Upgraded #Google safety tools can now find and remove more of your personal info

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/upgraded-google-safety-tools-can-now-find-and-remove-more-of-your-personal-info/

#privacy

#Apple and #Google agree to change app stores after 'effective duopoly' claim

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c626rng1v63o

#UK #CMA #politics

👀

Techcrunch: Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/google-sent-personal-and-financial-information-of-student-journalist-to-ice/

#privacy #journalism #google #fascism

Google’s quarterly financial results paint a picture of an internet powerhouse getting stronger in AI age.

@AssociatedPress reports: "Google’s successful evolution has helped drive up Alphabet’s stock price nearly 60% in the past five months, giving it a $4 trillion market value."

https://flip.it/7jfCfr

#Google #Alphabet #Tech #Search #AI #Technology

Google accused of breaching AI principles and helping Israel’s campaign in Gaza

A former Google employee is accusing the tech giant of breaching AI ethics policies by helping an Israeli military contractor analyze drone footage in 2024.

This is what a whistleblower complaint seen by The Washington Post and filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says.

The complaint alleged that Google breached its own “AI principles,” which, at the time of the incident detailed in the report, outlined that the company would not utilize AI technology to conduct surveillance in a manner “violating internationally accepted norms” or in relation to weapons.

According to The Washington Post, a customer support request allegedly sent from an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) email address was received by Google’s cloud-computing division.

The customer name attached to the support request matched an employee of CloudEx, an Israeli tech company. The SEC complaint additionally – and correctly – alleged that CloudEx is an IDF contractor.

,,,

https://cybernews.com/ai-news/google-ai-policy-israel-surveillance-whistleblower/

#gaza #google #AI #palestine #israel #IDF #genocide

My local Python installation on my Windows 11 laptop was a complete mess and i am not an experienced developer/programmer (far from it). I used Google Antigravity to fix and improve this. It fixed problems , installed "uv" and my life is simpler now... Agents have a role to play i think.
#google #antigravity #python #uv #agents #AI

@gnulinux

Was ist der Digital Independence Day?
Der #DiDay ist eine gemeinsame Initiative vieler Organisationen, Verbände und Institutionen, die von Save Social - Networks For Democracy in Hamburg koordiniert wird. Die Initiative wurde beim letzten Congress von Mark-Uwe Kling (der mit dem Känguru) und Linus Neumann (der vom CCC) angekündigt.
Aktuell wird der DI.DAY von 44 Organisationen unterstützt. Darunter findet man fast alle, die in der Freien Software Szene eine Rolle spielen, wie z. B.: dem CCC, Wikimedia, Mastodon, Ecosia, Nextcloud, der Open Search Foundation, Digitalcourage, dem SUMA e.V., der Digitalen Gesellschaft, Tuta und viele andere.

#Microsoft zu #LibreOffice
#PayPal zu #Wero / @Taler

#Chrome zu #Firefox
#Google zu #Ecosia /
Amazon zum Buchladen
Gmail zu unabhängiger E-Mail
X zu #Mastodon
#WhatsApp zu #Signal

HomeAssistant, Immich, AdGuard, Jellyfin
Ralf schlägt #BigTech-Cloud zu #Nextcloud vor …
… und der Elefant im Raum heisst: #Windows zu #Linux

@marcuwekling
@Tutanota

Google expands tag gateway reach with Akamai CDN integration: Google today added Akamai support to tag gateway, letting advertisers deploy first-party tracking via major CDN alongside Cloudflare and GCP options. https://ppc.land/google-expands-tag-gateway-reach-with-akamai-cdn-integration/ #Google #CDN #Akamai #DigitalMarketing #AdTech

"Google breached its own policies that barred use of artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance in 2024 by helping an Israeli military contractor analyze drone video footage, a former Google employee alleged in a confidential federal whistleblower complaint reviewed by The Washington Post.

Google’s Gemini AI technology was being used by Israel’s defense apparatus at a time the company was publicly distancing itself from the country’s military after employee protests over a contract with Israel’s government, according to internal documents included in the complaint.

In July 2024, Google’s cloud-computing division received a customer support request from a person using an Israel Defense Forces email address, according to the documents included in the complaint, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in August. The name on the customer support request matches a publicly listed employee of Israeli tech firm CloudEx, which the complaint to the SEC alleges is an IDF contractor.

The request from the IDF email address asked for help making Google’s Gemini more reliable at identifying objects such as drones, armored vehicles and soldiers in aerial video footage, according to the internal documents included with the complaint. Staff in Google’s cloud unit responded by making suggestions and doing internal tests, the documents said."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/01/google-ai-israel-military/

#Google #AI #GenerativeAI #Gemini #AIWarfare #Israel #IDF

#DID #DIDay #DIDIt #NeuHier #Google #Surveillance

Alt...

