Hospitals turn to sniffer dogs to combat illicit drugs in wards
The use of sniffer dogs inside closed psychiatric wards has divided mental health experts, as hospitals try to balance the invasion of patient privacy against the risks posed by illicit substances. ⌘ Read more

Why Apple Might Put Cameras Into Its Next AirPods
From battery life to privacy, there are many hurdles to the idea taking off. ⌘ Read more

Supreme Court Sides With Trump Administration On Federal Regulation of Telecom Companies
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Thursday in upholding the power of federal regulators to enforce data privacy laws on telecommunications companies. The 8-1 decision (PDF) preserved one of the Federal Communications C … ⌘ Read more

European Parliament Ditches Google For French Search Firm
The European Parliament is replacing Google with French search engine Qwant as the default on in-house computers, citing digital sovereignty and privacy concerns. Politico reports: As of Thursday June 4, “Qwant will replace Google as default search engine on European Parliament computers,” officials told lawmakers in an email seen by POLITICO. The change is be … ⌘ Read more

Larry Ellison: “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re recording”
Article URL: [https://www.techradar.com/pro/quote-of-the-day-by-oracle-co-founder-larry-ellison-citizens-will-be-on-their-best-behavior-because-were-constantly-recording-and-reporting-everything-that-is-going-on-a-dire-warning-on-the-erosion-of-privacy] … ⌘ Read more

DataMasque raises $7m
Auckland startup DataMasque solved a real-life privacy and security problem for people who build software – or, more recently, for those who need to get a new AI-based app up to speed.

That helped it land marquee clients like payroll giant ADP, New York Life and the Best Western hotel chain in the United States and One NZ here. ⌘ Read more

DuckDuckGo Installs Up 30% After Google Announced AI Search
After Google announced AI-emphasizing changes to its search results, many web surfers began defecting to DuckDuckGo, reports TechCrunch. (They describe DuckDuckGo as “a privacy-focused alternative” that accounts for around 2% of the U.S. search market…)

DuckDuckGo said U.S. app installs went up 18.1% week-over-week on average during the May 20 to May 25 … ⌘ Read more

Apple Working To Cram Massive Gemini Model Into iPhone To Power New Siri
Apple is reportedly working to shrink Google’s Gemini models enough to power parts of a long-delayed AI-enhanced Siri on iPhones. But despite Apple’s best efforts to run the AI locally, “the iPhone’s Gemini makeover will lean heavily on Google and Nvidia in the cloud,” reports Ars Technica. That could complicate Apple’s privacy-f … ⌘ Read more

This MacBook Privacy Screen Totally Changed How I Work in Public
I’m one of those people who enjoy on planes and in public spaces in general. But the issue of privacy was always a hurdle. ⌘ Read more

Last.fm Goes Independent After Breaking Up With Paramount Skydance
Last.fm announced that it is independent again after separating from Paramount Skydance, nearly two decades after CBS acquired the music-tracking service in 2007. The company says accounts, scrobbles, privacy settings, Pro subscriptions, and billing information will remain intact. Additional details are forthcoming. Engadget reports: … ⌘ Read more

California Moves To Exempt Linux From Upcoming Age-Verification Law
California lawmakers are moving to exempt most open-source operating systems from the state’s upcoming age-verification law after backlash from Linux and privacy advocates who warned that the original rules could force decentralized projects to collect users’ ages. The amendment would likely shield major Linux distributions, though SteamOS … ⌘ Read more

Yoti age checks share facial photos and device fingerprints with third parties
Article URL: https://techxplore.com/news/2026-05-online-age-pointless-privacy.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48271327

Points: 3

# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more

These Privacy-Conscious Gay Dating Apps Want to Dethrone Grindr
As public backlash against Big Dating mounts, a batch of new gay hookup apps offer community-powered alternatives. ⌘ Read more

Venmo Redesign Makes New Users’ Posts Friends-Only by Default
Venmo is testing a major redesign that will make new users’ payment posts viewable by their friends by default instead of being public. The Verge reports: It’s a notable update for a platform that has struggled with privacy in the past. In 2021, BuzzFeed News tracked down President Joe Biden’s Venmo account and the accounts of people in his inner circle … ⌘ Read more

GM Secretly Sold California Drivers’ Data, Agrees to Pay $12.75M In Privacy Settlement
“General Motors sold the data of California drivers without their knowledge or consent,” says California’s attorney general, “and despite numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so.”

