texas Texas Launches Child Safety Probe Into Character.AI and Major Social Platforms Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton investigates Character.AI and 14 other tech platforms over potential violations of state child privacy and safety laws.
apple Lawsuit Accuses Apple of Failing to Scan iCloud for Child Abuse Material A survivor of child sexual abuse sues Apple for abandoning its planned iCloud CSAM detection system. The lawsuit claims the tech giant breaks its promise to protect children and forces victims to repeatedly relive their trauma.
chatgpt ChatGPT Crashes on Certain Names Due to Hidden Privacy Filters ChatGPT freezes when users type specific names like David Mayer or Brian Hood, sparking widespread speculation. Evidence suggests these individuals likely submitted digital privacy or "right to be forgotten" requests to OpenAI.
australia Australia Passes Landmark Law Banning Social Media for Children Under 16 Australia officially approves legislation that prohibits children under 16 from using social media platforms. The law, which takes effect in November 2025, imposes massive fines on tech companies that fail to implement strict age verification.
spotify Spotify Restricts Developer API Access to Protect AI Recommendation Data Spotify is cutting off third-party developer access to key recommendation and audio analysis features through its Web API. The move aims to prevent data scraping and the training of competing AI music models.
bluesky Bluesky Proposes Open Alternative to Paid Social Media Verification Bluesky outlines a new verification model that relies on multiple independent providers instead of a single paid system. This approach aims to avoid the impersonation and bot issues currently plaguing platforms like X.
brave search Brave Search Integrates AI Chat for Follow-Up Questions Brave Search now includes an AI chat bar under its "Answer with AI" summaries, allowing users to ask follow-up questions without starting a new search. This feature combines traditional search capabilities with conversational AI while maintaining user privacy.
google Google Adds Memory Feature to Gemini Chatbot for Premium Web Users Google's Gemini chatbot now allows premium web users to save personal preferences and context for more tailored conversations. The company promises these memories remain private and are not used to train AI models.
ai Privacy Experts Warn Against Uploading Medical Scans to AI Chatbots Security advocates urge people to stop sharing sensitive medical images like X-rays and MRIs with AI chatbots. Uploading this data risks exposing private health information and potentially feeds it into AI training datasets without strict protections.
nso group WhatsApp Court Docs Reveal NSO Cut 10 Spyware Clients Over Abuse Newly unsealed court documents show that NSO Group disconnects 10 government customers for abusing its Pegasus spyware. The files also reveal internal hacking tools and the massive scale of WhatsApp user targeting.
bluesky Bluesky Vows Not to Train AI on User Posts Amid X Policy Shift As X implements new terms allowing AI training on public posts, surging rival Bluesky explicitly promises it has no intention of using user content for generative AI models.
ecosia European Search Engines Ecosia and Qwant Team Up to Build Independent Index Ecosia and Qwant form a joint venture to create their own European search index, aiming to reduce reliance on Google and Microsoft while cutting rising API costs.
apple Apple Tests Find My Update to Share Lost Item Locations With Strangers Apple is testing a new Find My feature that allows users to share lost item locations via link with non-contacts. Nearly 20 airlines will soon accept these links to help return misplaced luggage.
apple Apple's iOS 18.1 Update Adds Automatic Reboot to Thwart iPhone Unlocking A new feature in iOS 18.1 automatically reboots iPhones after four days of remaining locked, blocking common police password-cracking tools. Security experts praise the update as a major win for user privacy that causes minimal inconvenience to everyday users.
mozilla Mozilla Aims to Restore Firefox to Former Glory on Its 20th Birthday As Firefox celebrates its 20th anniversary, Mozilla's interim CEO reveals a renewed financial commitment to the browser's core development. The company hopes this renewed focus will reverse years of market share decline and drive new growth.