#EFF and 18 Organizations Urge #UK Policymakers to Prioritize Addressing the Roots of Online Harm

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/05/eff-and-18-organizations-urge-uk-policymakers-prioritize-addressing-roots-online

#privacy #AgeVerification #Mozilla #Tor #ORG

UK explores restricting VPN access for children.
• VPN usage doubled
• Age checks for VPNs proposed
• Privacy vs safety debate intensifies

https://www.technadu.com/uk-vpn-ban-for-children-proposal-raises-safety-questions/627344/

Where do you stand?

#InfoSec #VPN #Privacy #CyberSecurity

Alt...

UK Considers Restricting VPN Access for Children Under New Proposal

Your browser might be exposing your passwords in memory.

New research shows Microsoft Edge loads all saved passwords into RAM in plaintext, even when you’re not using them, making them easier to extract by malware or attackers with local access.

Microsoft says this behavior is “by design.”

Convenience vs security… again.

👉 https://www.digitalescapetools.com/2026/05/edge-passwords-memory-risk.html

#Privacy #CyberSecurity #MicrosoftEdge #DataSecurity #Tracking #DigitalMinimalism

"Expanding age verification will entrench the dominance of large tech companies and harm small and volunteer-run services who may not be able to afford to comply.”

The UK must address structural causes of online harms like "surveillance-driven advertising models and the dominance of a small number of Big Tech platforms."

🗣️ ORG's @JamesBaker on the statement from 19 organisations.

https://www.neowin.net/news/tech-giants-and-civil-rights-groups-warn-uks-age-verification-plan-threatens-the-open-web/

#ageverification #onlinesafety #privacy #ukpolitics #ukpol

Top #Google scientist says #EU data measures pose #privacy risk for users

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/top-google-scientist-says-eu-data-measures-pose-privacy-risk-users-2026-05-05/

The claim that this #verification protects against bots is one of the most prevalent LIES online.

#cloudflare and #recaptcha harvests your data.

If you allow them to, they will map your movements across the net as they are on most major websites.

They fingerprint your devices and more than likely identify you, or at least pick you out in the virtual crowd.

AI can emulate a legitimate user online and get around verification.

#privacy #pii #databroker #fuckoff #useragent

Alt...

Cloudflare error that appears when the user blocks data harvesting/browser identification.

#Apple confirms #iOS 26.5 Messages app adds #RCS end-to-end #encryption

https://9to5mac.com/2026/05/04/apple-confirms-ios-26-5-messages-app-adds-rcs-end-to-end-encryption/

#privacy #cybersecurity

Show HN: Cybersecurity Phishing Guard for Chrome using local LLMs for privacy
한 개발자가 개인 정보 보호를 위해 로컬 LLM을 활용한 크롬 확장 프로그램을 개발했다. 이 확장 프로그램은 웹페이지를 자동 또는 수동으로 로컬 LLM 모델에 입력해 6가지 신호를 분석하여 피싱 공격 여부를 판단한다. 향후 크롬에 기본 탑재될 가능성도 제기되고 있다. 이는 로컬 AI 모델을 활용한 보안 분야의 새로운 응용 사례로 주목할 만하다.

https://github.com/tommyjepsen/local-llm-phishing-guard-for-chrome

#cybersecurity #phishing #chrome #localllm #privacy

Daily Digest | 6 May 2026

Your daily dose of Privacy, Data Protection, AI & Cybersecurity news.

5 stories you should not miss.

Read more: https://www.nicfab.eu/daily-digest/

#Privacy #AI #GDPR #Cybersecurity #TechLaw

Instagram will no longer encrypt chats starting this Friday

Meta announced that IG will officially discontinue end-to-end encryption feature on May 8th.

All DMs will be decrypted once it reaches Meta's servers.

https://cybersecuritynews.com/instagram-end-encryption-direct-messages/

#Meta #Instagram #privacy #surveillance #security #enshittification #messaging #socialmedia #technology

ICYMI: noyb files GDPR complaint over LinkedIn's paywall for profile visitor data: Privacy group noyb challenges LinkedIn for refusing to hand over profile visitor data free of charge while selling the same information through its Premium tier. https://ppc.land/noyb-files-gdpr-complaint-over-linkedins-paywall-for-profile-visitor-data/ #GDPR #Privacy #DataProtection #LinkedIn #DataAccess

"We write as lawyers and law professors [in] privacy law and constitutional rights... [C]ertain provisions of the bill as ...drafted raise serious constitutional concerns and fail to strike a reasonable balance [btwn] the legitimate needs of law enforcement and the privacy rights of Canadians."

