Magna Carta for the web: Tim Berners-Lee in new campaign to rescue the web from abuse

The internet today isn’t what Tim Berners-Lee pictured when he invented the World Wide Web nearly three decades ago. In a talk at the opening of the Web Summit in Lisbon on Monday, the inventor of the web called on governments, companies and individuals to back a new “Contract for the Web” that aims to …

Half of internet users are concerned about their online privacy now more than ever before

The 2018 CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust findings show that over half of internet users surveyed around the world are more concerned about their online privacy than they were a year ago, reflecting growing concern around the world about online privacy and the power of social media platforms. Conducted by Ipsos on behalf …

New Facebook Portal videochat hardware looks like a privacy disaster waiting to happen

Facebook has released new AI controlled hardware at quite n odd time when its fighting privacy breach allegations. The devices Facebook claims creates a new way to videochat with your Facebook friends. It’s not an app, nor is it some awkward virtual-reality playpen. It’s a device called Portal, and it’s meant to sit in your …

European Human Rights Court rules UK laws enabling mass surveillance violate privacy & freedom of expression rights

The European Court of Human Rights has  ruled that UK laws enabling mass surveillance violate the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Judges found that: The UK’s historical bulk interception regime violated the right to privacy protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and to free expression, protected by …

A Simple Tweak turns India’s controversial Biometric Database, Aadhaar, Into a Profitable Counterfeit System

India’s controversial biometric database, Aadhaar, has been once again compromised, according to a three-month investigation launched by HuffPost India. In a report published Tuesday, HuffPost revealed the existence of a malicious patch said to disable critical security features, making it easier not only to create unauthorized Aadhaar numbers but to fool the system’s biometric recognition …

UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office reports sharp increase in complaints after GDPR goes live

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) told the Guardian it has seen a rise in breach notifications from organisations, as well as more data protection complaints following the activation of the law. The bulk of the response to the legislation has been a substantial number of complaints against high-profile companies, such as those against Facebook …

Facebook latest glitch inadvertently shared private posts publicly for 14 million users

Facebook yet is again at the center of a fresh privacy controversy after revealing that it had been inadvertently sharing private posts publicly for some 14 million users. The company revealed that when attempting to test a feature on users’ profiles, developers introduced a bug that exposed the posts of some individuals who thought they …

EU Scoffs at Facebook, Sorry simply is not enough

“A multi-billion dollar social media platform saying it is sorry simply is not enough,” Andrea Jelinek, chair of the group of EU data protection authorities, said in a statement on Thursday. Facebook has ben faced with touch choices and a resulting congressional appearance after it was revealed that billions of data were used illegally by …