Spread of AI agents sparks fears of a cybersecurity crisis
A new report reveals an increasing trust gap between businesses deploying agentic AI for external communications and consumers wary of sharing personal information due to security concerns.
The research, carried out by Censuswide for Salt Security, also warns that without proper API discovery, governance and security, the very technology meant to drive smarter customer engagement could open the door to cybersecurity issues including attacks or data leakage.
How to stop Instagram sharing your location
Instagram recently added a number of new features, including sharing your location. While some additions – such as reposting – were welcome, location sharing sparked concerns.
The new Instagram map feature allows the people you are connected to on the social media platform to see your location – and you can see theirs. Instagram has pitched this as being useful to parents, but many users are worried about the privacy implications of location sharing.
Could the UK government really ban VPNs?
As we’ve been reporting over the past week interest in VPN use in the UK has spiked following concerns about the Online Safety Act and its age verification rules.
Inevitably the government has noticed the surge in VPN use and while it insists it has no plans to ban their use the science secretary, Peter Kyle, says it will be looking “very closely” at how they’re being employed.
Microsoft Recall is bad at filtering sensitive information
Whenever there are privacy concerns voiced about software, they are almost always downplayed. But fears about Microsoft Recall appear to be well justified.
Announced and previewed last year, Microsoft Recall is a feature of Windows 11 which Microsoft says enables users to retrace their steps. It does this by capturing screenshots of computing activity, which can then be analyzed and searched using AI to home in on data, return to a project, and much more. But there have been lots of vocal protests about the potential for invasions of privacy.
Concerns mount around UK Online Safety Act
As we reported earlier this week, the UK’s new Online Safety Act has seen a surge in interest in the use of VPNs and an online petition for its repeal has been signed by over 400,000 people.
An article published yesterday by The Critic argues that the legislation is badly drafted. Industry figures too are raising doubts about the effectiveness of the act, its likely wider impact on cybersecurity and its potential for overreach.
Brave browser blocks Microsoft Recall to protect your browsing activity
The Brave Privacy Team has announced that its web browser will block Microsoft Recall from taking screenshots.
The privacy measure comes after Microsoft started the rollout of the controversial feature, having been forced to make significant changes to the way it works. While Recall is now an opt-in feature, Brave’s announcement caters for those who would like not only more privacy, but more control.
How to avoid fraud when planning your summer travel [Q&A]
As summer travel plans ramp up, so do concerns around identity theft, fraud, and safety – especially as travelers engage with everything from airlines to Airbnbs, ride shares to public Wi-Fi.
We spoke to Bala Kumar, chief technology and product officer at Jumio, to discuss the AI-powered scams threatening enterprises' customers this summer, and how businesses can ensure safe, secure, and efficient identity verification.
UK tech leaders want the government to stop buying US cloud
New research reveals a surge in interest in data sovereignty among UK IT leaders since the implementation of the United States government's historic raft of tariffs in April.
The study from Civo, of over 1,000 UK-based IT leaders, shows more than 60 percent now feel that the UK government’s use of US cloud services exposes the country's digital economy to significant risks, damages its domestic industry, and threatens data security.
Why data privacy is a fundamental human right
In an age where every click, swipe, and search can be tracked, stored and analyzed, data privacy is no longer a luxury but a necessity. From social media profiles to medical records and financial transactions, personal information is constantly collected and processed, often without understanding or consent.
Recognizing data privacy as a fundamental human right isn't just a legal or technical issue, but vital for individual dignity, autonomy, and freedom of expression.
Elon Musk quietly kills encrypted DMs on X and you should be furious
X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, just yanked one of its most important privacy features. In a quiet and deeply troubling move, the company announced it is pausing end-to-end encrypted direct messages. Worst of all, there is no clear timeline or meaningful explanation.
According to a post from the official engineering account, encrypted DMs are being temporarily suspended while the team works on improvements. But here’s the kicker: users can still send and receive DMs, they just won’t be encrypted anymore. In other words, your messages are now visible to anyone at X with the right level of access. Hell, this potentially makes them more accessible to hackers too!
Big tech's privacy paradox: Why regulatory alignment is now a technical imperative
The integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp represents a fascinating case study in how technical capabilities can undermine strategic positioning.
WhatsApp’s success was built on a simple technical promise -- end-to-end encryption that creates a secure communication channel. Yet, the introduction of an AI chatbot that explicitly warns users against sharing sensitive information exposes a fundamental architectural contradiction that has broader implications for the tech industry.
Your Linux apps could be leaking data -- oniux is built to stop it
A new tool called oniux has landed for Linux users who take their privacy very seriously. If you want to make sure your apps never leak data outside of the Tor network, oniux could be your new favorite command-line utility.
Oniux takes any Linux app and drops it into its own isolated network environment. From there, the app can only connect to the internet using Tor. This isn’t a trick with proxy settings or patched libraries. It uses actual features built into the Linux kernel, giving it a level of protection that’s hard to beat.
Brave open sources Cookiecrumbler to make cookie consent blocking smarter
Brave just made a move that should make privacy enthusiasts pretty happy. The company has officially open sourced Cookiecrumbler, a tool designed to automatically detect and help block those obnoxious cookie consent banners you see across the Web. These pop-ups are not only annoying but, according to research, often track users even when they click reject. Cookiecrumbler aims to stop that nonsense while avoiding the headaches that can come with sloppy blocking rules.
Lately, Brave has been my go-to web browser. It’s open source, cross-platform, and runs beautifully on Linux, which I appreciate as a Linux fan. Even better, it handles ad-blocking on iOS -- something many other browsers don’t offer. And perhaps most importantly, it does all of this without relying on Google.
Navigating data privacy and security challenges in AI [Q&A]
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries, data privacy and security concerns are escalating. The rapid growth of AI applications presents new challenges for companies in safeguarding sensitive information.
Emerging advanced AI models like Deepseek, developed outside the US, underscore the risks of handling critical data. We spoke to Amar Kanagaraj, CEO of Protecto -- a data guardrail company focused on AI security and privacy -- to get his insights on the most pressing AI data protection challenges.
Your WhatsApp conversations have just been made much more secure thanks to the new Advanced Chat Privacy
There are lots of privacy and security features built into WhatsApp, but there have been a few oversights. Looking to remedy this, a new “privacy layer” called Advanced Chat Privacy provides powerful options.
The feature has been designed with those conversations that need to be kept private in mind. It gives the option of blocking anyone you are chatting to -- one-on-one or in a group -- from exporting chats. It’s a nice security boost, but it’s not infallible.
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