Looks like #Google managed to sneak #PlatformAttestation into #Android after all, after their insidious #WEI proposal was shot down by pubic outcry. They've tied the nextgen #reCAPTCHA to the Android #PlayServices.

Upon detection of suspicious activities, you'll be asked to scan a QR code with Play Services running. It implies that the users of #degoogled Android like #Graphene will no longer be able to solve it. You'll be restricted to devices blessed by Google.

https://reclaimthenet.org/google-broke-recaptcha-for-de-googled-android-users

De-googled users locked out by design? 🤔

#Google might be breaking at least 3 laws with this new Captcha update:

1. Antitrust & competition law
2. Data protection & privacy (#GDPR)
3. Non-discrimination & accessibility

https://reclaimthenet.org/google-broke-recaptcha-for-de-googled-android-users

#Privacy #Android #Tech #degoogle

"... If I sold Google some data cables, and months later sent them an email “btw in 5 business days your cables will start sending all the data going through them to me, even though you specifically told me not to enable this feature, unless you re-disable it”, I would go to jail for hacking."

#Surveillance #Panopticon #SpyWare #Google #Gemini #Privacy #Security #Email

Google acquired Fitbit five years ago, bringing a lot of changes to the popular app. Now, the app is being rebranded as Google Health. What does this mean for existing, longtime Fitbit users? @TechRadar shares these five things to know:

https://flip.it/WEpkiZ

#Tech #Apps #Fitbit #Health #Technology #Google

You Can Disable #Gemini in #Chrome if It’s Freaking You Out

https://www.wired.com/story/you-can-disable-gemini-in-chrome-if-its-freaking-you-out/

#AI #cybersecurity #privacy #Google

iOS 26.5 adds default E2EE for iPhone-Android RCS chats on supported carriers via RCS Universal Profile 3.0 and MLS 🔐
Apple says encrypted cross-platform messaging remains in beta, with lock indicators, edits, deletes and inline replies rolling out 🔒

🔗 https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/04/ios-26-5-rcs-encryption/

#TechNews #Apple #iPhone #iOS #iOS265 #RCS #E2EE #iMessage #Google #Android #Privacy #Encryption #OpenStandards #Messaging #FOSS #OpenSource

In der Alterskontroll-App schlägt ein Herz von #Google

‚Die Alterskontroll-App der EU- Kommission nutzt ein Verfahren von Google-Entwicklern. IT-Fachleute warnen vor Abhängigkeiten und Datenschutzrisiken – auch mit Blick auf die geplante #EUDI-Wallet….‘

https://netzpolitik.org/2026/europaeische-kommission-in-der-alterskontroll-app-schlaegt-ein-herz-von-google/

#EU #Altersverifikation #Überwachung #Datenschutz #Datensicherheit #Privacy #Netzpolitik

Well, the new Google ReCaptcha is awful, sheesh

It's a QR code you have to scan with a "proper" device - aka with Google Services installed

Goodbye last 10 years of phishing awareness, time to scan random QRs without a thought while you are purchasing things, woo! Seriously what were they thinking?

And because it's recommended to be put in "high risk" places, people will expect them to be seen there, and so a scam/phishing QR will be so much easier to slip in.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/introducing-google-cloud-fraud-defense-the-next-evolution-of-recaptcha/

#google #captcha #recaptcha #phishing #infosec #cybersecurity

Alt...

An image of a demo shop checkout page by Google, with ReCaptcha modal popup on top, instructing to "Scan to Verify You're Human" There's only a QR code

A little break from "#TheranasAI" court coverage...

You know that thing where you just want to read an article and instead spend 4 minutes clicking motorcycles for Google? Wrote about why that's not a bug, it's the whole point — and why it keeps getting worse.

reCAPTCHA: from digitizing books to mandatory phone verification. Same company. Very different ambitions.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/prove-youre-human-pay-with-your-data

#blog #cloudflare #google #privacy #recaptcha #surveillance #userhostile #bigtech

Hackers abuse #Google ads for #GoDaddy #ManageWP login #phishing

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-abuse-google-ads-for-godaddy-managewp-login-phishing/

#cybersecurity #advertising #malvertising

#Google's #AI search results will now turn to #Reddit for expert advice

https://www.engadget.com/2166393/google-ai-search-results-will-now-turn-to-reddit-for-expert-advice/