Google sells your information to cops (schwarze Beschriftung mit braun melliertem Hntergrund) - Google steht groß über das ganze Bild - das L ist in blau. Darunter "Sells your information to cops"

CNBC: Google settles Google Assistant privacy lawsuit for $68 million. “Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that ⁠its voice-activated assistant spied inappropriately on smartphone users, violating ‍their privacy.”

Encrypt It Already

End-to-end encryption protects the privacy of your data, puts control over how the data gets used into your hands, and is the best way we have to ensure private conversations remain private. Not enough companies use it as broadly as they should. Learn more here.
— by @eff

🔐 https://encryptitalready.org

#EncryptItAlready #privacy #encryption #itsec #itsecurity #facebook #apple #ring #google #bluesky #telegram #whatsapp #messenger #e2ee #encryption #protection #endtoendencryption

Question about the data used by AI models. Specifically #ChatGPT and the #Google #Gemini offerings.

In 2005 I helped expose a group of Dutch neo-nazis / POS. As some kind of retribution I got targeted online. The only bit close to a "big deal" was a clumsy attempt at doxing using a combo of -then- public photos and embellished facts shared in simple websites.

I got most of it removed quickly, and the remainders in ~2014/5 (thanks GDPR).

SO COLOR ME SURPRISED WHEN ... ->

1/2

#privacy

Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that its voice-activated assistant spied inappropriately on smartphone users, violating their privacy

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/google-settles-google-assistant-privacy-lawsuit-68-million-2026-01-26/

#Google #privacy #surveillance #enshittification #dystopia #technology #Apple

Microsoft gave the FBI BitLocker recovery keys to unlock encrypted Windows PCs 🔑
The company says it complies with valid warrants — but unlike Apple or Meta, it can access stored keys 🧩
Raises major privacy & trust concerns over default cloud key storage ⚖️

🔗 https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/

#TechNews #Cybersecurity #Privacy #Encryption #DataSecurity #Surveillance #Microsoft #FBI #Infosec #DigitalRights #Transparency #Cloud #BigTech #Security #CivilLiberties #Windows #Bitlocker #Apple #Meta #Google

Apple and Google recently announced their AI partnership, and we could get our first real look at the Gemini-powered Siri assistant as soon as February. @Techcrunch has more:

https://flip.it/i1fv3z

#Tech #AI #Apple #Google #Siri #Gemini

Hundreds of millions of Bluetooth audio devices need urgent patches ⚙️
Researchers found flaws in Google’s Fast Pair protocol letting attackers link, listen, or track users—even iPhone owners 📡
Highlights tension between seamless UX and user privacy 🔒

🔗 https://www.wired.com/story/google-fast-pair-bluetooth-audio-accessories-vulnerability-patches/

#TechNews #Privacy #CyberSecurity #DataSecurity #Bluetooth #Android #iPhone #Google #Vulnerability #Security #UserRights #Tech #OpenSource #Tracking #SoftwareUpdate #Audio #Music #Musica #Devices #Apple #iPhone

Google’s Gemini A.I. now scans your entire inbox to “help” you summarize, reply & organize. 📬
That’s not assistance — that’s surveillance wrapped in productivity branding. 🔍

If your emails need an opt‑out clause, maybe the feature shouldn’t exist by default. ⚠️

🔗 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/technology/personaltech/gmail-gemini-ai-email-inbox.html

#TechNews #Privacy #AI #Google #Gmail #Surveillance #Data #Security #UserRights #BigTech #DigitalEthics #OnlinePrivacy #TechPolicy #Accountability #AIethics #Cybersecurity #Gemini #Email

⚖️ #Google agrees to pay $8.25M to settle a class-action over claims it tracked children’s data in Play Store apps without parental consent and violated children’s privacy protections

Read: https://hackread.com/google-settlement-child-data-tracking-play-store/

#Privacy #ChildSafety #Lawsuit #PlayStore #COPPA

Vox Media becomes latest major publisher to sue Google over ad tech monopoly: Vox Media filed a federal antitrust lawsuit on January 14, 2026, alleging Google's monopolization of advertising technology markets deprived the publisher of billions in revenue. https://ppc.land/vox-media-becomes-latest-major-publisher-to-sue-google-over-ad-tech-monopoly/ #VoxMedia #Google #AdTech #Antitrust #Monopoly

🎧 #COSIC research on #Bluetooth earbuds & speakers vulnerable to hacking & tracking, featured in NY Times Wirecutter. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/bluetooth-earbuds-hacking-threat/
▶️ Demo: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-j45ShJINtc
#KULeuven #nytimes #google #whisperpair #fastpair

"The adtech problems drew a monopolization case, and Google lost that one too. And though the remedy is still to come, few think Google will be fundamentally restructured.

