IRS to start collecting photos of taxpayers
UPDATE FEB 7 – 2022: IRS abandons plan to use facial recognition to access one’s tax records. The collection will be outsourced to a third party “identify verification” service. Starting…
Investigation: How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures Out Your Deepest Desires
Watch the video at the link. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok only needs one important piece of information to figure out what you want: the amount of…
Many Android smart phones are spying on you and your data
Google sends large amounts of obfuscated data from your phone to Google – no one knows what Google is collecting: Study Warns Android Phones From Samsung, Xiaomi And Others Are…
No it isn’t: Missouri governor says viewing HTML source code containing private data the state published on every page, is a crime
Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday condemned one of Missouri’s largest newspapers for exposing a flaw in a state database that allowed public access to thousands of teachers’ Social Security…
Oops: All your Twitch belongs to us
An anonymous hacker claims to have leaked the entirety of Twitch, including its source code and user payout information. The user posted a 125GB torrent link to 4chan on Wednesday,…
Feds order Google to turn over contact info of anyone who uses certain search terms
The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms, an accidentally unsealed court document shows. There are fears such “keyword warrants” threaten…
Should all of your bank deposits and withdrawals be reported to the IRS?
President Biden has proposed that all personal bank records be turned over to the IRS every year. Really. Specifically, the annual return would report gross inflows and outflows on all…
One year later: Smart phone, Bluetooth-based contact tracing apps remain AWOL
One year ago, the tech sector jumped in with a plan to develop smart phone based contact detection apps. These would use Bluetooth to estimate potential contacts with someone later…
Instagram’s new Data Policy – And why I deleted the Instagram app yesterday – Social Panic
I deleted my last FB/IG app from a device yesterday. I still had IG running on one Android tablet but I no longer view use of FB/IG apps as safe.…
Schools using invasive surveillance of home-based students during exams
Colleges are racing to sign deals with “online proctor” companies that watch students through their webcams while they take exams. But education advocates say the surveillance software forces students to…