Topic: user consent
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TikTok's New Privacy Policy: 3 Major Data Collection Changes
TikTok's new U.S.-based ownership, including Oracle, has led to mandatory updated terms that grant the platform significantly broader data collection powers, such as precise geolocation tracking. The revised policy explicitly categorizes user interactions with AI features as collectible data, log...
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Google Workspace AI Features Enabled by Default
Google has enabled AI-driven smart features by default for many Workspace users without direct consent, raising privacy concerns and questions about user control over data from services like Gmail and Drive. These features are not activated by default in regions with stricter data protection laws...
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Agent Payments Protocol (AP2): A Game-Changer for Ecommerce & Marketers
The Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is an open standard that enables AI assistants to autonomously conduct secure, accountable transactions on behalf of users with explicit consent, backed by major partners like Google and Mastercard. AP2 aims to reduce friction in ecommerce by allowing AI agents t...
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Anthropic Users: Opt Out or Share Data for AI Training
Anthropic now requires all users to decide by September 28 whether to consent to their data being used for AI model training, a shift from its previous policy of deleting consumer chat data within 30 days. Users who do not opt out will have their interactions retained for up to five years to impr...
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Warhammer 40,000: Corsairs of the Maelstrom Revealed
The Corsairs of the Maelstrom are a new, independent faction of space pirates in Warhammer 40,000, operating from the galactic Maelstrom with a diverse, scavenged fleet. On the tabletop, they enable a highly mobile, hit-and-run playstyle with rules emphasizing speed, ambush tactics, and adaptable...
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Google Enhances Ads Consent with New Data Controls
Google has introduced "Data Transmission Control", a new feature that allows advertisers to precisely manage what website data is transmitted to Google under specific user consent scenarios, building upon its existing Advanced Consent Mode framework. The tool provides granular, independent cont...
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Ring's Search Party Is On by Default: Should You Turn It Off?
Ring's Search Party feature uses AI to scan footage from nearby outdoor cameras to help locate lost dogs, notifying camera owners of potential matches for manual review and sharing. The feature is enabled by default on compatible devices, raising concerns about user consent and digital privacy, t...
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Claude Chats Will Train AI: Here's How to Opt Out
Anthropic will begin using conversations with its Claude chatbot for training its AI models starting October 8, requiring users to opt out if they wish to exclude their data. The company justifies this change by stating that real-world user interactions provide valuable insights to enhance the ch...
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Samsung's Preloaded Israeli App Sparks Controversy
Samsung preloads its Galaxy phones in India and other regions with AppCloud, an installer that promotes third-party apps during setup and leaves a persistent notification until addressed. Concerns have escalated as AppCloud is linked to ironSource, a company with a controversial history of non-co...
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Create Deepfakes of Friends with OpenAI's New Video App
OpenAI's new Sora app enables users to create AI-generated deepfakes of friends with explicit consent, currently available on an invite-only basis in the U.S. and Canada. The app features "cameos" where users can grant permission for others to produce videos using their likeness, with co-ownershi...
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Google Fined $425M in Landmark Privacy Violation Case
A federal jury ordered Google to pay $425 million for continuing to collect user data even after individuals disabled tracking features, marking one of the largest penalties for digital privacy violations. The class action lawsuit, representing about 98 million users, accused Google of unlawfully...
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Grok AI's Deepfake Risks Exposed, Including Minors
Grok AI's new image editing tool has enabled the widespread creation of non-consensual deepfakes, including sexualized imagery of women, minors, and public figures, due to a critical lack of safety guardrails. The feature's rapid misuse has led to egregious examples like the generation of child s...
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Google Faces Outcry Over Gmail Setting That Gave Gemini AI Inbox Access
A default Gmail setting automatically granted Google's Gemini AI access to user inboxes and calendar data for training, sparking widespread user backlash and privacy concerns without explicit consent. Google clarified the feature is part of its existing Smart Features system, designed to automate...
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Perplexity Comet Browser Flaw Exposed Users to System Attacks
Security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in Perplexity's Comet browser, where its MCP API allowed built-in extensions to execute commands on the user's operating system, bypassing standard browser protections. The flaw could enable attackers to take control of devices or deploy ma...
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OpenAI's Deepfake TikTok Blurs Reality Beyond Recognition
OpenAI's Sora 2 AI video tool generates highly realistic deepfake videos, including convincing clips of real people, raising concerns about digital authenticity and misinformation. The platform features significant upgrades such as synchronized audio generation, improved accuracy, and a social ap...
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Oura CEO Responds to Backlash, Envisions 'Cloud of Wearables'
Oura CEO Tom Hale denies any data-sharing with the Department of Defense or Palantir, asserting that user health data remains private and is not shared without explicit consent. The company's involvement with the DoD is limited to a secure enterprise solution, and its terms of service strictly pr...
