Sophie Meunier reports: If you look someone up on Facebook or LinkedIn, you’ll be able to gather huge amounts of information about them without them ever knowing. Until recently, nobody seemed to think about the risks involved; it was just the way things were, and if you didn’t get on board, you were left out…
Category: Online
40 government departments are using a social media surveillance tool – and little is known of it
Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava reports: On August 3, the Centre withdrew its proposal of creating a Social Media Communication Hub, through which it wanted to monitor the social media accounts of citizens, after the Supreme Court called the plan an attempt at creating a “surveillance state”. But even before this plan of the government could come…
How Game Apps That Captivate Kids Have Been Collecting Their Data
A lawsuit by New Mexico’s attorney general accuses a popular app maker, as well as online ad businesses run by Google and Twitter, of violating children’s privacy law. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Natasha Singer, Aaron Krolik and Michael H. Keller report: Before Kim Slingerland downloaded the Fun Kid Racing app for her then-5-year-old son, Shane, she checked…
Some of the Mac App Store’s biggest security apps found spying on users’ browsing habits
Graeme Burton reports: A number of security apps for the Apple Mac, offered via Apple’s curated Mac App Store, have been taken down after it was found that they were spying on users’ web browsing habits. Apps by the name of Dr Unarchiver, Dr Cleaner, Adware Medic, Adware Doctor and App Uninstall have all be…