Privacy Digest 11/24
/e/OS Is Better Than Android. You Should Try It
Even if you aren’t technically inclined, this privacy-first mobile operating system helps you escape surveillance capitalism.
wired.com
Dell Data Breach Impacts 49 Million Customers
Dell Technologies is notifying customers of a preventable data breach that exposed their personal information via a poorly protected application programming interface (API). The notification follows a recent BreachForum post by a threat actor auctioning the stolen data, allegedly belonging to 49 million customers.
cpomagazine.com
Giving Windows total recall of everything a user does is a privacy minefield
Microsoft's Windows Recall feature is controversial even before full release. It takes periodic screen snapshots, allowing users to search past activities via AI. Aimed to let users retrieve and interact with recent activities, it logs app usage, communications, and screenshots. Concerns arise due to Microsoft's recent security issues, prompting skepticism about privacy and data security during its preview phase.
theregister.com
Mortgage Brokers Sent People’s Estimated Credit, Address, and Veteran Status to Facebook
Over 200 national and regional lenders are sharing sensitive user data with Facebook. Experts indicate that this practice could be illegal and is undoubtedly a breach of privacy.
themarkup.org
PayPal is building an ad network based on your Venmo data
PayPal has hired Mark Grether, former Uber Advertising VP, to lead its advertising business, leveraging customer purchase data for targeted ads. Customers' shopping data, including in-store credit card usage, will be collected by default with an opt-out option. PayPal promises transparent privacy controls. In Q1 2024, it processed 6.5 million transactions from 427 million customers. The new platform aims to boost merchant sales through AI-driven personalized offers. Other companies, like Facebook and JPMorgan Chase, also use transaction data for ads.
theverge.com