#privacy

If you're a Chrome user say goodbye to 4GB of your storage. Google has received criticism after it discreetly dowloaded Gemini Nano's model onto users devices without consent. Digital Trends has the details and how to turn it off.
https://flip.it/g2hV6m

How to turn the feature off.
https://flip.it/k1I4E5

#Google #Chrome #AI #Gemini

📢⚠️ Google Chrome is reportedly downloading a 4GB #GeminiNano AI model onto eligible devices without clearly notifying users, according to researcher Alexander Hanff. The report has triggered privacy, transparency, and #GDPR concerns.

Read more: https://hackread.com/google-chrome-installing-4gb-ai-model-user-devices/

#GoogleChrome #Cybersecurity #Privacy #AI #Google #Chrome

#google Chrome plaatst — ongevraagd en permanent — een 4GB AI model op je computer. Sites/apps kunnen daar gebruik van maken[1].

Zoals altijd "want handig"[2].

"Handig" voor *hen*, natuurlijk, want het doel is meer advertenties aan- en data van ons verkopen.

De klimaat- en privacy impact is enorm. Verwijder Chrome en gebruik een andere browser (zoals Vivaldi of een *Fox).

[1] https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install
[2] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Translator_and_Language_Detector_APIs

#privacy #digitaleautonomie

Headline: #Google Chrome is reportedly auto-installing a massive 4GB #AI model without your consent

Subtitle: #Chrome version 147 silently downloads #Gemini Nano's weights.bin file to local storage, sparking major privacy, data, and legal concerns.

Source: https://www.neowin.net/news/google-chrome-is-reportedly-auto-installing-a-massive-4gb-ai-model-without-your-consent/

Stop using Chrome. It doesn't respect you and doesn't care to either.

"Google might argue that having an AI on your device provides better privacy than cloud-based alternatives. Which is generally true, but it does not apply here, since Chrome’s most prominent AI feature—the 'AI Mode' pill in the address bar—doesn’t even use the local model. According to Hanff’s analysis, it routes queries to Google’s cloud servers anyway."

Malwarebytes: Google Chrome’s silent 4GB AI download problem https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2026/05/google-chromes-silent-4gb-ai-download-problem #Google #Chrome #privacy

#Google now offers up to $1.5 million for some #Android exploits

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-now-offers-up-to-15-million-for-some-android-exploits/

#cybersecurity #BugBounty

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/

I'm backing up my Samsung Messages before it's too late - 2 free and easy methods

Your texts don't have to disappear when the app gets shut down in July. Here's how to back them up.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-back-up-samsung-messages-2-free-options/

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #ZDNet [ZDNet]

Fedora 44 made me forget I was using Linux - in the best way

The latest release from the Fedora Project is now available, and it includes a long list of refinements that make this one of the best versions yet.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/fedora-44-takes-the-distribution-to-new-heights/

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #ZDNet [ZDNet]

This weird Pixel feature is one of my favorite tools - too bad Google may remove it soon

Leaks hint that the next Pixel lineup will lose the thermometer for "Pixel Glow" LEDs

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-removing-pixel-thermometer/

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #ZDNet [ZDNet]

Let me be very clear about this. I'm so, so, so tired of reactions like "Oh, just don't use Google!", when I point out problems with #Google. That kind of reaction is incredibly short-sighted and essentially selfish, because it doesn't help the vast majority of people at all. And of course, I've been hearing variations of this regarding different firms and systems my entire long career. Very disappointing.

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

Y’all remember a couple weeks ago when I shared Privacy Guy’s article about #Anthropic being sketchy?

#Google said, Hold my beer, and dropped a 4 gig #ai weights file on every #chrome user. You can’t delete it, it reinstalls unless you can wizard your way through some obscure settings. And, the browser doesn’t use it, it ships queries to google cloud. It exists only so they can say it’s “local”.

“An engineering team at a large AI vendor decided that the user's machine is a deployment surface to be optimised for the vendor's product roadmap, not a personal device whose owner is the legal authority on what runs there.

The Anthropic case put a pre-authorisation for browser automation on around three million Claude Desktop user devices [19]. The Google case puts 4 GB of AI weights on, by my mid-band estimate, around 500 million Chrome user devices, with proportionally larger ePrivacy, GDPR, and environmental exposure.”

