This Week in Privacy – Details, episodes & analysis

This week we are joined by Carey Parker from Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons, Brave has announced a paid $60 version of Brave with bloatware and features stripped out, in the US - Nevada police are tracking phones locations without a warrant, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #50. 

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:36) - Start of podcast
• (01:16) - Brave Origin strips web browser down to its core and asks you to pay for less
• (20:28) - Maryland becomes first state to pass bill banning 'surveillance pricing'
• (31:03) - Site updates
• (37:31) - Mozilla Used Anthropic's Mythos to Find and Fix 271 Bugs in Firefox
• (51:17) - Unauthorized group has gained access to Anthropic's exclusive cyber tool Mythos, report claims
• (57:05) - Exclusive: Meta to start capturing employee mouse movements, keystrokes for AI training data
• (01:12:35) - Forum updates
• (01:22:10) - Q&A
• (01:50:09) - Outro

We recently interviewed Carissa Véliz, author of Privacy is Power and University of Oxford associate professor, to talk about how predictive AI will make a ‘meritocracy’ impossible, how lifelike chat bots are designed to deceive you, and the importance of privacy in the digital age. Her new book, ‘Prophecy,’ comes out on April 21st.

• View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E00mNfH75qM
• Listen in your favorite podcast app: https://privacyinterviews.transistor.fm/episodes/predictive-ai-w-carissa-veliz-university-of-oxford-professor

The RSS feed for our audio interviews is separate from This Week in Privacy, you can find it at https://privacyinterviews.transistor.fm/subscribe

Apple is verifying user’s ages to download R18+ apps and games on the app store globally to comply with age verification laws, people across the US are destroying and dismantling FLOCK cameras, Firefox has a new “block AI” switch to disable AI features, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #42!

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:21) - Start of podcast
• (01:17) - Apple rolls out age-verification tools worldwide to comply with growing web of child safety laws
• (32:24) - Open source registries don't have enough money to implement basic security
• (47:46) - Site updates
• (52:30) - Amazon Change Means Wishlists Might Expose Your Address
• (59:26) - Across the US, people are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras
• (01:09:17) - Quick updates
• (01:12:42) - Forum updates
• (01:33:30) - Q&A
• (01:59:13) - Outro

Meta plans to add facial recognition technology to their smart glasses, popular password managers fall short of their “zero knowledge” claims, Apple is testing end-to-end encryption with RCS in iOS 26.4 beta, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #41!

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:20) - Start of podcast
• (01:38) - Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
• (17:26) - Popular password managers fall short of “zero-knowledge” claims
• (31:11) - iOS 26.3 adds unique new privacy feature, and it’s Apple at its best
• (38:23) - Everything New in iOS 26.4 Beta 1
• (45:11) - Site updates
• (50:37) - Microsoft says bug causes Copilot to summarize confidential emails
• (58:14) - Grok Exposed a Porn Performer’s Legal Name and Birthdate—Without Even Being Asked
• (01:16:04) - Age verification laws quick update
• (01:23:17) - Forum updates
• (01:40:31) - Q&A
• (01:43:34) - Outro

Discord is facing backlash after requiring all users to provide ID to access age restricted servers and channels, this comes after Discord breached 70,000 of its users government ID documents, Apple is moving to remove anonymous chat apps from the App Store, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #40.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:22) - Start of the podcast
• (01:23) - Discord faces backlash over age checks after data breach exposed 70,000 IDs
• (33:27) - Upgraded Google safety tools can now find and remove more of your personal info
• (44:19) - Google recovers “deleted” Nest video in high-profile abduction case
• (59:13) - Site updates
• (01:02:11) - ‘Dystopian’ Ring Search Party feature sparks public backlash
• (01:18:04) - Homeland Security Spying on Reddit Users
• (01:36:27) - Forum updates & Q&A
• (02:07:27) - Outro