#Canada #cdnpoli #privacy #cybersecurity #democracy

https://robertdiab.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-on-bill-c-22

I can’t believe with Mastodon being as techie as it is, that I am one of the only people warning about this new bill in #Canada 🇨🇦
#tech #cdnpoli #privacy #cybersecurity

https://reclaimthenet.org/cybersecurity-experts-demand-canada-scrap-bill-c-22-backdoor

It'll just scan a user's face to recognize if they are a teen or not.

No big deal.

Meta AI will analyze faces of teen users 'but it's not face recognition'

https://9to5mac.com/2026/05/05/meta-ai-will-analyze-faces-of-teen-users-but-its-not-face-recognition/

#Meta #AI #Privacy #Surveillance #Tech

Author's notes for the short poem (cinquain) by me that appears immediately upthread of this message.

I think this is my first attempt at the cinquain form. I think I did not get the meter right. It's harder than it looks to do that right. But I have limited time today, so this will have to do for a first pass.

I should say that I had a discussion on duck.ai with GPT-5 mini about this poem as I wrote various drafts of what is attached above. I let it do critiques and give me some info on the general form requirements, but I refused to let it do any of the actual writing. I feel very strongly that I want to do my own writing and not have that outsourced to another entity.

I chose to use duck.ai because it promises some degree of privacy. Not that this was a super-private project. But I think even when getting advice, it's useful to think about this question.

However, "we" did usefully discuss word choice and it's pretty good at being able to assess whether the sense of a particular word choice lands in the way I intend, so that was helpful in working through some changes I was contemplating.

#Writing #Poetry #WritingCommunity #AI #NoAI #privacy #DuckAI #LLMs

🚨 NEWS: Instagram Rimuove la Crittografia End-to-End: Un Passo Indietro per la Privacy Digitale

Ecco i punti chiave in breve:
💡 Il panorama della messaggistica istantanea sta per subire un cambiamento profondo. A partire da venerdì 8 maggio 2026, Instagram disabiliterà la crittografia end-to-end per i messa...

🚀 LINK: https://meteoraweb.com/news/instagram-rimuove-la-crittografia-end-to-end-un-passo-indietro-per-la-privacy-digitale

#crittografia #instagram #meta #privacy #sicurezzaDigitale

So, you may want/need to adjust which browsers you're deeming as being a 'good' standard recommend for use:

* MS Edge browser is storing (all) passwords it manages in clear text in memory. A memory dump can be created very easily using on-board Windows (or other) tools to compromise them from user account level.
https://isc.sans.edu/diary/32954
* Google is to install a 4 GB in size local LLM silently on Chrome browsers (No consent dialogue. No opt-in. No opt-out. Reinstalls itself if the user removes it manually.)
https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

#browsers #LLM #GenAI #enshittification #privacy #security #BigTech

Lawmakers in Congress are moving quickly on the GUARD Act, an age-gating bill restricting minors’ access to a wide range of online tools, with a key vote expected this week. The proposal is framed as a response to alarming cases involving “AI companions” and vulnerable young users. But the text of the bill goes much further, and could require age gates even for search engines that use AI.

Young people — and all people — deserve protection from genuinely harmful products. But this bill doesn’t do that. It trades away privacy, access, and useful technology in exchange for a blunt system that misses the mark.

Congress could act soon. Tell them to reject the GUARD Act.

Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane. — That Privacy Guy!

https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

> Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it.

#AI #Google #Chrome #privacy

So years ago I made an account on an online shopping platform. I took pains to do it as privately as I could. Shipping address as PO box. Didn’t use real name to sign up. Masked credit card for payment. Etc.

I had it for IDK like 6 years? 7 years? I didn’t use it a LOT, but let’s say once a month avg. Over those years I had 100% the best feedback rating. I never caused any prob to anyone. I acted in good faith.

Suddenly one day… account canceled. Contacted company. They said send us copy of your gov photo ID. I said how about no?

