Match, Tinder Swipe Right For Privacy Red Flags, Say Experts

Over 70 percent of subscribers across Match.com express concern about the amount of data they share with the platform, according to a ProPrivacy.com survey. But despite those concerns, users of the service do it anyway and also remain unaware of just how much data the company collects and how the...

Consumers Urged to Junk Insecure IoT Devices

More than 2 million connected security cameras, baby monitors and other IoT devices have serious vulnerabilities that have been publicly disclosed for more than two months – yet they are still without a patch or even any vendor response. Security researcher Paul Marrapese, who disclosed the flaws...

Smart cities, difficult choices: privacy and security on the grid

All is not well in the land of smart city planning, as the latest major planned development from Google's sister company Sidewalk Labs continues to run into problems in Toronto, Canada. A groundswell of support? Building a city “From the ground up” is apparently no longer a thing: at least some...

Extinguishing the IoT Insecurity Dumpster Fire

It’s no secret IoT security has been a dumpster fire. Last week, it was reported two million IP security cameras, baby monitors and smart doorbells have serious IoT flaws with no known patches. The list, of course, is added to a long list of IoT nightmares that have been reported over the past fi...

Unprotected Database Exposes Personal Info of 80 Million American Households

A team of security researchers has claims to have found a publicly-accessible database that exposes information on more than 80 million U.S. households—nearly 65 percent of the total number of American households. Discovered by VPNMentor's research team lead by hacktivists Noam Rotem and Ran Loca...

Poll: Are You Creeped Out By Facial Recognition?

Several news incidents this week regarding facial recognition and biometrics have sparked discussions in the security space over privacy concerns and issues around consent. First, a JetBlue passenger made headlines in a now-viral Twitter exchange with the airline, about the facial-recognition...

Congress Asks Google 10 Questions On Its Location Tracking Database

U.S. Congress has sent an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking for more information about its Sensorvault database that's reportedly being used by law enforcement agencies to solve crime cases. Last week, we reported a story based upon NY Times findings that revealed how using a...

Google Gives Users More Choice with Location-Tracking Apps

Anyone who uses a mobile app knows how convenient the features that use location data can be, from getting turn-by-turn directions and finding nearby restaurants to fitness-tracking and weather integration. But these rich mobile “experiences” – as app developers call them – can be a double-edged...

On Surveillance in the Workplace

Data & Society just published a report entitled "Workplace Monitoring & Surveillance": This explainer highlights four broad trends in employee monitoring and surveillance technologies: Prediction and flagging tools that aim to predict characteristics or behaviors of employees or that are designed...

Labs survey finds privacy concerns, distrust of social media rampant with all age groups

Before Cambridge Analytica made Facebook an unwilling accomplice to a scandal by appropriating and misusing more than 50 million users’ data, the public was already living in relative unease over the privacy of their information online. The Cambridge Analytica incident, along with other, seemingl...

The Latest in Creepy Spyware

The Nest home alarm system shipped with a secret microphone, which -- according to the company -- was only an accidental secret: On Tuesday, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider the company had made an "error." "The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have bee...

The Dark Sides of Modern Cars: Hacking and Data Collection

Like an unstoppable incoming tide, connectivity has quietly inundated the automobiles we so love to drive. In less than a decade, amazing driver-assist mechanisms and must-have infotainment systems have swept into the dashboards of many popular car models for sale today. And we’re just at the sta...

Check your VPN DNS test tool legitimacy: Is it “good” or deceptive

By Zehra Ali Does your VPN leaks DNS data? Does the DNS testing tool you're using shows real results or shows sponsored results for affiliate marketing? Virtual private network VPN users are increasing at a great pace due to growing privacy concerns and numerous VPN options, including both, the...

Reverse Location Search Warrants

The police are increasingly getting search warrants for information about all cell phones in a certain location at a certain time: Police departments across the country have been knocking at Google's door for at least the last two years with warrants to tap into the company's extensive stores of...

What If Your VPN Keeps Logs and Why You Should Care

By David Balaban Have you ever asked yourself the question: “So what if my VPN keeps logs?" Don't worry. It's a good question to ask. It means you're actually curious about the nuances of data collection, management and how they affect you. In order to answer this question, we first have to delve...

White House Facial Recognition Pilot Raises Privacy Alarms

Privacy advocates are up in arms after the Department of Homeland Security unveiled a facial recognition pilot program for surveilling public areas surrounding the White House. The program, outlined last week, will use biometrics to confirm the identity of various U.S. Secret Service USSS...

User Confidence in Smartphone Security Abysmal

Smartphone owners are growing worried about data privacy, and will delete apps they don’t trust. And only a quarter feel they are in control of their personal data. Research carried out by the Mobile Ecosystem Forum MEF, a trade body, found that Europeans are among the most wary cellphone users,...

As Black Friday Looms, IoT Gadgets Take the Risk Spotlight

With the holiday shopping season poised to officially kick off this weekend, it’s likely that connected gadgets and toys are high atop many a consumer wish-list. As those of us in the security space know, however, internet of things IoT devices can quickly go from fun to creepy, depending on how...

What DNA testing kit companies are really doing with your data

Sarah hovered over the mailbox, envelope in hand. She knew as soon as she mailed off her DNA sample, there’d be no turning back. She ran through the information she looked up on 23andMe’s website one more time: the privacy policy, the research parameters, the option to learn about potential healt...

New Boom in Facial Recognition Tech Prompts Privacy Alarms

Somewhat quietly over the past couple of years there has been a flurry of breakthroughs in biometric technology, led by some leapfrog advances in facial recognition systems. Now facial recognition appears to be on the verge of blossoming commercially, with security use-cases paving the way. Last...