December 2024 Privacy News Roundup
That's it for 2024! 🎆
Welcome to the final edition of my monthly news roundup for 2024. Several headlines featured show measures being implemented that will negatively affect digital privacy. Without further ado, let's get into it.
1.) This VPN is now the resistance tool of choice in authoritarian regimes trying to control the internet - Link
2.) Critics decry Vietnam’s ‘draconian’ new internet law - Link
3.) Malaysian Lawmakers Approve Bill To Broaden Internet Control - Link
4.) Privacy in Authoritarian Times - Link
5.) Are You Being Tracked Without A Warrant? How Tools Like Locate X Threaten Your Privacy - Link
6.) Cryptee: In an open letter, Cryptee, EDRi, EFF, Tuta, Wikimedia and a broad coalition of other organizations warn of EU Council's "Going Dark" Report - Link
7.) The Paper Passport Is Dying - Link
8.) Microsoft Recall screenshots credit cards and Social Security numbers, even with the "sensitive information" filter enabled - Link
9.) Hundreds of websites to shut down under UK’s ‘chilling’ internet laws - Link
10.) The Breachies 2024: The Worst, Weirdest, Most Impactful Data Breaches of the Year - Link
11.) Techlore forum: Apple hit with $1.2B lawsuit after killing controversial CSAM-detecting tool - Link
12.) Decentralized video platform PeerTube has launched a limited mobile app for iOS & Android - Link
13.) French internet operator fined $53 million for unsolicited ads and tracking users without consent - Link
14.) Location data firm helps police find out when suspects visited their doctor - Link
15.) Mozilla to remove the Do Not Track setting from Firefox in the upcoming version 135 update - Link / Additional Link
16.) Data brokers should stop trading health and location data, new bill proposes - Link
17.) Here’s how OpenAI uses your data when you use ChatGPT through Apple’s integrations - Link
18.) Photobucket opted inactive users into privacy nightmare, lawsuit says - Link
19.) Tuta: Encryption is non-negotiable: open letter to EU to not undermine privacy. - Link
20.) IVPN acquires Safing, operator of Portmaster and the SPN network - Link
21.) Screen Actors Guild Health Plan sued after September data breach exposes healthcare info - Link
22.) BeReal hit with privacy complaint over how it asks EU users to agree to tracking - Link
23.) Controversial EU ad campaign on X broke bloc’s own privacy rules - Link
24.) Serbian government cracked phones with Cellebrite to install spyware, report says - Link
25.) Russia bans Viber, claiming app facilitates terrorism and drug trafficking - Link
26.) New app lets police identify suspects in the street - Link
27.) CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Data Brokers from Selling Sensitive Personal Data to Scammers, Stalkers, and Spies - Link
28.) SimpleX: Oppose digital IDs – they break the law and lead to mass scale surveillance - Link
29.) Dutch regulator fines Netflix $5 million for data privacy violations - Link
30.) Mozilla partners with Ecosia for a better web - Link
31.) French Piracy Blocking Order Goes Global, DNS Service Quad9 Vows to Fight - Link
32.) Rhode Island governor warns residents of cyberattack on state benefits system - Link
33.) Even Great Companies Get Breached — Find Out Why and How to Stop It - Link
34.) Apple and Meta go to war over interoperability vs. privacy - Link
35.) Meta fined $263 million for alleged GDPR violations that led to data breach - Link
36.) Bipartisan bills to protect car owners’ privacy introduced in House and Senate - Link
37.) Congress Again Fails to Limit Scope of Spy Powers in New Defense Bill - Link
38.) Organic Maps Turns 4: The Privacy-Focused Alternative to Google Maps - Link
39.) Senators rip into automakers for selling customer data and blocking right to repair - Link
40.) World(coin) must let Europeans comprehensively delete their data, under privacy order - Link
41.) Microsoft won't let customers opt out of passkey push - Link
42.) As ‘smart cities’ tools grow nationwide, so do privacy and ethical concerns - Link
43.) Cloudflare Must Block ‘Piracy Shield’ Domains and IP Addresses Across its Service - Link
44.) Tor: Meeting the demands of tomorrow's Internet - Link
45.) Mullvad review of 2024 - Link
46.) Privacy and autonomy: Redefining boundaries for Indigenous communities - Link
47.) WhatsApp scores historic victory against NSO Group in long-running spyware hacking case - Link
48.) Microsoft Is Forcing Its AI Assistant on People—And Making Them Pay - Link
49.) Session: Three reasons to choose a decentralised private messaging app - Link
50.) UN Cybercrime Treaty: A Trojan Horse For Transnational Repression - Link
51.) UN General Assembly approves cybercrime treaty despite industry backlash - Link
52.) EU Tech Regulation—Good Intentions, Unclear Consequences: 2024 in Review - Link
53.) Exposing Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico Border: 2024 Year in Review in Pictures - Link
54.) One third of adults can't delete device data - Link
55.) FBI, DEA deployment of AI raises privacy, civil rights concerns - Link
56.) AI's next frontier: Selling your intentions before you know them - Link
57.) Is your iPhone sharing photos data with Apple by default? - Link
58.) France extends Olympics security measures to Christmas market. Rights defenders cry foul - Link
59.) Apple reportedly working on a smart doorbell with Face ID - Link
60.) Big brother: the effects of surveillance on fundamental aspects of social vision - Link
As always, if you found any privacy news related this month, feel free to leave them in the comments.
See You Next Year,
Monique 🎉
P.S. Newsletters for 2025 will start on January 15th.