In 2024, The New York Times “reported that automakers including GM were sharing information about their c … ⌘ Read more

Chrome Silently Installs a 4GB AI Model On Your Device Without Consent
Longtime Slashdot reader couchslug shares a report from That Privacy Guy’s Alexander Hanff: Two weeks ago I wrote about Anthropic silently registering a Native Messaging bridge in seven Chromium-based browsers on every machine where Claude Desktop was installed. The pattern was: install on user launch of product A, write configuration … ⌘ Read more

How to Disable Google’s Gemini in Chrome
Chrome users were caught off guard by a 4-GB Google AI model baked into Chrome, sparking privacy concerns. The good news: You can easily uninstall it. The bad? You might not want to. ⌘ Read more

LinkedIn Profile Visitor Lists Belong to the People, Says Noyb
A LinkedIn user in the EU is challenging Microsoft’s refusal to provide a full list of profile visitors under GDPR Article 15, arguing that the data should be available for free because LinkedIn processes it and sells a more complete version to Premium users. Privacy group Noyb says the case could set a broader precedent over whether companies can mone … ⌘ Read more

Murena /e/OS Tablet Review: Privacy for a Price
Murena’s /e/OS tablet offers an iPadOS- and Google-free, privacy-friendly tablet experience, but you’ll have to pay for it. ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Enables Marketing Cookies by Default for Free ChatGPT Users
ChatGPT’s new privacy policy states how the company uses cookies for tracking, to turn free users into paying subscribers. ⌘ Read more

Privacy Advocate Accuses US Government of Investing in AI-Powered Mass Surveillance
The Conversation published this warning from privacy/tech law/electronic surveillance attorney Anne Toomey McKenna (also an affiliated faculty member at Penn State’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences). The U.S. government “is able to purchase Americans’ sensitive data because the information it buy … ⌘ Read more

Millions of renters hit by unlawful data collection
The Privacy Commissioner’s landmark ruling comes as Australia’s rental market reaches crisis levels. ⌘ Read more

PlayStation To Require Age Verification For Messages and Voice Chat
A new email from Sony says that PlayStation will require players to verify their age later this year to keep using communication features like messages and voice chat. Insider-Gaming reports: The initiative comes from the goal of providing “safe, age-appropriate experiences for players and families while respecting their privacy” and provi … ⌘ Read more

Audit Finds Google, Microsoft, and Meta Still Tracking Users After Opt-Out
alternative_right shares a report from 404 Media: An independent privacy audit of Microsoft, Meta, and Google web traffic in California found that the companies may be violating state regulations and racking up billions in fines. According to the audit from privacy search engine webXray, 55 percent of the sites it checked set a … ⌘ Read more

EU Parliament Fails To Renew Loophole Allowing Tech Firms To Report Abuse
Bruce66423 shares a report from the Guardian: The European parliament has blocked the extension of a law that permits big tech firms to scan for child sexual exploitation on their platforms, creating a legal gap that child safety experts say will lead to crimes going undetected. The law, which was a carve-out of the EU Privacy Ac … ⌘ Read more

Google Rolls Out Gmail End-To-End Encryption On Mobile Devices
Gmail’s end-to-end encryption is now available on all Android and iOS devices, letting enterprise users send and read encrypted emails directly in the app without any extra tools. “This launch combines the highest level of privacy and data encryption with a user-friendly experience for all users, enabling simple encrypted email for all customers from s … ⌘ Read more

