Privacy professionals
fromArs Technica
1 day agoPerplexity's "Incognito Mode" is a "sham," lawsuit says
Perplexity's AI allegedly shares sensitive user chats with Google and Meta without consent, raising significant privacy concerns.
Berman partnered with the Commission for Behavioral Health on AB 2003, which builds on a previous online suicide prevention training program offered to middle and high school students and staff from June 2020 to December 2024. Berman secured funding for that program through the budget in 2018. This training reached more than 20,000 middle and high school students and staff in California.
AI was everywhere, but I wasn't focused on product launches. I was looking at how companies think about data itself: how it's shared, governed and ultimately turned into decisions. And across conversations with executives and sessions on security and compliance, a pattern emerged: the technical limitations that once justified locking data down have largely been solved. What remains difficult is human. Alignment, trust and confidence inside organizations are now the true barriers.
The revelation stems from a data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, which allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. A declaration filed Wednesday by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo stated that the IRS was only able to verify roughly 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested.
Civil liberties experts warn the expanding use of those systems risks sweeping up citizens and noncitizens alike, often with little transparency or meaningful oversight. Over the past year, Homeland Security and other federal agencies have dramatically expanded their ability to collect, share and analyze people's personal data, thanks to a web of agreements with local, state, federal and international agencies, plus contracts with technology companies and data brokers.
That consent popup you clicked through on TikTok last week? It just unlocked precise GPS tracking that makes your old location data look like finger painting compared to a surveillance satellite. TikTok's updated U.S. privacy policy now permits collection of exact geolocation data -down to Wi-Fi hotspot precision-expanding far beyond the approximate IP address methods that previously kept your movements relatively fuzzy.
The UK government has delayed publication of its long-promised digital roadmap, a plan it says could eventually help save up to £45 billion of taxpayers' money by modernizing creaking public sector IT. Speaking to MPs last week, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) permanent secretary Emran Mian said the Government Digital and AI Roadmap - meant to improve data sharing across government - was due by the end of last year, but had hit stumbling blocks.
MetroList is proud to welcome the Madera County Association of Realtors and its members, said Dave Howe, president and CEO of MetroList. MAR is deeply committed to professionalism, education and community values that align closely with MetroList's mission. This partnership represents a shared vision for innovation, collaboration,and long-term success for agents and the consumers they serve.
Much of this information needs to be sent to the manufacturer to keep your device up to date and functioning properly. With that goal in mind, your phone might share any of the following tidbits: Device identifiers such as IMEI numbers, hardware serial numbers, and SIM details Telemetry data about the device's system status or health Service checks for push notifications and operating system updates Crash logs or diagnostic analytics The connectivity state, such as Wi-Fi vs. mobile Content updates, including news, social feeds, and synced emails
"For too long, our Department has been bogged down by bureaucracy and busy-work; even the most productive public servants are mired in paperwork and process. Across our mission space - from research, to health care delivery, to public health - we've layered administrative red tape on innovators," HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill wrote in an introductory letter for the strategy. "We will harness AI technologies to streamline operations and enhance support for care delivery throughout the entire health care industry. We call it OneHHS."
A law that allowed the sharing of limitless amounts of personal data across the state to find people eligible for CalFresh was rescinded this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, that forbids state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase food stamp enrollment. But only a year ago, it was Wicks who introduced that same data sharing initiative, to get more people enrolled in CalFresh, the state's federally funded food assistance program.
Your car already knows more about the road than you do. It can feel the pothole before your wheel does. It knows when you slam on the brakes at an obscured stop sign. It senses when traffic patterns don't match the posted speed limit. The question is: what if this knowledge could be shared to make driving safer for everyone?
People living in 17 boroughs in the capital who need financial support will be automatically enrolled on the water company's social tariff scheme without having to go through the application process. Under data-sharing agreements, Thames Water said it was working with councils and the Policy in Practice social data platform to identify customers whose water bills exceed 5% of their net income. Eligible households will be signed up to the WaterHelp scheme, which cuts bills by 50%.
Walk down the street and you're likelyto be recorded by one of thousandsof security cameras, some belongingto the New York Police Department,others just connected or available to the department's databases. Drive into the city and traffic cameraswill automatically photograph your car, capturing your vehicle's license plate, make, model, color, distinctive markings and even passengers. Post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok and the N.Y.P.D. can scrape and store your messages, capturing your thoughts, plans, political statements and friend groups.
On Tuesday night, Berkeley City Council will vote on a contract with Flock Safety to operate fixed surveillance cameras throughout Berkeley. But given reports in the past month on Flock's illegal cooperation with ICE and the Trump administration, such a contract will put the Berkeley community in grave danger. The council must uphold our sanctuary city commitments and vote no on a new contract with Flock.
The Labor Department is planning to require states to hand over sensitive unemployment information in the name of fighting fraud. The plan, detailed in a notice of proposed rulemaking issued on Friday, would require states to hand over confidential unemployment claims information to federal officials. The department is also considering creating a national claims database for oversight and audits, it says in the notice.
"I can say that the demand for data is incredibly high, but at the moment, we are forming policy on how to organize this process correctly," said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's digital minister, in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday. But Fedorov's comments indicate Ukraine won't freely give out this data, which he called "priceless." Kyiv is "very carefully" considering how to share its records and footage with its allies, the minister said.
In a new report, vpnMentor warns your smartwatch is more than just a fitness tracker it's a window into your daily life. It monitors your heart rate, logs your sleep patterns, detects signs of stress, and even records your alcohol consumption. But where does all that sensitive data go? Who gets to see it and what do they do with it?
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) issued a compliance notice to the chef on July 28, They highlighted three posts where Skehan promoted goods or events marketed by Wind Shore Goods - which sells such products as olive oil and crockery, as well a running events. Officials said the posts contravened rules aimed at making it explicit when posts are paid promotions, including clear and appropriate disclosure labels
The study was inspired by anecdotes from authors who cited articles only because reviewers asked them to, says study author Adrian Barnett, who researches peer review and metaresearch at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Sometimes, these requests are fine, he says. But if reviewers ask for too many citations or the reason to cite their work is not justified, the peer-review process can become transactional, says Barnett. Citations increase a researcher's h-index, a metric reflecting the impact of their publications.
"This initiative aims to build a smarter, more secure, and more personalized health care system - one that improves patient outcomes, reduces provider burden, and drives greater value through private-sector innovation and aligned federal leadership," CMS spokesperson Catherine Howden said in a written statement.
Healthline Media LLC will pay $1.55 million in penalties for privacy violations under a pending settlement with California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The settlement is the largest for violations under the California Consumer Privacy Act. The website publisher did not allow consumers to opt out of targeted advertising, and it shared data without proper protections.
The CC signals project proposes a solution that balances data sharing with governance, allowing dataset holders to specify AI usage while fostering openness in the digital landscape.
We are now offering the ability for advertisers to share more granular click-level attribution information with Meta (e.g., was an individual click ultimately credited with a conversion) via Analytics integrations with partners like Adobe Advertising, Northbeam, Rockerbox and Triple Whale.