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Facebook's AI Can Now See Photos You Haven't Shared
Meta has launched an AI feature in the U.S. and Canada that scans users' smartphone camera rolls to identify and enhance "hidden gems" for creating polished, shareable content. The company states that it will not use photos from your camera roll to train its AI models unless you actively edit the...
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OpenAI's Sora Sparks Unexpected Copyright Controversy
OpenAI's Sora video generation tool sparked copyright debates, leading to a policy shift from opt-out to letting rightsholders control usage after unauthorized characters like Nazi SpongeBob emerged. The platform introduced granular user controls for digital likenesses and improved watermarking t...
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Google to Pay $135M for Android Data Collection
Google has agreed to a $135 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging it collected Android users' cellular data without proper consent, even when apps were inactive or location services were off. The settlement mandates Google to simplify user controls over data transfers, obt...
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Unify Your Digital Life with Gemini's Personal Intelligence
Google's Gemini app is launching a beta feature called **Personal Intelligence** in the U.S., which personalizes responses by connecting to user data from services like Gmail and Photos, with plans to integrate it into Google Search's AI Mode. The feature emphasizes user privacy and control, bein...
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Apple Hit With $116 Million Fine Over App Privacy
Italy's antitrust regulator fined Apple €98 million for its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, deeming it excessively burdensome and discriminatory against third-party developers. The regulator found Apple's policy required third-party apps to obtain user consent for data tracking twice, ...
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Stop AI Agent Threats: Why Okta's New Security Standard is Essential
The rise of AI agents accessing corporate data creates security blind spots, as current delegated access systems (like OAuth) bypass central IT oversight, placing risky permissions in employees' hands. A new open standard, the Identity Assertion Authorization Grant (IAAG), proposes to give organi...
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Google's 'Ask Photos' Missing in Some States Due to Face Grouping
Google's Ask Photos and conversational editing features are unavailable in Illinois and Texas due to the absence of the face grouping functionality, which relies on biometric data collection. The unavailability is linked to legal challenges under biometric privacy laws, including BIPA in Illinois...
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Get Paid $30/Day to Record Calls for AI: Is It Worth It?
Neon - Money Talks is a free app that pays users for recording their phone conversations, which are then sold as anonymized data to AI companies for training language models. The app records only calls made through it, with a tiered payment system offering up to 30 cents per minute, and includes ...
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Elon Musk's Grok AI: Why Its Failure Was Predictable
Grok's rapid development prioritized speed over safety, lacking robust safeguards and formal assessments from the outset, which set the stage for misuse. The AI has been widely used to generate nonconsensual deepfakes, enabled by features like image editing and integration on a platform with weak...
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Chrome's Latest Update Adds 3 AI Features, Including 'Nano Banana'
Google's Chrome browser has integrated three new AI features, including a Gemini-powered side panel for multitasking, an agentic Auto Browse function, and an image editor called Nano Banana, to enhance productivity. The Nano Banana tool allows users to directly edit images on webpages via text co...
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Google Settles for $68M Over Voice Assistant Privacy Claims
Google has agreed to a $68 million settlement over a lawsuit alleging its voice assistant improperly recorded users via "false accepts" and used the data for targeted ads, though it admitted no wrongdoing. This case is part of a broader pattern of legal challenges, including a similar $95 million...
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Google Unveils Chrome's AI Security Safeguards
The rise of intelligent web agents introduces significant security risks, including data loss and financial threats, prompting Google to develop a multi-layered security framework for Chrome to keep these features safe and user-controlled. Google's security approach includes a User Alignment Crit...
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Disney-YouTube Feud Blocks Digital Movie Syncing
The contract dispute between Disney and YouTube TV has led to Movies Anywhere removing Google Play and YouTube from its connected platforms, preventing new movie purchases from syncing across services. Existing linked libraries remain accessible for now, but new purchases through Google platforms...
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New ChatGPT Attack Steals Secrets from Gmail Inboxes
A new prompt injection attack successfully extracted sensitive Gmail data by manipulating AI assistants, exploiting how AI interprets instructions and remaining difficult to prevent. The vulnerability was addressed reactively after discovery, using a method that bypassed existing protections by d...
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Harvard's Smart Glasses Promise "Vibe Thinking" for You
Halo X smart glasses, developed by startup Halo, continuously record and transcribe conversations to provide real-time AI insights, aiming to enhance users' social and intellectual performance. The device's always-on recording feature lacks visible privacy indicators, raising significant legal an...
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The All-Access AI Agent Era Has Arrived
The rise of all-access AI agents requires deep integration into operating systems and personal files, raising significant cybersecurity and privacy concerns due to centralized, sensitive data. These autonomous agents function by accessing broad data sources like emails and calendars to perform ta...
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Privacy Commissioner Issues New Social Media Rules
Australia's privacy watchdog has introduced new regulations requiring social media platforms to implement age verification measures that protect user privacy, with enforcement starting December 10 under the Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) scheme. The guidance mandates that platforms and verificat...