OkCupid Settles FTC Case On Alleged Misuse of Its Users’ Personal Data
OkCupid and parent company Match Group settled an FTC case dating back to 2014 over allegations that the dating app shared users’ photos and other personal data with a third party without proper disclosure or opt-out rights. Engadget reports: According to the FTC, OkCupid’s privacy policy at the time noted that the company wouldn’t shar … ⌘ Read more

Roblox, YouTube caught in major children’s privacy overhaul
A new draft code would give children the right to demand deletion of their data and ban “dark patterns” designed to trick them into sharing more. ⌘ Read more

AMD Introduces GAIA Agent UI For Privacy-First Web App For Local AI Agents
AMD’s GAIA AI agent framework (that previously stood for “Generative AI Is Awesome” albeit they seemed to have dropped promoting it as that name) for Ryzen AI hardware is out with a new version. AMD GAIA 0.17 introduces Agent UI as a new privacy-first web application for local AI agents… ⌘ Read more

California Bill Would Require Parent Bloggers To Delete Content of Minors On Social Media
A California bill would let adults demand the removal of social media posts about them that were created by paid family content creators when they were minors. Supporters say Senate Bill 1247 addresses privacy, dignity, and safety harms caused when parents monetize their children’s lives online. Th … ⌘ Read more

Mozilla and Mila Team Up On Open Source AI Push
BrianFagioli writes: Mozilla just teamed up with Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, to push open source AI – and it feels like a direct response to Big Tech tightening its grip on the space. Instead of relying on closed models, the goal here is to build “sovereign AI” that’s more transparent, privacy-focused, and actually under the control of developers and even … ⌘ Read more

OnlyFans Owner Dies At 43
Computershack shares a report from NBC News: Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of adult-content platform OnlyFans, has died of cancer at the age of 43, the company said in a statement on Monday. “We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer,” an OnlyFans spokesperson said. “His family have requested privacy at this difficult time.”

Radvinsky, a Ukrain … ⌘ Read more

GrapheneOS Refuses to Comply with Age-Verification Laws
An anonymous reader shared this report from Tom’s Hardware:

GrapheneOS, the privacy-focused Android fork, said in a post on X on Friday that it will not comply with emerging laws requiring operating systems to collect user age data at setup. “GrapheneOS will remain usable by anyone around the world without requiring personal information, identification or an acco … ⌘ Read more

Firefox Announces Built-In VPN and Other New Features - and Introduces Its New Mascot
A free built-in VPN is coming to Firefox on Tuesday, Mozilla announced this week:

Free VPNs can sometimes mean sketchy arrangements that end up compromising your privacy, but ours is built from our data principles and commitment to be the world’s most trusted browser. It routes your browser traffic throug … ⌘ Read more

Porn laws push users to illegal sites, OnlyFans creators warn
As sites like Pornhub go dark, Australian OnlyFans creators and sex workers say they face lower earnings and privacy risks. ⌘ Read more

Six of my last eight posts were about twtxt itself. As much as it’s understandable between all the excitement and confusion with finding out and using a new technology, I really don’t want this feed to become something like this:

Image

FSF Hiring New Manager For Leading Their Hardware Certification Program
The Free Software Foundation is hiring a new engineering and certification manager for leading the Respect Your Freedom “RYF” hardware certification program. The FSF RYF program is about certifying hardware that respects the user’s freedom and privacy for control over the device, such as no proprietary firmware blobs needed to be loaded at run-time, no digital rights management / digital restrictions, and complies with their other free software … ⌘ Read more

System76 Comments On Recent Age Verification Laws
In a blog post on Thursday, System76 CEO Carl Richell criticized new state laws in California, Colorado, and New York that would require operating systems to verify users’ ages and expose that information to apps, arguing the rules are easy for kids to bypass and ultimately undermine privacy and freedom more than they protect minors.