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

@nixCraft
Reminded of the disgusting poster from the 70s:

"Eat shit.

5,000,000,000 flys can't be wrong."

#GoogleIsEvil #Google

This is the script of my national network radio report yesterday on increasing problems with robotaxis interfering with emergency first responders. As always there may have been minor wording variations from this script as I presented this report live on air.

- - -

Well we've talked before about the concerns that the public in general and emergency first responders in particular have about robotaxis. And we've talked about the various stories of them freezing up, blocking intersections, invading law enforcement activities, slowing ambulances and paramedics from reaching injured persons, blowing past street stop signs and school bus stop signals and more. And the 800 pound robotaxi gorilla is Alphabet's Waymo. Alphabet as we know is also the parent company of Google.

Waymo is rapidly expanding into more and more cities. You might think that with these kinds of incidents and others, like Waymo depots keeping residents up all night with loud noises from robotaxis coming in and out, and many other Waymo-related problems, that Waymo would be bending over backwards to be good citizens in the communities that they want to serve.

But it's more apparent than ever now that at least when it come to Waymo, they've inherited the "move fast and break things" arrogance that was a hallmark of Google in its early days, before they grew up a bit and actually entered the period where they became world class when it came to user privacy and security. But it seems that we've now come full circle, and hubris is indeed the word for Alphabet and Waymo.

Some of this is undoubtedly being driven -- no pun intended of course -- by the related AI-hype. And AI-hype is being supercharged by the federal government pressing for "AI Everywhere". Massive, electricity and water hungry, often polluting data centers being pushed into unspoiled rural areas, federal pressure being exerted on states to try force them not to implement their own common-sense AI regulations. Those could help protect their citizens against AI Slop, deepfakes, and AI-powered spams, scams, and malware. And we know why this is the case, politicians in both parties know which side of their bread the butter is on, and Big Tech knows where to make campaign contributions.

Some states have begun to fight back a bit against the rampant risks from robotaxis. California for example has just declared some rules about giving emergency responders the ability to have some control over where robocars can go and when they have to immediately leave an area. And they've set a short time limit on how long Waymo robotaxi remote operators have to respond to calls from emergency responders.

But really this is only scratching the surface of what's needed. Because Waymo now clearly has no real interest in what the public thinks about the sometimes dangerous mess their robotaxis are creating. They're now actually refusing to attend scheduled public meetings to discuss these problems with the public, saying that they've already said all that they have to say. Total, absolute arrogance. They're Alphabet, they're Google, they're Waymo. They're going to do what they want to do. And they feel that nobody can stop them.

That's the view of Big Tech generally these days. And maybe they're right that nobody can stop them on their relentless march to further enrich their billionaire CEOs. Because so far, regulators and politicians by and large -- with a handful of exceptions -- have been letting them run wild over our communities when it comes to robocars, robotaxis, and AI more generally. It's clear that there seems to be a widespread feeling among these firms and their supporters that AI is at the top and ordinary people are at the bottom.

So we see what the reality looks like. It's not the AI systems themselves that we have to fear -- it's not evil machines plotting against us. They are, after all, just machines. It's the AI firms and the managements of these firms who need to be held responsible for what the AI push is doing, and it's up to us to care enough to elect leaders who can hopefully find ways to make that actually happen.

- - -

L

#google #alphabet #AI #waymo #robotaxis #robocars

#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

@emenel very quick search on ways #Dell supports Israeli #apartheid

1. $150+ million Israeli military contract — Won tender in January 2023 to provide servers and services to Israeli defense ministry, other security bodies

2. AI targeting systems for #Gaza genocide — Supplies servers and HPC infrastructure for AI systems #Lavender and The #Gospel that automate Palestinian targeting, minimizing human oversight and accelerating assaults

3. Unit 8200 cyberwarfare support — Provides Dell Pro-Rugged 13 AI-powered laptops to Israel's notorious cyberwarfare force for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and military operations in West Bank

4. Mass surveillance at checkpoints — Supplies servers enabling AnyVision's facial recognition at checkpoints, plus tech for #CISCO Israel and Cognyte to track Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank

