Twitter has publicly disclosed a security “incident” that points to long-standing problems with how the service handles phone numbers. Twitter announced it had discovered and shut down “a large network of fake accounts” that were uploading large numbers of phone… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Social Networks’
Rights Groups to European Commission: Prioritize Users’ Rights, Get Public Input For Article 17 Application Guidelines
The implementation of Art 17 (formerly Article 13) into national laws will have a profound effect on what users can say and share online. The controversial rule, part of the EU’s copyright directive approved last year, turns tech companies and… Read More ›
Dodging Bullets on the Path to a Decentralized Future: 2019 in Review
The Internet’s decentralized nature has historically been its greatest super-power, granting it the ability to shrug off censors and spies and redistribute power away from corruptible gatekeepers out to the creators and innovators on its edges. But it’s only been… Read More ›
DEEP DIVE: EFF to DHS: Stop Mass Collection of Social Media Information
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a proposed rule expanding the agency’s collection of social media information on key visa forms and immigration applications. Earlier this month, EFF joined over 40 civil society organizations that signed on to… Read More ›
What We Should Learn From “Facebook Research”
Once again, Facebook has broken the trust of its users—this time, through reportedly paying people to give up their privacy by installing an application that sucks up huge amounts of sensitive data, and explicitly sidestepping Apple’s Enterprise Developer program rules…. Read More ›
In WSJ Op-Ed, Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Down to Users and Misses the Point
Mark Zuckerberg’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today (paywalled, but summarized here) relies on all-too-familiar refrains to explain the dubious principles and so-called “facts” behind Facebook’s business model. It’s the same old song we’ve heard before. And, as usual,… Read More ›
A Guided Tour of the Data Facebook Uses to Target Ads
Last week, Pew released the results of a survey investigating how users understand Facebook’s data collection practices and how they react when shown what the platform thinks it knows about them. The upshot is that 74% of users weren’t aware… Read More ›
Facebook Has A Consent Problem—And The Solution Starts With Transparency
Last week, the New York Times and others reported that Facebook allowed hardware companies, including some in China, access to a broad range of Facebook users’ information, possibly without the users’ knowledge or consent. This included not only a given… Read More ›
A Constitutional Conundrum That’s Not Going Away—Unequal Access to Social Media Posts
Among the many privacy challenges posed by social media, one has flown largely under the radar: balancing defendants’ due process rights to access exculpatory information against the crucial privacy protections of the Stored Communications Act (SCA). Here’s the problem: prosecutors… Read More ›
Privacy Badger Rolls Out New Ways to Fight Facebook Tracking
On Thursday, EFF released a new version of Privacy Badger featuring a new, experimental way to protect your privacy on—and crucially, off—Facebook. It specifically targets link tracking, Facebook’s practice of following you whenever you click on a link to leave… Read More ›