[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 21 points 5 months ago

In 2017, Trump revoked regulations put in place by the Obama administration that would have compelled ISPs to obtain user consent before selling their browsing data.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 22 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

This information, although not new, sheds light on the misconception prevalent even amongst industry professionals today that ISPs only retain customer usage data related to IP address assignment.

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cross-posted from: https://covert.nexus/post/27235

The FTC released a staff report in 2021 analyzing the privacy practices of six major U.S. Internet Service Providers. The report found that these ISPs collect as much, if not more, data on their customers' browsing habits than popular advertisers like Google and Facebook. Additionally, some of these ISPs either operate their own advertising businesses or sell the data to third parties, such as the NSA.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 7 points 5 months ago

The indiscriminate collection of large amounts of data may be abused, as it enables law enforcement to bypass 4th amendment protections by accessing an individual's private information already on file from a prior unrelated investigation, for example. Otherwise, the article was shared to inform readers about unconventional deanonymizing methods.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 8 points 5 months ago

In the TV show Blue Bloods, my favorite scene occurs when the Chief of Police confronts a cell phone company CEO. They portray him as a strawman and attempt to guilt-trip him into providing them with backdoor access to everyone's phones.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 34 points 5 months ago

The practice of deanonymizing individuals by cross-referencing bulk webpage visitation data within known windows of time that they visited those separate pages, while previously known to be theoretically possible, has now been shown to be actively employed by law enforcement. This emphasizes the significance of employing a VPN at all times and maintaining a high degree of separation between online identities to hinder comparisons based on similarity.

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submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

cross-posted from: https://covert.nexus/post/20450

Summary:

Federal investigators have requested Google to provide information on all users who watched specific YouTube videos within a certain timeframe, sparking privacy concerns from civil rights groups. The videos had collectively been watched over 30,000 times.

The case involves undercover agents sending tutorial links for mapping via drones and augmented reality software to an individual, “elonmuskwhm,” who is suspected of violating money laundering laws and unlicensed money transmitting.

Court orders obtained by Forbes show that the government instructed Google to disclose user data, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, account activity for Google account holders, and IP addresses for non-account holders who watched the videos. The government argues that this data collection was relevant to their criminal investigation.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 10 points 5 months ago

Trump's policies jeopardized the lives, livelihoods, and overall welfare of transgender people.

[-] MediaSensationalism@covert.nexus 50 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

40 percent of voters said that Trump’s policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden.

One significant change I've noticed from Biden's policies in my daily life is the capping of overdraft fees. Previously, having a negative balance was a financial emergency as I had to borrow money from friends to avoid hefty $30 fees while waiting for my income check to clear.

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MediaSensationalism

joined 6 months ago