Privacy & Data Rights
Surveillance, data protection and personal data.
NASA, Space Exploration, and Astronomy News: Tracking Our Climate
A comprehensive look at how the greenhouse effect drives climate change, and how NASA's satellite missions provide critical data, grounded in EPA and NASA research.
Even Realities' Camera-Free Smart Glasses Make the Case for Privacy in AI Consumer Hardware
Even Realities' G2 smart glasses skip cameras and speakers to focus on productivity features like real-time translation, teleprompter, and AI meeting assistance for professionals who travel frequently and attend constant meetings.
Your Brain Isn’t Choosing — It’s Dual-Tracking
New EEG research reveals the brain doesn’t switch attention between conversations — it briefly holds both at once, creating a fleeting window of auditory multitasking that explains why some people thrive in chaos and others burn out.
AI-Generated Government Sites Raise Privacy and Accessibility Concerns as National Design Studio Struggles to Deliver
A year into Trump's executive order to redesign 27,000 .gov websites using AI, the National Design Studio has produced mostly single-page vanity projects while facing backlash over commercial trackers, ADA violations, and unlaunched sensitive domains like vote.gov.
Your Saliva Knows You're Exhausted: The New Science of the Fatigue Breathalyzer
A breakthrough study from the University of Zurich identifies ten saliva biomarkers that objectively detect sleep deprivation — paving the way for a real-world, point-of-care test that could replace subjective fatigue assessments on roads and in high-risk workplaces.
When Hearts Beat Together: Tracking Social Connections in Real-World Settings
New research reveals that heart rate synchronization is a reliable biomarker for real-world social engagement, spiking during close-proximity interactions and shared focus.
Apple’s Siri AI Partnership with Google: Balancing Performance and Privacy
Apple's long-delayed Siri upgrade, "Siri AI," integrates Google's Gemini models while emphasizing Apple's commitment to user privacy through its Private Cloud Compute architecture.
The UK Will Ban Adolescents Under 16 Years Old from User-to-User Social-Media Platforms Despite Age-Verification Issues and Privacy Concerns
The UK and Australia have jointly announced a social media ban for users under 16, aiming to protect minors from online harms including addiction and exposure to harmful content. This policy—part of broader efforts like the UK's Online Safety Act 2023 and aligning with Australia's similar stance—introduces stricter age verification mandates. However, the move raises significant concerns around enforceability, privacy intrusions, and the exclusion of nuanced alternatives like user-controlled feeds and digital literacy initiatives. Evidence from Princeton research suggests that reimagining social media to prioritize user agency over algorithmic optimization may provide more sustainable protection than blanket bans. Australia's enforcement struggles—where 7 in 10 children retained access three months post-ban—underscore the technical challenges ahead.
Japanese Energy Giant Kyushu Electric Power Loses Hard Drive With 10.9 Million Customers' Personal Data
A physical security incident at Kyushu Electric Power Co. exposes sensitive customer data for over 10 million clients, highlighting critical vulnerabilities in physical security protocols within Japan's critical infrastructure.
Faulty '93% Match' Leads to Wrongful Arrest: Florida Man Sues Over Facial Recognition Failure
A Florida man is suing police after a facial recognition system incorrectly identified him as a 93% match for a suspect, leading to his wrongful arrest and months of prosecution.