“System76’s position is interesting given … ⌘ Read more

Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ Protester
Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from 404 Media: Privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail provided Swiss authorities with payment data that the FBI then used to determine who was allegedly behind an anonymous account affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta, according to a court record reviewed by 404 Media. The recor … ⌘ Read more

TikTok Says End-To-End Encryption Makes Users Less Safe
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: TikTok will not introduce end-to-end encryption (E2EE) – the controversial privacy feature used by nearly all its rivals – arguing it makes users less safe. E2EE means only the sender and recipient of a direct message can view its contents, making it the most secure form of communication available to the general … ⌘ Read more

Apple Might Use Google Servers To Store Data For Its Upgraded AI Siri
Apple has reportedly asked Google to look into “seting up servers” for a Gemini-powered upgrade to Siri that meets Apple’s privacy standards. The Verge reports: Apple had already announced in January that Google’s Gemini AI models would help power the upgraded version of Siri it delayed last year, but The Information’s report indicates … ⌘ Read more

Motorola Partners With GrapheneOS
At MWC 2026, Motorola announced a partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation to bring the hardened, Google-free Android variant to future devices. Until now, the OS had been designed exclusively for Google Pixel phones. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Motorola to bring GrapheneOS’s industry-leading privacy and security-focused mobile operating system to their next-generation smartphone,” a GrapheneOS … ⌘ Read more

Colorado Lawmakers Push for Age Verification at the Operating System Level
Colorado lawmakers are proposing SB26-051, a bill that would require operating systems to register a user’s age bracket and share it with apps via an API. PCMag reports: The bill comes from state Sen. Matt Ball and Rep. Amy Paschal, both Democrats. “The intent is to create thoughtful safeguards for kids online through a privacy … ⌘ Read more

Samsung’s new phone feature blocks prying eyes
Samsung’s flagship smartphone for 2026 will launch with an industry-first privacy feature. ⌘ Read more

US Lawyers Fire Up Privacy Class Action Accusing Lenovo of Bulk Data Transfers To China
A US law firm has accused Lenovo of violating Justice Department strictures about the bulk transfer of data to foreign adversaries, namely China. From a report: The case filed by Almeida Law Group on behalf of San Francisco-based “Spencer Christy, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situ … ⌘ Read more

EU Parliament Blocks AI Features Over Cyber, Privacy Fears
An anonymous reader shares a report: The European Parliament has disabled AI features on the work devices of lawmakers and their staff over cybersecurity and data protection concerns, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO. The chamber emailed its members on Monday to say it had disabled “built-in artificial intelligence features” on corporate tablets … ⌘ Read more

Samsung Ad Confirms Rumors of a Useful S26 ‘Privacy Display’
Samsung has all but confirmed that its upcoming Galaxy S26 will feature a built-in privacy display, releasing an ad that demonstrates a “Zero-peeking privacy” toggle capable of blacking out on-screen content for anyone peering over the user’s shoulder.

The underlying technology is reportedly Samsung Display’s Flex Magic Pixel OLED panel, first shown at MWC … ⌘ Read more

DuckDuckGo Users Vote Overwhelmingly Against AI Features
DuckDuckGo recently asked its users how they felt about AI in search. The answer has come back loud and clear: more than 90% of the 175,354 people who voted said they don’t want it.

The privacy-focused search engine has since set up two versions of its tool: noai.duckduckgo.com for the AI-averse and yesai.duckduckgo.com for the curious. Users can also tweak se … ⌘ Read more

Supreme Court To Decide How 1988 Videotape Privacy Law Applies To Online Video
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Supreme Court is taking up a case on whether Paramount violated the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing a user’s viewing history to Facebook. The case, Michael Salazar v. Paramount Global, hinges on the law’s definition of the word “consumer.” … ⌘ Read more

TikTok Alternative ‘Skylight’ Soars To 380K+ Users After TikTok US Deal Finalized
Skylight, an open-source, TikTok-style video app built on the AT Protocol, surged past 380,000 users after last week’s shake-up around TikTok’s U.S. ownership and privacy concerns. TechCrunch reports: Launched last year and backed by Mark Cuban and other investors, Skylight’s mobile app is built on the AT Protocol, … ⌘ Read more