zao Viral Chinese Deepfake App Zao Faces Intense Privacy Backlash A wildly popular Chinese face-swapping app called Zao sparks a major privacy controversy after users discover its aggressive data policies. The app's developers promise to update their terms following immediate public outrage.
microsoft Microsoft Updates Privacy Policy to Acknowledge Human Review of Audio Microsoft revises its privacy policy to explicitly state that human workers review select Skype and Cortana audio snippets to improve AI accuracy.
traces ai New Startup Traces AI Tracks People Without Using Facial Recognition Traces AI offers a privacy-focused computer vision alternative to facial recognition that tracks individuals using clothing and physical attributes instead of faces. The Y Combinator startup aims to provide effective security solutions for a market increasingly wary of invasive surveillance.
credit karma Credit Karma Faces Major Glitch Exposing User Financial Data Credit Karma users report a severe technical malfunction that displays other people's credit factors and account balances upon logging in. The company denies a data breach but confirms the issue is now fixed.
facebook Facebook Employs Contractors to Transcribe User Audio Clips Facebook pays hundreds of human contractors to listen to and transcribe audio snippets from its users. This practice raises significant privacy concerns among consumers and regulators.
facebook Facebook Faces Backlash Over Secret Audio Transcriptions by Contractors Facebook reportedly uses third-party contractors to transcribe user audio from Messenger without explicit permission. The social giant halts the practice as it joins Amazon, Google, and Apple in facing audio privacy scrutiny.
facebook Facebook Admits Paying Contractors to Transcribe User Audio Chats Facebook confirms it pays outside contractors to transcribe audio clips from Messenger users to test its AI, but now pauses the practice following industry backlash.
gdpr Study Finds Most EU Cookie Banners Use Dark Patterns to Force Consent A new academic study reveals that the vast majority of EU cookie consent notices rely on manipulative design tricks rather than offering genuine choices. Researchers conclude that if websites asked for consent legally, almost no one would agree to be tracked.
student data Teen Researcher Exposes Massive Flaws in Student Data Systems An 18-year-old security researcher uncovers severe vulnerabilities in popular school software, potentially exposing the data of over five million students and teachers.
preclusio YC Startup Preclusio Tackles GDPR Compliance With Machine Learning Preclusio deploys an on-premises machine learning platform to help companies automatically identify, classify, and monitor sensitive data for privacy regulation compliance.
robocalls Popular Robocall Blocking Apps Caught Sharing User Data Without Consent Security researchers discover that several top robocall-blocking applications secretly transmit personal and device data to third-party analytics firms before users even accept the privacy policies.
facebook Court Clears Path for Billion-Dollar Facial Recognition Lawsuit Against Facebook A federal appeals court allows a massive class action lawsuit against Facebook to proceed over illegal biometric data collection. The ruling declares that creating face templates without consent violates user privacy.
facebook Appeals Court Allows Illinois Users to Sue Facebook Over Facial Recognition A federal appeals court rules that Facebook users in Illinois can move forward with a class-action lawsuit against the company over its facial recognition technology. The decision marks the first time a U.S. appellate court directly addresses the privacy risks of face surveillance.
instagram Instagram Bans Partner Hyp3r for Secretly Tracking Millions of User Locations Instagram removes marketing partner Hyp3r after the company secretly collects location data and ephemeral stories from millions of users. The social network makes a product change to prevent similar scraping in the future.
apple Apple Halts Siri Audio Grading Program Amid Global Privacy Backlash Apple suspends its Siri audio grading program worldwide after a report highlights contractor access to sensitive user recordings. The company promises a future software update that allows users to opt out of the quality control process.