And that’s a tragedy, because the shift to AI is perhaps more significant than the shift to mobile. As with the early search market, there are several companies offering foundational AI services, like OpenAI, Microsoft, Perplexity, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and so forth. The two key resources determining which model wins are, same as search before, data and distribution.

Google, as you’d expect, is repeating its search monopolization playbook with Gemini. It is self-preferencing Gemini across its lines of business, which is what it did with Android and search. It is cutting deals to insert Gemini into every major retail channel, which is analogous to its payments to phone makers to thwart rival search engines. Then there’s its deal with Apple, which is virtually identical to what Judge Mehta found to be the original Apple-Google arrangement enabling the illegal monopolization of the search market.

Mehta’s failure to impose a remedy was permission for Google to repeat this scheme with generative AI. And now it has. This deal will ensure that Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot product will become dominant in the most important mobile ecosystem in the world. And its experience structuring adtech markets suggest that if it mediates the entire economy, many tradition businesses will wind up like newspapers, eliminated as Google appropriates profit margins for itself and destroys the ability of consumers to differentiate products based on quality, innovation or other values. It could be an extinction level event for many commercial areas, like the death of the open web, and a dramatic narrowing of consumer choice."

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/will-google-organize-the-worlds-prices

#Google #AI #LLMs #AISearch #PriceFixing #Monopolies #Oligopolies #Competition #Antitrust

How Israeli military-connected corporations are secretly controlling your online privacy
https://www.newstarget.com/2025-04-07-how-israeli-military-connected-corporations-are-secretly-controlling-your-online-privacy.html

#vpn #Privacy #spyware #freepalestine #expressvpn #cyberghost #cybersecurity #meta #google #microsoft

Atlantic sues Google claiming ad tech cheated publishers out of billions: The Atlantic files antitrust lawsuit accusing Google of monopolizing ad tech through rigged auctions, following April 2025 court ruling against the company. https://ppc.land/atlantic-sues-google-claiming-ad-tech-cheated-publishers-out-of-billions/ #Google #AdTech #Antitrust #Publishers #Monopoly

"Un fallo en Fast Pair expone millones de auriculares y altavoces a un secuestro" (Ultima Hora)
https://www.ultimahora.es/noticias/tecnologia-videojuegos/2026/01/16/2550745/fallo-fast-pair-expone-millones-auriculares-altavoces-secuestro.html
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"Sicherheitslücke macht Hörstöpsel zur Wanze" (Golem)
https://www.golem.de/news/google-fast-pair-sicherheitsluecke-macht-hoerstoepsel-zur-wanze-2601-204253.html
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"Let op: hackers kunnen je locatie tracken via je oordopjes" (Android World)
https://androidworld.nl/nieuws/let-op-hackers-kunnen-je-tracken-via-je-oordopjes/
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"Miljoenen oordopjes en koptelefoons zijn kwetsbaar: wie luistert er met je mee?" (Bright)
https://www.bright.nl/nieuws/1731840/miljoenen-oordopjes-en-koptelefoons-zijn-kwetsbaar-wie-luistert-er-met-je-mee.html
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"Many Bluetooth devices with Google Fast Pair vulnerable to “WhisperPair” hack" (ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/researchers-reveal-whisperpair-attack-to-eavesdrop-on-google-fast-pair-headphones/
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"Major security flaw affects Sony, Google, and other popular headphones" (Sound Guys)
https://www.soundguys.com/google-fast-pair-security-vulnerability-151293/
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"WhisperPair attack exposes millions of Bluetooth devices to location tracking" (Cyber Insider)
https://cyberinsider.com/whisperpair-attack-exposes-millions-of-bluetooth-devices-to-location-tracking/
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

"WhisperPair Attack Leaves Millions of Audio Accessories Open to Hijacking" (Security Week)
https://www.securityweek.com/whisperpair-attack-leaves-millions-of-bluetooth-accessories-open-to-hijacking/
#cosic #kuleuven #WhisperPair #google #fastpair #bluetooth

These weeks in #FDroid (TWIF) is live and updated. If you saw it an hour earlier via #RSS, look again:

* #AntennaPod timers
* #AuroraStore #MaterialDesign3, you're still tied to #BigTech and #Google? 🙄
* #FairScan good "intents"
* #Fennec redesign
* #LibreCamera better support
* #Meshtastic comms freedom
* #NeoStore rotates mirrors
* #NewPipe #Litube fixes
* #Syncthing Fork verify update
* #WebLibre backup
+ 40 new apps
& 295 updates
- 6 archived

...and more, here: https://f-droid.org/2026/01/16/twif.html