'Search Party' uses nearby Ring cameras to scan for missing pets in your yard. However it's on by default, prompting some Big Brother comparisons. Here's how to shut it down.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/creeped-out-by-ring-lost-dog-search-party-heres-how-to-turn-it-off?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=A
Discord is about to force some of the people who use its messaging app to make a choice: Use the platform with restricted features, or prove their age. It’s a move that platforms have been slowly approaching, but Discord’s teen-by-default rollout is a stronger clampdown that could offer a glimpse at an age-gated future on the web worldwide.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/876131/discord-age-verification-mandates-web-future
A handful of police departments that use Flock have unwittingly leaked details of millions of surveillance targets and a large number of active police investigations around the country because they have failed to redact license plates information in public records releases. Completely unredacted Flock audit logs have been released to the public by numerous police departments and in some cases include details on millions Flock license plate searches made by thousands of police departments from around the country.
https://www.404media.co/police-unmask-millions-of-surveillance-targets-because-of-flock-redaction-error/
Apple has been fined more than €98 million (about $116 million) by Italy’s antitrust regulator over the “excessively burdensome” privacy rules it imposes on third-party apps. The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) says that Apple abused its dominant app store market position by burdening developers with “disproportionate” terms around data collection that exceed privacy law requirements, compared to rules for native iOS apps.
https://www.theverge.com/news/849528/apple-italy-antitrust-fine-att-app-privacy
A data-harvesting technique in today’s smart TVs has sparked Texas to sue the top display makers, accusing them of spying on consumers by routinely capturing screenshots. “This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says. “The fundamental right to privacy will be protected in Texas because owning a television does not mean surrendering your personal information to Big Tech or foreign adversaries.”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/texas-sues-top-tv-makers-for-secretly-recording-what-you-watch
Google has hit back at claims circulating on social media that accuse the tech giant of training its Google Gemini AI on users' emails without their permission. In a statement shared with The Verge, Google called reports "misleading," saying that the company has “not changed anyone’s settings. Gmail Smart Features have existed for many years, and we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-no-were-not-secretly-training-gemini-on-your-gmail-account
The bill signed Wednesday would require them to set up an easy-to-find mechanism that lets Californians opt-out with the push of a button, instead of having to do so repeatedly when visiting individual websites. “These signals are going to be available to millions more people and it's going to be much easier for them to opt out,” said Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports.
https://therecord.media/california-signs-law-opt-out-browsers