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A first-of-its-kind US case: Samuel Tunick gave Customs agents at Atlanta's airport a GrapheneOS 'duress' passcode - a feature that wipes the phone when entered instead of the real unlock code. The DOJ is now prosecuting him under a statute against destroying property to prevent government seizure; his lawyers argue the seizure was unconstitutional and he was denied a lawyer. Follows a recent ruling that border agents can search phones without a warrant. #privacy #GrapheneOS #indigoprivacy
This week in privacy:
The bright spot: California launched DROP, a free tool to bulk-delete you from data brokers.
Most privacy news is too technical or too vague to act on. Ours isn't.
Programmatic advertising's transparency gap means advertisers often do not know which specific websites their ads appear on due to complex reseller chains.
The privacy news cycle is noisy. We send one story a week, and it's the one that actually matters.
Police departments have used Clearview AI's facial recognition database, which contains billions of scraped social media photos, without notifying the public.
Step-by-step opt-out instructions for data brokers, people-search sites, and background check databases. Free, no subscription needed.
Medical data is among the most valuable on black markets, worth 10-40x more per record than stolen credit card data.
You have the right to request removal from most data broker sites. Most people never use it.
FastBackgroundCheck.com compiles your name, address, and relatives into a searchable background report. Opt-out is free: go to fastbackgroundcheck.com/optout, enter your name and email, click the link they email you, and fill the form. Allow ~3 days. Use an email alias, not your real address. Their own notice admits public data can reappear, so re-check. #databrokers #optout #privacy #indigoprivacy
A US appeals court (the Fourth Circuit) ruled border agents can manually search travelers' phones with no warrant and no individualized suspicion, treating it as 'routine' like inspecting luggage. The EFF argues a manual scroll reveals 'the sum of an individual's private life' just like a forensic search and should require a warrant. Entering the US? Reduce what's on your device and power it off first. #privacy #EFF #borders #indigoprivacy
Data brokers collect your address, relatives, income estimate, and daily routine. They sell it to anyone who pays.