By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist
| Targeted online advertisements are impossible to ignore. Ads based on our browsing history, geolocation, and personal information appear constantly on our social media feeds, news articles, and streaming platforms. As the authors of a new report on the advertising surveillance industry put it: “Targeted advertising is unavoidable for anyone who owns a smartphone or goes online.” Continue reading |
By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist
| Facial recognition technology made headlines again last month as researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK said that the UK police’s use of the technology was unethical and potentially unlawful. The report from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy urged police to stop using live facial recognition (LFR) in public spaces and said trials by the Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police failed to meet the “minimum legal and ethical standards.” Continue reading |
By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist
| Video doorbells are everywhere now, sold as a modern security solution that can help protect your home and belongings. They let you greet guests remotely, deter would-be parcel thieves, and could even reduce the cost of your home insurance. Continue reading |
A global study from Norton, a consumer Cyber Safety brand1 of NortonLifeLock (NASDAQ: NLOK), sheds new light on the risks consumers will take this holiday shopping this season. According to the 2022 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report: Special Release – Holiday, conducted online in August 2022 among 1,000 U.S. adults 18+ by The Harris Poll, one in three American adults (34%) admit to taking more risks when online shopping during holiday season compared to other times of the year. Continue reading
By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist
| I’m Samuel Woodhams, a digital rights researcher and journalist based in London.
The saga of the NSO Group’s invasive Pegasus spyware continues, with yet another victim confirmed this month by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and digital rights group, R3D. The organisations said Mexican opposition politician Augustín Basave Alanís was targeted in September 2021, making him the fourth person allegedly hacked during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency. Continue reading |
By Rand Hammoud, Surveillance Campaigner, Access Now
Surveillance technology is weaponry – it targets, tracks, invades, and decimates – and its unbridled use is a far-reaching, destructive violation of human rights. It is an assault rifle in the sustained global offensive on civic space, and we need a global moratorium on its export, sale, transfer, servicing, and use. Continue reading
Mallory Knodel,Ryan Polk,Sheetal Kumar
Published: October 05, 2022 | Center for Democracy & Technology
Mallory Knodel is Chief Technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Ryan Polk is Director of Internet Policy at Internet Society and Sheetal Kumar is Head of Global Engagement and Advocacy at Global Partners Digital.
At the Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented the strongest endorsement of encryption yet by the world body in its report on privacy in the digital age, underlining that the technology that leverages cryptography to secure communications, is crucial to the rights to privacy, access to information, and free expression in an online world. Continue reading
Jones Walker LLP today publicly released the findings of its 2022 Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey, examining cybersecurity preparedness in US-based ports and terminals. The report outlining the results of the survey is authored by four of the firm’s attorneys and the findings will be presented by two of them, Jim Kearns and Andy Lee, during the Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals (IRPT) conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma at 2:30 pm Central Daylight Time today. Continue reading
Ilaria Fevola
Published: September 28, 2022
Ilaria Fevola is ARTICLE 19’s legal officer focused on transparency.
Today, Sept. 28, is the International Day for Universal Access to Information, that recognises the importance for every individual to be able to access information held by public institutions. Traditionally, it has been an opportunity to examine whether countries have adopted a law on access to information and if, in practice, public bodies adhere to their transparency obligations. Continue reading
Yubo, a live social discovery platform for Gen Z, is the first major social media app in the world to implement comprehensive age-verification for all its users, a groundbreaking milestone in a key area of concern in online safety today. Continue reading