5. R&D supporting settlement expansion — Dell subsidiaries partner in National Cyber Park in Naqab, strengthening illegal settlements and displacing Palestinian Bedouin communities

6. CEO pro-Israel donation — Michael Dell donated $350M in shares to Israel one month into Gaza genocide (October 2023), posted photo with Israeli President Isaac Herzog saying "honor to stand with Israel"

7. Elite military unit support — Technology benefits Golani Brigade (implicated in Rafah paramedic murders), Flotilla 13 naval unit, Israeli air force, and #Elbit Systems weapons manufacturer

8. Corporate profiteer designation — #BDS movement lists Dell as priority boycott target in "No Tech for Oppression, Apartheid or Genocide" campaign; called corporate profiteer of occupation, apartheid, and genocide alongside #Google, #Amazon, #Intel, #Microsoft

public service announcement. please #boost

#youtube #internet #google #privacy #BigTech #Data

Alt...

Please sanitize your YouTube links! Recently YouTube's links got 2 times longer. They added Source Identifier in them for the sole purpose of collecting data. You can delete it, and link will still work just fine. https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=NblBgit-qHN7MoH Source Identifier is everything after the question mark Time code is t=X where “X” is in seconds. For example: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=NbllBgit-qHN7MoH&t=69 Why you should delete that? 1. You post that link on social media, Google crowler finds it, checks the data base and now it knows this account on other social media belongs to you. 2. I click on your link and now Google knows our accounts are connected.

Just a reminder: Starting September 2026, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every #Android app whose developer hasn't registered with #Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID.
https://keepandroidopen.org/en/

The hidden cost of Google’s AI defaults and the illusion of choice

Google says it respects user privacy in AI, but the reality is not so black and white.

#ai #artificial-intelligence #features #gemini #generative-ai #google #privacy
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/googles-privacy-maze-how-gemini-traps-you-and-your-data/

Alt...

An image pulled automatically from the post for decorative purposes only.

Google Calendar calling Workers' day "work's day" 😠

(In portuguese)

#google #workersday

#GooglePhotos Alternative: Stop #Gemini #AI scanning your pictures.

https://tuta.com/blog/google-photos-alternative

#Google #Photos #Ente #Immich #Zeitkapsl #guide

@HennaVirkkunen But how would anyone install the apps if #Google locks #Android in September anyway? https://keepandroidopen.org #KeepAndroidOpen

The Race Is on to Keep #AI Agents From Running Wild With Your Credit Cards

https://www.wired.com/story/the-race-is-on-to-keep-ai-agents-from-running-wild-with-your-credit-cards/

#AgenticAI #cybersecurity #shopping #finance #Google #Mastercard #FIDO

#Google has a price for you. We found it.

https://proton.me/blog/what-is-your-data-worth-to-google

#privacy #advertising #ad

1933: IBM forms strategic alliance with the fascist Nazis

2026: Google provides unfettered AI access to fascist Trump administration

#Google #AI

[FASCIST, HORRIFIC AND DISGUSTING] BREAKING: #Google goes full MAGA, gives DOD permission to do anything with its #AI models, with no enforceable limits on use for any weapons or domestic mass surveillance.

#AI threats in the wild: The current state of prompt injections on the web

https://security.googleblog.com/2026/04/ai-threats-in-wild-current-state-of.html

#cybersecurity #Google #PromptInjection

Proton analyzed 54k profiles using 2025 ad auction data, estimating US user value at $1,605/year, ranging from $31 to $17,929 by age, device, and behavior. 📊
Desktop users generate ~4.9× more value than Android users, and the top 10% of profiles account for 43% of total advertiser value. 🔒

@protonprivacy

🔗 https://proton.me/blog/what-is-your-data-worth-to-google

#TechNews #Google #Proton #AdTech #Privacy #DataEconomy #Surveillance #FOSS #Encryption #Security #BigTech #DigitalRights #Transparency #Internet #Data #Ad #US #USA

"The European Commission is preparing to compel Google to stream search data to third-party companies through an automated API. It is doing this under the Digital Markets Act, a regulation with a sound goal of improving competition in digital markets. But this specific proposal would have the effect of exposing the EU users’ individual Google search queries to unspecified companies that users have no knowledge of, or control over.