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LG TVs' AI Shortcut Is Just the Tip of the Smart TV Problem
A software update for LG smart TVs unexpectedly added a non-removable Microsoft Copilot shortcut icon, sparking user backlash over forced software bundling and a perceived loss of device control. LG clarified the update only added a browser shortcut to the web app, not a full installation, and st...
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Can Your Vibrator Be Hacked?
App-connected smart devices, including intimate items like sex toys, collect sensitive usage data and location information through their companion apps, raising significant privacy concerns. Manufacturers may sell this collected customer data to third-party brokers, who can combine it with other ...
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Mastodon Adopts Bluesky's Starter Packs With Opt-Out Option
Mastodon is introducing "Packs," a feature to help users discover accounts and build engaging feeds through curated lists organized by topic, similar to Bluesky's Starter Packs. The feature emphasizes user control by allowing individuals to opt out, receive notifications when added, and remove th...
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Otter.ai's CEO Aims Beyond Meeting Transcription
Otter.ai is evolving from a transcription service into a corporate knowledge hub, introducing enterprise tools that integrate meeting insights into business workflows. The platform aims to eliminate information silos by centralizing meeting data, allowing companies to scale growth and achieve bet...
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LG TV Update Forces Microsoft Copilot on Users, Sparks Outrage
An LG software update automatically installed Microsoft's Copilot AI on smart TVs without user consent, sparking controversy over forced software and consumer control over their devices. The incident has raised significant privacy concerns, as users worry the non-removable AI could analyze viewin...
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Google Denies Using Your Emails for AI Training: The Truth
Google has denied claims that it scans private Gmail messages to train its AI systems, clarifying that its smart features are separate from AI model training and no policy changes have authorized such data usage. A security firm initially reported that Google was using email content for AI traini...
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Neon App Pays Users to Record Calls & Sells Data to AI
Neon Mobile, an app that pays users to record their phone calls and sells the audio to AI companies, has rapidly risen to the number two spot in the U.S. Apple App Store's Social Networking category. The app records only the user's side of conversations unless both parties are Neon users, a strat...
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Google to pay $68M in Assistant privacy lawsuit settlement
Google has proposed a $68 million settlement over a lawsuit alleging its Assistant devices unlawfully recorded private conversations during "False Accepts," where the device mistakenly activated. The settlement covers individuals who owned qualifying Google Assistant-enabled devices, like Pixel p...
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Google Denies Using Gmail Emails to Train AI
Google has denied using personal Gmail emails to train its AI systems, clarifying that Gmail Smart Features are separate from AI model training and no changes have been made to user settings for this purpose. Some users experienced unexpected reactivation of Smart Features after a January update,...
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Apple Could Disable App Tracking in Europe
Apple may disable its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature in Europe due to intense lobbying, potentially undermining user privacy by removing their ability to block cross-app tracking. Regulators in countries like Germany and France argue ATT is anticompetitive, alleging Apple applies stricte...
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Spotify Privacy Flaw Exposes Palmer Luckey's Playlist
A leaked database called the Panama Playlists reveals the Spotify listening habits of influential figures like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and VP JD Vance, exposing Spotify's default public privacy settings. The playlists offer surprising insights into personal tastes, such as Vance’s mix featuring Bac...
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YouTube's New AI Can Now Detect Your Face
YouTube has launched a likeness-detection tool for its Partner Program creators to combat AI-generated misuse of personal identity, enabling them to identify and manage synthetic face or voice content. The system allows creators to verify their identity via a photo ID and selfie video, then revie...
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AI Privacy Research Is Focused on the Wrong Threats
AI privacy research has disproportionately focused on data memorization and chat history protection, overlooking more critical vulnerabilities in how large language models gather, process, and infer information during daily operations. A review of over 1,300 studies revealed that 92% addressed on...
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Top 8 AEO Tools Every Marketer Needs for Business Growth
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is essential for growth, focusing on directly answering user queries with clear content to build brand authority and capture traffic. Effective AEO relies on understanding search intent (informational, navigational, etc.) to craft content that matches user goals a...
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Elon Musk's Ex Sues Over AI Chatbot's Privacy Violation
The lawsuit alleges xAI's Grok chatbot created a non-consensual deepfake of Ashley St. Clair, framing it as a dangerous product liability issue to bypass Section 230 legal protections. xAI countersued St. Clair in Texas, claiming she violated its terms of service by filing her complaint in New Yo...
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Top Generative Engine Optimization Tools for Marketers
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a new approach focused on optimizing content specifically for AI models and LLMs, requiring specialized strategies beyond traditional SEO to ensure visibility. Marketers can use tools like Surfer SEO, Jasper, and Frase.io for GEO, which help with data-drive...
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X Countersues to Reclaim 'Twitter' Trademark
X (formerly Twitter) is taking legal action to assert its ownership of the "Twitter" trademark, updating its Terms of Service and filing a countersuit against a startup's claim of abandonment. The dispute hinges on whether X abandoned the "Twitter" brand, with the startup citing public statements...
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