Databases containing sensitive voter information from multiple counties in Illinois were openly accessible on the internet, revealing 4.6 million records that included driver's license numbers as well as full and partial Social Security Numbers and documents like death certificates. Longtime security researcher Jeremiah Fowler stumbled upon one of the databases …
Read More »TikTok Sued by US Justice Department for Alleged Violations of Kids’ Privacy
In March 2019, TikTok agreed to a US federal court order barring the social media giant from collecting personal information from its youngest users without their parents’ consent. According to a new lawsuit filed by US authorities, TikTok immediately breached that order and now faces penalties of $51,744 per violation …
Read More »Can GPT-4o Be Trusted With Your Private Data?
On May 13, OpenAI unveiled a new GPT-4o AI model to power its ChatGPT chatbot. The newest version is wildly capable and much more humanlike, with the ability to solve equations, tell bedtime stories, and claims to identify emotions from facial expressions. OpenAI has made a big deal about wanting …
Read More »A Former Google Engineer Built a Search Engine for Finding Every Privacy Violation You Face Online
“It’s not a level playing field,” says Tim Libert, becoming animated as he shifts in his seat in his sparse home office in Sunnyvale, glancing between hulking monitors and clicking around on his desktop. “In fact it’s the furthest fucking thing from a level playing field.” The thing that is …
Read More »J.D. Vance Left His Venmo Public. Here’s What It Shows
US senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican and former US president Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, has a public Venmo account that gives an unfiltered glimpse into his extensive network of connections with establishment GOP heavyweights, wealthy financiers, technology executives, the prestige press, and fellow graduates of Yale Law …
Read More »How to Shop With Virtual Credit Cards to Protect Your Privacy
In the interests of privacy and security, the less information you give out about yourself, the better. You can hide your email addresses, you can hide your cell number, and as we’ll show you in this guide, you can hide your credit and debit card information too. The idea is …
Read More »Surf safely with a 5-year VPN for only $35
TL;DR: Protect your digital life on up to 10 devices with a five-year subscription to AdGuard VPN, on sale for $34.97 (reg. $359.40) through July 21. Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard VPN: 5-Year Subscription $34.97 at The Mashable Shop $359.40 Save $324.43 Get Deal When it comes …
Read More »How to Turn Off Google Ads for Sensitive Topics
We’re all now used to the way online ads work: You have a quick look for a new watch one day, and then ads for watch deals follow you around the internet for weeks. It feels like an obfuscated, entrenched system is at work, but you have more control over …
Read More »US Senators Secretly Work to Block Safeguards Against Surveillance Abuse
Members of the United States Senate have been working for more than a month to shore up safeguards against further misuse of the US government’s most consequential surveillance program. Those efforts have hit a snag, however, with at least two Republican senators now privately objecting to the changes—provisions that seek …
Read More »AT&T Paid a Hacker $370,000 to Delete Stolen Phone Records
US telecom giant AT&T, which disclosed Friday that hackers had stolen the call records for tens of millions of its customers, paid a member of the hacking team more than $300,000 to delete the data and provide a video demonstrating proof of deletion. The hacker, who is part of the …
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