March 2025 Privacy News Roundup
News
Welcome newcomers and returnees to another edition of my monthly privacy news roundup. Since my last newsletter, I received over 150 new subscribers! I blew past the 200 subscriber mark, and I am getting closer to 300! Thank you all for supporting The Privacy Cloud 🔐☁️!
I caught a variety of headlines, so make sure you check them all out.
⭐ Notable Substack Reads
✨ March 2025 Posts from The Privacy Cloud🔐☁️
1.) Techlore forum: The French National Assembly removed the backdoor section from the amendment to the Narcotrafic law. - Tuta Reddit post - Link
2.) Facial Recognition Company Clearview Attempted to Buy Social Security Numbers and Mugshots for its Database - Link
3.) The war on encryption is dangerous - Link
4.) A New Era of Attacks on Encryption Is Starting to Heat Up - Link
5.) Social Media Activity Targeted in Trump Immigration Crackdown - Link
6.) FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado - Link / Additional Link / Another Link
7.) Secure encryption and online anonymity are now at risk in Switzerland – here's what you need to know - Link
8.) Trump order on information sharing appears to have implications for DOGE and beyond - Link
9.) Data Broker Brags About Having Highly Detailed Personal Information on Nearly All Internet Users - Link
10.) Travellers’ Surveillance: Why the UN Should Stop Supporting the Surveillance of Travellers in the Name of Countering Terrorism - Link
💡Privacy tip: If you have concerns with surveillance and censorship, you should check out Tails. Tails (tails.net) is a free and open source portable operating system that fights against surveillance and censorship. It's part of the Tor Project, which is also responsible for the Tor Browser.
11.) Anchorage Police Department: AI-Generated Police Reports Don’t Save Time - Link
12.) Tor Project blog: It takes a (Global) Village to Fight Censorship - Link
13.) Pinterest will train AI models on user data and content, regardless of when it was posted - Link
14.) Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’ - Link
15.) Consumer Reports finds popular voice cloning tools lack safeguards - Link
16.) Swiss critical sector faces new 24-hour cyberattack reporting rule - Link
17.) Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent violence. Our investigation found security risks - Link
18.) Allstate Insurance sued for delivering personal info on a platter, in plaintext, to anyone who went looking for it - Link
19.) iPhone and Android users will soon be able to send encrypted RCS messages to each other - Link
20.) Utah just gave Mark Zuckerberg a big win. But other tech giants aren’t so happy - Link
21.) NymVPN is now live – here's everything you need to know - Link
22.) Bluesky users debate plans around user data and AI training - Link
23.) The New Oil blog: Life Without a SIM Card - Link
24.) Oracle under fire for its handling of separate security incidents - Link
25.) Dutch parliament calls for end to dependence on US software companies - Link
26.) Finland faces reproval over move to expand biometrics use for law enforcement - Link
27.) Denmark postal service to stop delivering letters - Link
28.) Hard but right: Mozilla’s privacy-first innovation journey - Link
29.) Rise of digital wallets integrating payments and digital identities across Asia - Link
30.) With Aid programmes in crisis, we risk more global surveillance - Link
31.) DOGE to Fired CISA Staff: Email Us Your Personal Data - Link
32.) Texans Might Soon Have to Show Photo ID to Buy a Dildo Online - Link
33.) Malaysia PM says country rejected $10 million ransom demand after airport outages - Link
34.) Apple says it’ll use Apple Maps Look Around photos to train AI - Link
35.) UK's first permanent facial recognition cameras installed in South London - Link
36.) WhatsApp's Meta AI is now rolling out in Europe, and it can't be turned off - Link
37.) Organic Maps migrates to Forgejo due to GitHub account blocked by Microsoft - Link
38.) FOSS infrastructure is under attack by AI companies - Link
39.) Google shifts Android development to private internal branches for faster updates - Link
40.) Google refuses to deny it received encryption order from UK government - Link
41.) French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found - Link
42.) Is it safe to travel with your phone right now? - Link
43.) Poland searches for silver bullet for CSA Regulation - Link
44.) Turkey restricts social media following arrest of president’s main rival - Link
45.) The NYPD is sending more drones to 911 calls, but privacy advocates don’t like the view - Link
46.) Mullvad's Android app passes security assessment - Link
47.) Popular web browser Vivaldi now integrates Proton VPN for enhanced privacy - Link
48.) Madison Square Garden’s surveillance system banned this fan over his T-shirt design - Link
49.) Proton Drive and Docs now support collaboration with users without Proton accounts - Link
50.) Tuta blog: All The Data Facebook Collects - And How To Stop This - Link
51.) After Trump's decree: fight for US funding for Tor, F-Droid and Let's Encrypt - Link
52.) Apple’s appeal against UK’s secret iCloud backdoor order must be held in public, rights groups urge - Link
53.) Open Source Genetic Database Shuts Down to Protect Users From 'Authoritarian Governments' - Link
54.) New Windows 11 build tightens Microsoft account requirement, but a workaround still exists - Link
55.) Victory! EFF Helps Resist Unlawful Warrant and Gag Order Issued to Independent News Outlet - Link
Share any privacy-related news you discovered this month in the comments.
Until Next Time,
Monique 🔐
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