Topic: location data
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Your Digital Footprint: How Geolocation Puts Your Privacy at Risk
Geolocation data from smartphones and apps creates a significant privacy risk, enabling cybercriminals to exploit traceable information for targeted attacks. These geofenced threats, like the Stuxnet worm, can remain dormant until reaching specific locations, making early detection difficult and ...
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Court Rules Verizon Can't Sell User Location Data Without Consent
A federal court upheld a $46.9 million fine against Verizon for selling customer location data without consent, reinforcing consumer privacy rights. The ruling creates a legal split with other carriers' cases, potentially leading to Supreme Court review for a uniform standard. The court rejected ...
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Partiful Exposed User Locations in Uploaded Photos
Partiful has become a leading social event planning app, surpassing Facebook in popularity due to its retro designs and easy RSVP system, earning it Google's best app of 2024 award. The app faced scrutiny over data privacy, as it failed to strip location metadata from user-uploaded photos, potent...
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ICE Seeks 'Ad Tech and Big Data' for Investigations
ICE is exploring commercial big data and ad tech tools to enhance its investigative capabilities, signaling a shift toward repurposing digital advertising technologies for government surveillance. The agency has a history of using commercial data, including mobile location information and platfor...
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Your Data Could Set the Price of Your Eggs
A new New York State law requires retailers to disclose when they use personal data and algorithms to set dynamic, personalized prices for online shoppers. The law mandates a "clear and conspicuous" notice but does not force companies to reveal which specific data points are used or how they infl...
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Chatbots Fail at Suicide Hotline Referrals
A test of popular AI chatbots revealed many failed to provide accurate, location-appropriate suicide prevention resources when asked, with some giving irrelevant information or refusing to engage, creating dangerous friction in a crisis. While some platforms like ChatGPT performed adequately, oth...
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OpenAI Alerts Users to Mixpanel API Data Breach
OpenAI notified API users of a data exposure due to a security incident at its third-party analytics provider, Mixpanel, clarifying that its own systems were not breached. The exposed data may include user details like names, email addresses, approximate locations, and device information, but sen...
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