning how to become less visible online.
Privacy
A Secure Chat App’s Encryption Is So Bad It Is ‘Meaningless’
TeleGuard is an app downloaded more a million times that markets itself as a secure way to chat. The app uploads users’ private keys to the company’s server, and makes decryption of messages trivial.
Privacy
Apple Gives FBI a User’s Real Name Hidden Behind ’Hide My Email’ Feature
The move isn't surprising, but shows what data is available to authorities when paying Apple customers use the Hide My Email feature.
News
Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester
A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.
DHS
CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements
An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar tools.
Podcast
How to Detect Phone Spying Tech (with Cooper Quintin)
Joseph speaks to Cooper Quintin all about how to find fake cell phone towers that can track your movements or intercept text messages.
Privacy
This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby
The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech.”
Privacy
Underground Facial Recognition Tool Unmasks Camgirls
The site, camgirlfinder, is explicitly built as a tool to let people find a model's presence on other streaming platforms. The creator says “If that is a problem for you then the sad reality is this job is not for you.”
FOIA
Cops Are Buying ‘GeoSpy’, an AI That Geolocates Photos in Seconds
404 Media has obtained a cache of internal police emails showing at least two agencies have bought access to GeoSpy, an AI tool that analyzes architecture, soil, and other features to near instantly geolocate photos.
Privacy
Free Tool Says it Can Bypass Discord's Age Verification Check With a 3D Model
The tool presents users with a 3D model they can then manipulate to, the creator says, bypass Discord's age verification system.