For privacy and security, think twice before granting AI access to your personal data
AI tools are increasingly asking for gross levels of access to your personal data under the guise of needing it to work.
Privacy
A surveillance vendor was caught exploiting a new SS7 attack to track people’s phone locations
The new SS7 bypass-attack tricks phone operators into disclosing a cell subscriber’s location, in some cases down to a few hundred meters.
Right-wing orgs put pro-Palestinian students on an ICE ‘hit list’
For nearly two years, students at Columbia University have warned that they’re being targeted – and put in serious danger – by right-wing Zionist organizations like Canary Mission and Betar US. Canary Mission’s goal was initially to “expose” students it deemed antisemitic, ideally in the hopes that they’d be denied jobs and other opportunities. In […]
Confident Security, ‘the Signal for AI,’ comes out of stealth with $4.2M
San Francisco-based startup Confident Security wants to be “the Signal for AI.” The company just came out of stealth with $4.2 million and a tool that wraps around AI models to guarantee data stays private.
Meta fixes bug that could leak users’ AI prompts and generated content
The tech giant fixed the security flaw, netting a security researcher $10,000 for privately disclosing the bug.
The votes are in: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Audience Choice winners revealed for roundtables and breakouts
You voted — they made it onto the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 agenda! After reviewing hundreds of standout Call for Content submissions and opening the vote to the TechCrunch audience, we’ve locked in the top five roundtables and top five breakout sessions. Without further ado, meet the exceptional tech voices — and the sessions they’ll lead […]
Jack Dorsey made an encrypted Bluetooth messaging app
Twitter co-founder and Block Head Jack Dorsey launched a new peer-to-peer messaging app over the weekend called Bitchat that runs entirely over Bluetooth. Bitchat relies on Bluetooth Low Energy mesh networks to send encrypted communications directly to nearby devices without requiring internet or cellular service. “Bitchat addresses the need for resilient, private communication that doesn’t […]
Hacked, leaked, exposed: Why you should never use stalkerware apps
Using stalkerware is creepy, unethical, potentially illegal, and puts your data and that of your loved ones in danger.
Vitalik Buterin has reservations about Sam Altman’s World project
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is arguing that the digital identification approach being promoted by Sam Altman’s World project has real privacy risks.
Hundreds of data brokers might be breaking state laws, say privacy advocates
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a nonprofit privacy rights group have called on several states to investigate why “hundreds” of data brokers haven’t registered with state consumer protection agencies in accordance with local laws. An analysis done in collaboration with Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) found that many data brokers have failed to register in […]