Surveillance Report: Weekly News For Digital Freedom – Details, episodes & analysis

The government told you to use a VPN, but are you actually making yourself a target for NSA surveillance in the process? This week's highlight story digs into a letter from six US lawmakers pressing intelligence officials to answer whether Americans using commercial VPNs risk losing their legal protections and being treated as foreign nationals under Section 702 of FISA.

Also this week: North Korea's methodical, weeks-long social engineering attack that briefly hijacked the Axios open-source JavaScript library; Android malware called NoVoice that infected 2.3 million devices through the Google Play Store that survives a factory reset; Apple's device-level age verification expanding to the UK, Singapore, and South Korea; and the EU Parliament's dramatic vote to kill Chat Control, plus Patrick Brayer's five-point action plan for genuine child protection that doesn't require mass surveillance. The Defense Bulletin is packed: VeraCrypt's developer locked out by Microsoft, a rare Apple iOS 18 backport patch, Meta losing a child exploitation lawsuit, Apple Maps ads incoming, and more.

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🔗 SOURCES & LINKS
View all sources here: https://techlore.tech/vpns-could-expose-you-to-nsa-spying-north-koreas-open-source-hijack-android-malware-hits-2-3-million-devices-via-google-play-and-the-eu-ending-chat-control/

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

• (00:00) - WELCOME TO SURVEILLANCE REPORT
• (01:18) - HIGHLIGHT STORY: NSA VPN SPYING
• (08:24) - NORTH KOREA HACKS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
• (10:30) - GOOGLE HOSTING MALWARE ON PLAY STORE
• (15:00) - AGE VERIFICATION ADVANCES EVERYWHERE
• (26:12) - END OF CHAT CONTROL & WHAT'S NEXT!
• (31:00) - DEFENSE BULLETIN

This week's Surveillance Report covers two sophisticated zero-click iOS exploit frameworks: Coruna and DarkSword hit hundreds of millions of iPhones in the span of a single week. Google finally revealed their controversial Android sideloading "advanced flow," and it involves a 24-hour wait, developer mode unlock, and a wall of warning screens just to install an APK. Meanwhile, Instagram has quietly killed end-to-end encryption in DMs, Colorado is pushing OS-level age verification that would even drag Linux into compliance, and the EU's chat control battle took a wild turn.

🧡 SUPPORT TECHLORE

Become a Techlorian and keep this show growing: https://techlore.tech/support

🔗 SOURCES & LINKS

View all sources here: https://techlore.tech/coruna-and-darksword-ios-exploits-explained-what-iphone-users-need-to-do-right-now/

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 INTRO TO SURVEILLANCE REPORT

01:30 HIGHLIGHT STORY: IOS EXPLOITS

08:02 GOOGLE SIDELOADING ADVANCED FLOW

19:26 INSTAGRAM REMOVING E2EE

22:26 OS AGE VERIFICATION

28:44 EU CHAT CONTROL

31:00 DEFENSE BULLETIN

📰 ABOUT SURVEILLANCE REPORT

Your essential weekly tech news podcast covering the latest threats to security, privacy, and digital freedom. Hosted by Henry Fisher from Techlore, delivering deep analysis to help you reclaim control and defend your rights.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's Surveillance Report covers the internet's free speech protections under attack as a US Senator moves to repeal Section 230. Plus: ransomware attacks escalate with React2Shell exploitation, India orders government access to encrypted messaging, AI "superintelligence" fear is being used to justify actual corporate manipulation happening right now, and Apple still refuses to comply with EU law.

Support Techlore: https://techlore.tech/support

Timestamps

Sources

00:00 Welcome to Surveillance Report

00:40 Highlight Story: Section 230 Under Attack

09:00 React2Shell Updates

10:58 More Surveillance Attempts in India

16:38 Our Sponsor: EasyOptOuts!

18:12 AI Hype Explained

26:38 Apple is Breaking EU Law

27:16 Global Attacks on Privacy Compilation

31:44 The Defense Bulletin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A194: What realtime file-sync options do we prefer? How do we navigate elitism in the privacy space? Would we ever sell merch? Do we ever disagree on privacy topics? Join our next Q&A on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/415684?view=expanded

Welcome to the Surveillance Report - featuring Techlore & The New Oil to keep you updated on the newest security & privacy news.

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00:00 Introduction

00:24 Private Cloud Storage

08:27 Avoiding Elitism

15:25 Merch When?

19:45 Privacy Disagreements

Main Sites

Surveillance Report: https://www.surveillancereport.tech/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@surveillancereport:2

PeerTube: https://apertatube.net/c/surveillancereport/videos

Techlore Website: https://techlore.tech

The New Oil Website: https://thenewoil.org/

#privacy #security #news

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 194: Yubikey vulnerability, escalating sextortion scams, Clearview fine, Bitwarden iOS overhaul, and more!

