Newsletter Archives

• The best tech secrets of 2022: AirTags, TikTok, Twitter, oh my

  Posted on December 26, 2022 at 02:45 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.52 • 2022-12-26

  Look for our BONUS issue on January 2, 2023!

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Amid my efforts to help you protect yourself against some rather aggressive technologies, I’m glad to report that there’s been at least some progress this year on the worst aspects of our “labor-saving” devices.

  Please note: I’m not claiming that my columns by themselves caused any of the changes I describe below. I just report the problems. We can all celebrate when bad tech is improved, whoever may have developed a particular solution.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.52.0, 2022-12-26).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender AirTags, Cryptocurrency, Newsletters, NFT, Privacy, Security, Surveillance, TikTok, Twitter

• Amazon releases Ring videos without consent. Should you care?

  Posted on August 1, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Giant retailer Amazon.com, the parent company of Ring video and audio doorbells and other devices, admits in a letter to a United States senator that it sometimes releases recorded files to law-enforcement agencies without a court-ordered warrant or the consent of the recording’s owner.

  In response to a request for information from Sen. Edward Markey (Democrat of Massachusetts), Amazon vice president for public policy Brian Huseman revealed: “Ring has provided videos to law enforcement in response to an emergency request only 11 times” in the first half of 2022.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.31.0, 2022-08-01).

  Public Defender Amazon Ring, Newsletters, Privacy, Public Defender, Security, Surveillance

• Apple plans to break its end-to-end encryption

  Posted on August 30, 2021 at 02:42 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Apple Computer shocked computer-security experts when the Cupertino company announced on August 5 that it plans to circumvent end-to-end encryption in Mac and iOS software, reporting US users if more than a few photos in their iCloud account match a national database of child pornography.

  “We want to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM),” Apple said in its announcement. But people with experience in the subject said the technology would be used for everything other than that.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender Apple, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, encryption, Privacy, Public Defender, Security, Surveillance