I know it was b/c my account triggered some predictive anti abuse system. Scammers do a lot of what I did. Diff is, I was not a scammer. I just wanted some privacy. Wasn’t even buying anything embarrasing. Just normal shit.

I thought since I got 6+ yrs of history, spend like mid 4 digits of $$ total, zero probs, perfect feedback for 6 years, I figured hey maybe I wouldn’t be lumped in. But fuck me sideways.

Funny thing is. I had an older acct under my real name. It had LESS total purcahse history. By a lot. I never submitted any ID to create it. It’s still there. It still works. Diff is, it’s tied to my home addy and real name. It didn’t trigger anti-abuse prediction. ANd it is prediction! I never abused anything, and never would.

More and more, I can’t participate in the world, if I try to protect myself from data brokers that collect every fucking thing I do.

I’m sorry. I just had to rant lol. What is your experience with online shopping, if you try to set it up not tied directly to your name, phone, & home addy?

History Repeats Itself: UK Age Verification Law Fails

Under age teens are once again circumventing the age gates on a massive scale, causing the UK age verification laws to catastrophically fail.

https://www.freezenet.ca/history-repeats-itself-uk-age-verification-law-fails/

#Censorship #News #Privacy #Security #AgeVerification #fail #SocialMedia #UK #VideoGames

#CalyxOS progress report - our test build with #Android16 is here

https://calyxos.org/news/2026/05/04/calyxos-progress-update-4/

#Android #privacy #FOSS

It's official: #Utah is the U.S. state closest to #banning #VPNs - Yahoo Tech

When Utah's Senate Bill 73 goes into force on May 6, websites subject to the state's age verification law will be legally barred from explaining how to use a #VPN to get around age #restrictions. They'll also be liable for enforcing age #verification for any user within Utah's physical borders — regardless of their apparent virtual location.
#ageverification #privacy #security #utah #SB73

https://tech.yahoo.com/vpn/article/its-official-utah-is-the-us-state-closest-to-banning-vpns-153556814.html

#Roblox Blames Age-Verification Rollout for Lowered Growth. #Stock Tumbles 22%
#ageverification #privacy #security

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/05/04/0217228/roblox-blames-age-verification-rollout-for-lowered-growth-stock-tumbles-22?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

#EFF Submission to #UK Consultation on #DigitalID

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/05/eff-submission-uk-consultation-digital-id

#privacy #politics #cybersecurity

Texas Observer: As License Plate Readers Expand in Texas, Privacy Advocates Are Fighting Back

The Kyle City Council voted to apply for more state grant money for Flock Safety cameras despite a string of local-level contract cancellations of the booming surveillance company’s services.

https://www.texasobserver.org/license-plate-readers-texas-privacy-advocates/

#flock #privacy #fascism #surveillance #bigbrother

Shut Down Turnkey #Totalitarianism

William Binney, the #NSA #surveillance architect-turned-whistleblower, called it the "turnkey #totalitarian state." Whoever sits in power gains access to a boundless surveillance empire that scorns #privacy and crushes #dissent. Politicians will come and go, but you can help us claw the tools of oppression out of government hands.
#security #whistleblower

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/claw-back

Utah’s New Law Targeting VPNs Goes Into Effect Next Week

Next week Utah will become the first state in the nation to target the use of VPNs to avoid legally mandated age-verification gates. Advocates in states like Wisconsin successfully forced the removal of similar provisions due to constitutional and technical concerns

#utah #privacy #surveillance #VPN #ageverification #technology #tech

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/utahs-new-law-regulating-vpns-goes-effect-next-week

Uncovering Global #Telecom Exploitation by Covert #Surveillance Actors

https://citizenlab.ca/research/uncovering-global-telecom-exploitation-by-covert-surveillance-actors/

#privacy

I don't have Chrome on my computers so there's that at least. But I do have a google phone. Need to change that. Fairphone? Or just take my old phone and install GrapheneOS? I should do that anyway just to experiment. #privacy https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

#DHS Demanded #Google Surrender Data on Canadian’s Activity, Location Over Anti-ICE Posts

https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-demanded-google-surrender-data-on-canadians-activity-location-over-anti-ice-posts/

#ICE #Canada #privacy #politics