Privacy

A CNN investigation found that Airbnb routinely ignores or silences, through settlements and NDAs, guests who find hidden cameras in their rentals’ bedrooms and bathrooms.

In one case, Airbnb told guests who found a camera pointed at their bed it wanted to get the host’s side of the story. It allowed him to continue hosting for months, even after being told he was under police investigation. Police eventually raided his property:

Among the more than 2,000 recovered images, law enforcement identified more than 30 victims, including several children. Many guests – who booked the same property either through Airbnb or Vrbo – were captured in various stages of undress. Some were recorded having sex.

Update: Altered the text for clarity.

Russia’s communications regulator ordered Apple to remove some of the VPN apps available in the country, according to a notice Apple sent to the developers of Red Shield VPN, Le VPN, and others:

We are writing to notify you that your application, your application, per demand from Roskomnadzor will be removed from the Russia App Store because it includes content that is illegal in Russia.

In March, Russia made it illegal to advertise VPNs that don’t comply with the country’s strict laws.

The whole “my phone’s microphone is listening to me!” thing is one of my favorite internet debates. This McSweeney’s piece is very funny — and exactly correct about how it really works.

It’s not like there are hacks every day, and there will be more and more as time progresses, and some amoral lunatic on the dark web will eventually see a transcript of every in-person conversation you’ve ever had.

APRA seemed like the most promising privacy bill in a while when it debuted in April. But the latest version, which a House committee will reportedly consider on Thursday, is getting panned.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law says:

“By removing previously agreed upon bipartisan language that would address data-driven discrimination and require AI impact assessments, the new draft of APRA fails to address the core purpose of privacy: to ensure that who we are cannot be used against us unfairly.”

The American Privacy Rights Act looked like it had a real shot; now it may become yet another victim of House GOP internal drama. I suppose aside from the communist plot to sap and impurify all of our precious personal data, Congress simply does not care about privacy?

Today the company rolled out an expanded takedown requests process for AI content following its initial announcement back in November.

But requesting removal doesn’t guarantee YouTube will comply. The company says it will consider things like whether the content could be mistaken as real and whether it’s parody or satire.

The app first started letting users automatically back up their photos on Android last year, and now it’s available on iOS, too. Unlike Google Drive, all the files stored in Proton Drive are end-to-end encrypted.

The Belgian presidency postponed a decision on the legislation, which proposed scanning encrypted messages for CSAM. This doesn’t mean the proposal is gone for good — an EU diplomat tells the Belgian news outlet HLN that “it remains a key priority for the Council.”

It’s a police-operated drone. WIRED took a deep look into how one California city is using the aerial devices to collect information before responding in-person to some incidents. After analyzing 10,000 flight records over a two-year period, WIRED found poorer residents had more contact with the drones. But most Chula Vista residents interviewed said they supported the program.

Deputy director Paul Abbate emailed agents on April 20th — a day after the Senate voted to reauthorize 702.

“I urge everyone to continue to look for ways to appropriately use US person queries to advance the mission, with the added confidence that this new pre-approval requirement will help ensure that those queries are fully compliant with the law.”

The hackers obtained the names and banking information belonging to an unknown number of UK military personnel, according to reports from the BBC and Sky News.

Members of Parliament will reportedly be made aware of the breach on Tuesday. Although the UK government has not revealed who’s behind the attack, Sky News has linked it to China.

Google Maps is a handy way to view a specific address — but if you’d rather keep your house private, you can request it to be blurred out. CNET explains how: in Street View, click on the tiny “Report a problem” link in the lower right, and follow directions. But make sure this is what you want — apparently, there’s no unblurring.

Earlier this month, the adult entertainment group Free Speech Coalition filed an emergency appeal to overturn the online age verification law, but the Supreme Court has rejected the request. The group said the law violates free speech rights, as it forces users to upload a photo of their government ID to access porn sites.

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the students negotiating with the university over the encampment, told The City administrators had previously assured him he wouldn’t be disciplined.

I quoted Khalil in my article about the doxxings at Columbia:

I am here on a foreign visa. That’s why for the past six months, I’ve barely appeared on the media. ... I did not participate, fearing that I will be arrested and ultimately deported from this country.

Webb and Val Verde counties, both of which are located near the Texas-Mexico border, recently started using TraffiCatch to surveil their communities, NOTUS reports.

TraffiCatch lets police “detect in-vehicle wireless signals,” which it connects to cars’ license plate numbers. Webb County bought the tech with a grant from DHS, while Val Verde got the funds through Operation Lone Star, a controversial state-level immigration enforcement program.