Italian political consultant says he was targeted with Paragon spyware
WhatsApp notified the consultant, who works for left-wing politicians, that his phone was targeted with spyware made by Paragon.
Privacy
CEO of spyware maker Memento Labs confirms one of its government customers was caught using its malware
Security researchers found a government hacking campaign that relies on Windows spyware developed by surveillance tech maker Memento Labs. When reached by TechCrunch, the spyware maker’s chief executive blamed a government customer for getting caught.
Privacy laws can’t keep up with ‘luxury surveillance’
With Meta’s new range of smart glasses, Mark Zuckerberg is pitching a vision of the future that sci-fi authors have been warning about for decades – one where privacy is truly dead, and everyone is recording everyone else at all times. This in itself is nothing new. Introduced at the company’s recent Meta Connect event, […]
News, Privacy, Security, Tech, Tech News
‘There isn’t really another choice:’ Signal chief explains why the encrypted messenger relies on AWS
After last week’s major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage took Signal along with it, Elon Musk was quick to criticize the encrypted messaging app’s reliance on big tech. But Signal president Meredith Whittaker argues that the company didn’t have any other choice but to use AWS or another major cloud provider. “The problem here is […]
The rise of “catch a cheater” apps exploits our worst human tendencies
When people sign up for a dating site like Tinder, they don’t expect their profiles and personal information to be searchable – especially by a scorned lover, or worse. But that’s what popular apps like Cheaterbuster or CheatEye seem to be doing under the guise of being able to “catch cheaters.” Last week, 404 Media […]
Google now lets you add friends as contacts for account recovery
Google now lets you recover your accounts using your phone number or trusted contacts
Welcome to the ‘papers, please’ internet
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the downward spiral of the internet, follow Adi Robertson. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Back in 2018, two years after the UK […]
Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors
NSO Group confirmed to TechCrunch that an unnamed group of American investors has taken “controlling ownership” of the surveillance tech maker.
Here’s the tech powering ICE’s deportation crackdown
From phone spyware and facial recognition to phone unlocking technology and databases and more, this tech powers Trump’s deportation machine.
ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones
The federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with “cell-site simulators” which allow the real-world location tracking of nearby phones and their owners.