Source: Android Headlines
https://www.androidheadlines.com/2024/12/your-bluesky-posts-could-be-training-ai-models-right-now.html
Bluesky’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent weeks. In the midst of an “exodus” of X/Twitter users, millions found in Bluesky the ideal alternative. Being designed as a competitor to Twitter, the platform is quite similar in terms of core functionality. However, it seems that BlueSky’s conditions regarding AI and post privacy are not as good as many expected.One of the changes in X that triggered a user migration campaign is related to artificial intelligence. The new terms of use allow Elon Musk’s platform to train its AI-based developments with user posts. While many might not care about this, there are others—such as artists—who viewed the new policy with concern.
That said, it seems that your posts on Bluesky are not so safe to be used for AI training. It’s noteworthy that the social platform has committed to not doing so. This statement reassured the people who left X for that very reason. But while Bluesky won’t train AI on your content, nothing prevents third parties from doing so.
Current data protection laws can do nothing about it
According to Samantha Cole’s report on 404 Media, at least six datasets containing millions of posts from Bluesky users are publicly available on Hugging Face. Moreover, it appears that current data protection laws are powerless to stop this. Cole consulted the situation with Neil Brown, a lawyer specializing in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). “Merely processing the personal data of people in the EU does not make the person doing that processing subject to the EU GDPR,” Brown stated.
What determines whether similar actions are subject to GDPR is what a particular organization or individual does with the data. Merely publishing the dataset does not make it eligible to initiate a GDPR-based legal process. The processing of the data “would need to fall within its [GDPR] material and territorial scopes” for that, adds Cole. By “material and territorial scopes” she refers not only to what someone does with the dataset but also to the region in which they do it.
Source: Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/how-much-do-i-need-to-change-my-face-to-avoid-facial-recognition-2000533755
Our biometric data is freely available to anybody with an AI model and a camera. Facial recognition software is such a pervasive technology that we submit our data whenever we go through airport security or walk into a drug store. You start to wonder if it’s possible to hide our facial features or—on the extreme end—change our appearance to such an extent that it fools the AI algorithm.
Couldn’t you just wear an N95 mask, scarf, and sunglasses to dodge Big Brother? So far, the best way to avoid being picked up by facial recognition is to avoid cameras. But that task may soon become near impossible. Privacy experts warn that we may already be on the losing end of protecting our biometric data. Soon, the only real defense may be federal regulation.
Source: ZDNET
https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-uses-your-personal-info-to-tailor-search-results-heres-how-to-stop-it/
Personalized search results seem to be on the rise. If you’re concerned about privacy, you can turn it off – for a single search, or for good.If you’ve used Google over the last few months, you may have noticed not only an increase in AI summaries but — as some in the search community are speculating — an increase in personalized search results. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean you might not see the results you want. Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it.
Over the past few days, a new link has started appearing on Google Search – “Results are personalized – Try without personalization.” If you click on it, you’ll see the same Google search and an explanation: “These results are not personalized.”
What exactly does this link do, and why would you want to turn off personalization?
…
Filed: https://www.zdnet.com/topic/security/
Subject: AI chatbot provider exposes 346,000 customer files, including ID documents, resumes, and medical records
Source: Malwarebytes blog
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/12/ai-chatbot-provider-exposes-346000-customer-files-including-id-documents-resumes-and-medical-records
Filed: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/category/privacy
Subject: Verification and Digital Investigations Resources
Source: Craig Silverman of ProPublica
https://www.bespacific.com/verification-and-digital-investigations-resources/
Mike Reilley – Maintained by Craig Silverman of ProPublica (@CraigSilverman). This is by no means a totally comprehensive list, but it covers what I consider to be essential plugins and tools for general OSINT/online research work. There are also links to other resources to go deeper.
—
Abstracted from beSpacific
Copyright © 2024 beSpacific, All rights reserved.
Source: Newser and/or LA Times
https://www.newser.com/story/360793/a-new-theft-scheme-hits-buyers-of-apple-laptops.html
Impersonators are using fake IDs, QR codes to retrieve computers before customers do. Consumers who recently purchased Apple laptops in Southern California were in for an unpleasant surprise when they arrived for pickup. The Los Angeles Times reports that some customers who’d placed their orders online showed up at their local Apple Store only to find that scammers had already picked up their paid-for new computers, sometimes using fake IDs and QR codes. Darragh Marmorstein tells the Orange County Register that she recently ordered a laptop online and received an alert that it was ready for pickup on Nov. 30, a Saturday. “I didn’t have it delivered to my house because I was worried about porch pirates,” she says.
Subject: FCC Prepares to Block Companies That Don’t Block Robocalls
Source: Phone Scoop
https://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=23415
Source: Phone Scoop
https://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=23418
Google today announced three new upgrades to help Android users deal with unknown Bluetooth tracking devices (potentially used for stalking and other surreptitious location tracking.) Both Android and iOS will detect an unknown Bluetooth tracking device making the same movements as a phone, and show an “unknown tracker” alert to the user. This detection is now cross-platform, thanks to a multi-year effort by Google and Apple. Recently, Google tweaked this technology to make these alerts happen “faster and more often.”
Second, Find Nearby now works with unknown trackers, to interactively help you pinpoint the tracking device quickly and precisely. Previously, users could only see its general location on a map and make it play a sound. Apple made similar changes to iOS in 2022. Finally, a new option lets users “Temporarily Pause Location” on your phone for up to 24 hours. Since Bluetooth trackers rely on other nearby Bluetooth devices — like your own phone — to track location, this prevents your own phone from being used against you, until you can find and disable the unwanted tracking device.
Source: Gizmodo
https://gizmodo.com/bitcoin-atm-security-breach-comprised-customers-price-of-bitcoin-2000537845
A massive data breach hit Bitcoin ATM company Byte Federal, compromising user information including their social security number, transaction history, and even photographs. If you’ve done business with Byte Federal it’s time to do more than change your passwords. You need to freeze your credit.
According to a data breach notification filed with the Maine Attorney General, Byte Federal discovered it had been breached on November 18. The attack happened on September 30. “Byte Federal became aware of a security breach by a bad actor who gained unauthorized access to one of our servers by exploiting a vulnerability in GitLab, a third-party software platform commonly used by developers worldwide for project management and collaboration with comprehensive security features,” Byte Federal explained in a post on its website.