Unless the EC corrects the proposal, it will amount to one of the largest mandated transfers of sensitive user data in Europe in decades, making the privacy problem immediate and sizeable. Receiving access to this data would be very easy for other companies, requiring them only to jump through bureaucratic and procedural hoops, rather than ensuring that the shared data is properly anonymized and aggregated to prevent harm to users (the EC has proposed some measures on this front, but they are woefully inadequate, as discussed at length in this post). This immediately creates a national-security problem because once this feed is available to qualifying third parties, all a hostile foreign intelligence service needs to do to gain detailed intelligence on the individual searches of all EU citizens is to obtain access through a formally compliant search engine, AI-search wrapper, a mock AI chatbot, or funded front company. Pulling this off is very easy, even easier than registering a bogus company to access Real-Time Bidding data from Google in 2015, back when nobody cared about security and privacy of this layer.

My 15+ yr experience lets me confidently ring an alarm bell here. It’s a privacy and a national and international security risk. One of the biggest risks in Europe this year."

https://techletters.substack.com/p/the-european-commission-is-turning

#EU #DMA #Google #Search #Privacy #CyberSecurity

Google has announced plans to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic, the developer of Claude AI. The previous record was $13 billion from Microsoft into OpenAI. Amazon had already given Anthropic $4 billion. Three tech giants are now financially tied to the three leaders of the frontier AI race.

Independent players at this level have effectively disappeared. Computing power is controlled by the same cloud providers. Training data flows from platforms owned by the same corporations. Talent is recruited by whoever has the deepest pockets. This is not competition. This is structural monopoly.

Anthropic markets itself as a safety-first AI lab with Constitutional AI. The question remains: who writes the constitution? A private company now dependent on Google and Amazon. Corporate oversight of "safe AI" is not neutral academic process. It is the definition of allowable knowledge through the lens of business interests.

When you talk to Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, your conversations are stored on corporate servers. Official reason: improving models. Default setting: data collection. You can opt out if you find the buried setting. Most users never will.

The alternative is not utopian. Open models like Meta LLaMA 4 and Mistral AI can run locally on your own hardware. Ollama and LM Studio provide one-command installation. Local AI means no data collection. No corporate control. No surveillance.

Frontier models are more capable. But for most daily tasks, open models are sufficient. The question is not technical. It is structural. And the window for keeping AI as a public good rather than a corporate asset is closing.
https://newsgroup.site/google-40-billion-anthropic-ai-monopoly-open-source/
#AI #Monopoly #Google #Anthropic #OpenAI #Microsoft #Amazon #OpenSource #Privacy #LocalAI

"Take a moment to think before you dive in. That’s the best advice for Google Photos users, as the company confirms its latest update can scan all your photos to “use actual images of you and your loved ones” in AI image generation. That means Gemini seeing who you know and what you do. You likely have tens or hundreds of thousands of photos. They’re all exposed if you update.

We’re talking Personal Intelligence, Google’s latest AI upgrade path which lets users opt-in to connecting Google apps to Gemini. Why search for a doctor’s appointment when Google has access to all your calendar events. Why search for a party invite when it reads all your emails. And why search for a specific photo of you and your loved ones to create an image, when it sees all your photos.

This is the latest iteration in the ongoing battle between convenience and privacy playing out on our phones and computers. “Previously, to get a result that felt truly personal, you had to write long, detailed descriptions and manually upload a reference photo just to give Gemini the right context.” Not any more, Google says. Its AI can scan everything to form its own views of you and everyone you know."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2026/04/20/google-starts-scanning-all-your-photos-as-new-update-goes-live/

#AI #GenerativeAI #Google #Gemini #Privacy #DataProtection

At #BlackHatAsia 2026, Seppe Wyns, Sayon Duttagupta & Nikola Antonijević presented #WhisperPair, exposing flaws in #Google Fast Pair. Mis-implementations enable device hijacking & tracking via Find Hub, showing how small add‑ons create big #privacy risks.
#Bluetooth
https://blackhat.com/asia-26/briefings/schedule/

Google is sleeping with ICE. And they have your data. So, yeah, maybe detach from their services.

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-state-ags-investigate-googles-broken-promise-users-targeted-government

#Google #ICE #Fascism #Privacy #InfoSec #OpSec