Gizmodo: “A bipartisan group of 12 senators has urged the Transportation Security Administration’s inspector general to investigate the agency’s use of facial recognition, saying it poses a significant threat to privacy and civil liberties. Their letter comes just before one of the busiest travel periods of the year when millions of Americans are expected to… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
Surveillance Self-Defense Tips, Tools and How-tos for Safer Online Communications
We’re the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an independent non-profit working to protect online privacy for over thirty years. This is Surveillance Self-Defense: our expert guide to protecting you and your friends from online spying. Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) is a guide to protecting yourself from electronic surveillance for people all over the world. Some aspects of this… Continue Reading
MS Word is Using You to Train AI
Medium unpaywalled – How to turn off AI-scraping from your Word documents and a 2nd unpaywalled option: “Microsoft Office, like many companies in recent months, has slyly turned on an “opt-out” feature that scrapes your Word and Excel documents to train its internal AI systems. This setting is turned on by default, and you have… Continue Reading
Overlooked Google Docs Feature Makes Organizing Information a Breeze
MakeUseOf: “Google Docs is packed with useful tools, but some of its best features often go unnoticed. One such feature is the Documents Tab, a powerful but overlooked tool that can make organizing and accessing your information much simpler…” Continue Reading
How to Add Extra Security Layers to Your Phone or Tablet
The New York Times [no paywall]: “Losing a smartphone or tablet stuffed with your life’s details can be a nightmare, but your privacy may also be at risk in less obvious situations — like if you leave your unlocked phone unattended or if the children know your tablet’s passcode. While apps for financial or medical… Continue Reading
How Google Spent 15 Years Creating a Culture of Concealment
The New York Times [free article] – “Trying to avoid antitrust suits, Google systematically told employees to destroy messages, avoid certain words and copy the lawyers as often as possible…How Google developed this distrustful culture was pieced together from hundreds of documents and exhibits, as well as witness testimony, in three antitrust trials against the… Continue Reading
What Is Browser Fingerprinting? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
John Mateer – Medium: “You’re browsing the internet without a care in the world — why shouldn’t you? You’re internet savvy, after all. You take your privacy seriously. That’s why you pay $20 a month for a rotating VPN. Surfshark, NordVPN, Google One — ever heard of them? You’re ahead of the game. But you didn’t… Continue Reading
US Patent and Trademark Office Banned Staff From Using Generative AI
Wired – [unpaywalled] “The US Patent and Trademark Office banned the use of generative artificial intelligence for any purpose last year, citing security concerns with the technology as well as the propensity of some tools to exhibit “bias, unpredictability, and malicious behavior,” according to an April 2023 internal guidance memo obtained by WIRED through a… Continue Reading
Use These 4 Apps and Tools to Detect Phishing Emails
MakeUseOf: “Phishing emails are no longer exclusively sent by Nigerian princes needing financial assistance. Scammers are now tech-savvy criminals who leverage state-of-the-art tools to con their victims. But it’s not like they’re the only ones with an arsenal of tools to pull from. Most phishing emails will send you attached files and links or try… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 16, 2024
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 16, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading
Vanishing Culture: Q&A with Philip Bump
The Internet Archives Blog, November 4, 2024. The following Q&A between writer Caralee Adams and journalist Philip Bump of The Washington Post is part of our Vanishing Culture series, highlighting the power and importance of preservation in our digital age. Read more essays online or download the full report now. Philip Bump is a columnist for The Washington Post based in New… Continue Reading
How did Trump win the election?
New interactive tool takes deep dive into voter demographics, Northeastern Global News – Demographic Vote Prediction Tool. “The tool developed by Northeastern University Distinguished Professor David Lazer allows users to select for demographics including gender, race, income, education, age and voting preference in 2020 and 2024. Trump secured victories in the key swing states of… Continue Reading