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Timestamps

Sources

00:00 Introduction

00:29 Support Us!

01:23 Highlight Story (Yubikey vulnerability)

09:33 Data Breaches

11:35 Companies

13:01 Politics

15:42 FOSS

17:38 Misfits

19:07 Support Us!

Main Sites

Surveillance Report

Odysee

PeerTube

Techlore Website

The New Oil Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A193: What are our recommendations for content-blockers and browser extensions? Why do people accept the lie of "anonymized" telemetry? Do we have any experience with privacy.com cards being blocked? Join our next Q&A on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/415684?view=expanded

Welcome to the Surveillance Report - featuring Techlore & The New Oil to keep you updated on the newest security & privacy news.

❤️ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/surveillancepod

💛 Support us on Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/surveillancereport

🪙 Monero: 46iGe5D49rpgH4dde32rmyWifMjw5sHy7V2mD9sXGDJgSWmAwQvuAuoD9KcLFKYFsLGLpzXQs1eABRShm1RZRnSy6HgbhQD

00:00 Introduction

00:24 Content Blockers & Browser Extensions

04:49 The Myth of Anonymized Data

08:38 Issues Using Privacy.com

Main Sites

Surveillance Report: https://www.surveillancereport.tech/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@surveillancereport:2

PeerTube: https://apertatube.net/c/surveillancereport/videos

Techlore Website: https://techlore.tech

The New Oil Website: https://thenewoil.org/

#privacy #security #news

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 193: Telegram CEO arrested, Firefox privacy improvements, VPN restrictions in Brazil, and more!

🔐 Thank you to our sponsor JMP Chat! Use your private phone number on every device with JMP, visit their website to get started a learn more: https://jmp.chat/

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Timestamps

Sources

00:00 Introduction

00:23 Sponsor: JMP.Chat

01:36 Highlight Story (Durov's Arrest)

11:56 Data Breaches

14:01 Politics

20:31 FOSS

26:13 Misfits

28:01 Sponsor: JMP.Chat

Main Sites

Surveillance Report

Odysee

PeerTube

Techlore Website

The New Oil Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A192: Is GPC actually effective, or is it just another DNT? Should you migrate off of Google Sites? What's the best workflow for degoogled Androids? And is phone location privacy a non-starter? Join our next Q&A on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/415684?view=expanded

Welcome to the Surveillance Report - featuring Techlore & The New Oil to keep you updated on the newest security & privacy news.

❤️ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/surveillancepod

💛 Support us on Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/surveillancereport

🪙 Monero: 46iGe5D49rpgH4dde32rmyWifMjw5sHy7V2mD9sXGDJgSWmAwQvuAuoD9KcLFKYFsLGLpzXQs1eABRShm1RZRnSy6HgbhQD

00:00 Introduction

00:24 Should You Enable GPC?

05:00 Best Workflows When You Need Two OS's

07:49 The Ethics of Using Google Sites

11:00 Phone Location Privacy

Main Sites

Surveillance Report: https://www.surveillancereport.tech/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@surveillancereport:2

PeerTube: https://apertatube.net/c/surveillancereport/videos

Techlore Website: https://techlore.tech

The New Oil Website: https://thenewoil.org/

#privacy #security #news

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 192: A massive WhatsApp scrape, Windows breaks Linux dual-boot, X (and VPNs on the App Store) pull out of Brazil, and more!

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Timestamps

Sources

00:00 Introduction

00:18 Support us!

00:45 Episode 200 PSA

01:00 Highlight Story (WhatsApp Scrape)

04:23 Data Breaches

07:12 Companies

10:24 Politics

11:59 FOSS

13:13 Misfits

14:23 Support us!

Main Sites

Surveillance Report

Odysee

PeerTube

Techlore Website

The New Oil Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q&A191: How do we protect against e-mail tracking in non-private providers and how do we handle tracking links embedded in emails?

Join our next Q&A on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/415684?view=expanded**

Welcome to the Surveillance Report - featuring Techlore & The New Oil to keep you updated on the newest security & privacy news.

❤️ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/surveillancepod

💛 Support us on Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/surveillancereport

🪙 Monero: 46iGe5D49rpgH4dde32rmyWifMjw5sHy7V2mD9sXGDJgSWmAwQvuAuoD9KcLFKYFsLGLpzXQs1eABRShm1RZRnSy6HgbhQD

00:00 Introduction

00:27 Protecting Against Email Tracking

03:32 Unmasking Tracking Links in Emails

Main Sites

Surveillance Report: https://www.surveillancereport.tech/

Odysee: https://odysee.com/@surveillancereport:2

PeerTube: https://apertatube.net/c/surveillancereport/videos

Techlore Website: https://techlore.tech

The New Oil Website: https://thenewoil.org/

#privacy #security #news

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.