#16 Thankful For People Who Care About Privacy
Another news bag of recent privacy stories
You and I think a lot about ads, privacy, web tracking, etc. When we look out at the privacy hell-scape that the modern web has become, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one paying attention to any of these problems. It can feel like a scream-from-the-rooftops sort of issue, but there are so many of those issues right now. To that end, when I see national media (NYT) talk about this stuff, it’s a nice reminder that there is a growing concern across society about these issues and that this ongoing privacy dialogue matters, mixed in among several other important topics.
I’m working on some topical essays for the future, but for now it’s going to be another news story dump. A lot of it will be negative, because a lot of things are getting worse right now, but there are more of us than ever waking up to the issues of privacy, security, and identity. I just recently learned about Data Privacy Day (Wikipedia) which takes place on January 28th. I hope you’ll join me, early next year, in celebrating this global holiday and doing something to make the web better.
The Good:
👮♂️ FTC Explores Rules Cracking Down on Commercial Surveillance and Lax Data Security Practices (FTC)
🎭 Facebook is shutting down its Face Recognition tagging program (The Verge)
📜 A potential new privacy bill would put major limits on targeted advertising (TechCrunch)
The Bad
➰ Worrying loophole in Italy’s facial recognition ban points to the EU’s future (The Next Web)
💞 T-Mobile Breach Exposed SSN/DOB of 40M+ People (Krebs on Security)
🇸🇪 The only way of being anonymous in Sweden is illegal (commit.pizza)
The Ugly
📍 TikTok Parent ByteDance Planned To Use TikTok To Monitor The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens (Forbes)
👨💻 TikTok shares your data more than any other social media app (CNBC)
🇺🇸 U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware (Reuters)
Various and Sundry
I got a chuckle from this story about why the Bucks can’t wear cream-colored jerseys (hint: it’s a story about how ad tech is shaping reality) (UniWatch)
CheckMyAds does a deep dive on how conservative media gets funded by ads, even from advertisers who don’t want to work with them (CheckMyAds)
Thanks for tuning in. I hope this collection of links gives you something to think about, something to hope for, or a reason for righteous anger. If you’re in the US, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving holiday. We’re approaching the end of the year, or the beginning of a new one - depending on how you look at things.
Fin