privacy – Page 15 – SSL and internet security news

California Needlessly Reduces Privacy During COVID-19 Pandemic

April 16, 2020 infossl

breaches, covid19, medicine, privacy, Security technology

This one isn’t even related to contact tracing: On March 17, 2020, the federal government relaxed a number of telehealth-related regulatory requirements due to COVID-19. On April 3, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-43-20 (the Order), which relaxes various telehealth reporting requirements, penalties, and enforcements otherwise imposed under state laws, including those … Read More “California Needlessly Reduces Privacy During COVID-19 Pandemic” »

Contact Tracing COVID-19 Infections via Smartphone Apps

April 13, 2020 infossl

apple, covid19, epidemiology, google, privacy, Security technology, tracing, tracking

Google and Apple have announced a joint project to create a privacy-preserving COVID-19 contact tracing app. (Details, such as we have them, are here.) It’s similar to the app being developed at MIT, and similar to others being described and developed elsewhere. It’s nice seeing the privacy protections; they’re well thought out. I was going … Read More “Contact Tracing COVID-19 Infections via Smartphone Apps” »

Security and Privacy Implications of Zoom

April 3, 2020 infossl

backdoors, datacollection, encryption, privacy, Security technology, vulnerabilities

Over the past few weeks, Zoom’s use has exploded since it became the video conferencing platform of choice in today’s COVID-19 world. (My own university, Harvard, uses it for all of its classes. Boris Johnson had a cabinet meeting over Zoom.) Over that same period, the company has been exposed for having both lousy privacy … Read More “Security and Privacy Implications of Zoom” »

Privacy vs. Surveillance in the Age of COVID-19

March 30, 2020 infossl

covid19, lawenforcement, medicine, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, tracking

The trade-offs are changing: As countries around the world race to contain the pandemic, many are deploying digital surveillance tools as a means to exert social control, even turning security agency technologies on their own civilians. Health and law enforcement authorities are understandably eager to employ every tool at their disposal to try to hinder … Read More “Privacy vs. Surveillance in the Age of COVID-19” »

Facial Recognition for People Wearing Masks

March 25, 2020 infossl

china, facerecognition, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

The Chinese facial recognition company Hanwang claims it can recognize people wearing masks: The company now says its masked facial recognition program has reached 95 percent accuracy in lab tests, and even claims that it is more accurate in real life, where its cameras take multiple photos of a person if the first attempt to … Read More “Facial Recognition for People Wearing Masks” »

Emergency Surveillance During COVID-19 Crisis

March 20, 2020 infossl

china, covid19, datacollection, eff, epidemiology, iran, israel, nationalsecuritypolicy, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

Israel is using emergency surveillance powers to track people who may have COVID-19, joining China and Iran in using mass surveillance in this way. I believe pressure will increase to leverage existing corporate surveillance infrastructure for these purposes in the US and other countries. With that in mind, the EFF has some good thinking on … Read More “Emergency Surveillance During COVID-19 Crisis” »

More on Crypto AG

March 6, 2020 infossl

assassinations, backdoors, cia, cryptography, intelligence, privacy, Security technology, surveillance

One follow-on to the story of Crypto AG being owned by the CIA: this interview with a Washington Post reporter. The whole thing is worth reading or listening to, but I was struck by these two quotes at the end: …in South America, for instance, many of the governments that were using Crypto machines were … Read More “More on Crypto AG” »

Security of Health Information

March 5, 2020 infossl

cybersecurity, epidemiology, essays, medicine, nationalsecuritypolicy, privacy, Security technology, securitypolicies, vulnerabilities

The world is racing to contain the new COVID-19 virus that is spreading around the globe with alarming speed. Right now, pandemic disease experts at the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other public-health agencies are gathering information to learn how and where the virus is spreading. … Read More “Security of Health Information” »

Apple’s Tracking-Prevention Feature in Safari has a Privacy Bug

February 10, 2020 infossl

apple, leaks, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, tracking, vulnerabilities

Last month, engineers at Google published a very curious privacy bug in Apple’s Safari web browser. Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention, a feature designed to reduce user tracking, has vulnerabilities that themselves allow user tracking. Some details: ITP detects and blocks tracking on the web. When you visit a few websites that happen to load the … Read More “Apple’s Tracking-Prevention Feature in Safari has a Privacy Bug” »