The FBI Couldn’t Get into a reporter’s iPhone because it had lockdown mode enabled, RAM shortages have hit Raspberry Pi prices, more countries are rolling out Australia style under 16 social media bans, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #39.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:23) - Start of the podcast
• (01:12) - FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
• (21:12) - Notepad++ update feature hijacked by Chinese state hackers for months
• (31:40) - Site updates
• (42:02) - Ongoing RAM crisis prompts Raspberry Pi’s second price hike in two months
• (55:57) - You won: Microsoft is walking back Windows 11’s AI overload - scaling down Copilot and rethinking Recall in a major shift
• (01:09:28) - Spain & Greece announce plans to ban social media for under-16s
• (01:13:53) - Forum updates
• (01:32:49) - Q&A
• (01:45:56) - Outro

WhatsApp encryption is coming under scrutiny, French lawmakers are pushing an under-15s social media ban, TikTok’s privacy policy has gotten worse after it has been bought by American investors, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #38.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:21) - Start of podcast
• (01:12) - Site updates
• (04:47) - Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption
• (19:04) - French lawmakers vote to ban social media use by under-15s
• (36:23) - UK Lords vote to ban VPNs for children as pressure on the privacy tools increases
• (49:57) - AI and facial recognition to be rolled out as Britain’s ‘broken’ policing system faces sweeping reforms
• (01:03:12) - TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes
• (01:17:26) - Forum & Community Updates
• (01:20:32) - Q&A
• (01:50:46) - A Message from Privacy Guides' Program Director
• (01:54:07) - Outro

Bitwarden is raising prices, Microsoft handed over encryption keys to the FBI, U.S. ICE agents are misidentifying people with facial recognition, and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #37!

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (00:22) - Start of Podcast
• (01:50) - Site Updates
• (04:42) - Bitwarden launches enhanced premium plan
• (17:02) - Predator Spyware Turns Failed Attacks Into Intelligence for Future Exploits
• (22:33) - Ireland wants to give its cops spyware, ability to crack encrypted messages
• (31:48) - Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw
• (43:32) - One of the first alternative app stores in the EU is shutting down
• (49:30) - A Bundle of ICE Stories
• (01:09:51) - Q&A
• (01:32:03) - Outro

Moxie Marlinspike has created a private AI alternative called Confer, Windscribe has helped form a privacy alliance, Threema got acquired by Comitis Capital, E2EE comes to RCS messaging on iOS 26.3, and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #36!

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:21) - Start of podcast
• (01:10) - Site updates
• (05:57) - Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike wants to do for AI what he did for messaging
• (30:13) - Windscribe Partners with Kagi, Notesnook, Addy.io, and Ente to Create a Privacy-Focused Alliance
• (46:09) - Comitis Capital announces the acquisition of Threema
• (01:01:09) - Encrypted RCS Spotted in iOS 26.3 Beta
• (01:08:36) - Google’s Gemini to power Apple’s AI features like Siri
• (01:20:18) - Never-before-seen Linux malware is “far more advanced than typical”
• (01:27:00) - Forum updates
• (01:31:00) - Q&A
• (01:45:16) - Outro

Google is changing how they release Android Open Source Project code, California is introducing a way for people to mass opt-out of data brokers, cryptocurrency theft attacks are still being traced to the 2022 Lastpass breach and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #35!

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:19) - Start of podcast
• (01:20) - Site updates
• (05:08) - Breaking: Google will now only release Android source code twice a year
• (22:12) - Italy Fines Cloudflare €14 Million for Refusing to Filter Pirate Sites on Public 1.1.1.1 DNS
• (44:07) - The nation’s strictest privacy law just took effect, to data brokers’ chagrin
• (54:36) - Founder of spyware maker pcTattletale pleads guilty to hacking and advertising surveillance software
• (01:08:20) - Cryptocurrency theft attacks traced to 2022 LastPass breach
• (01:19:45) - Forum updates
• (01:32:47) - Q&A
• (01:54:45) - Outro