Privacy

European Union accuses Facebook owner Meta of breaking digital rules with paid ad-free option

European Union regulators have accused social media company Meta Platforms of breaching the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them.

Facial recognition startup Clearview AI settles privacy suit

Florida medical marijuana patients get an unexpected email praising DeSantis

Federal Trade Commission refers complaint about TikTok’s adherence to child privacy law to the DOJ

Vermont governor vetoes data privacy bill, saying state would be most hostile to businesses

TikTok influencer says ban on app would hurt him financially

As a TikTok ban moved closer Wednesday, TikTok creators like Caleb Simpson are planning for what’s next. Simpson is known for his home tour series where he approaches a person on the street or celebrity and asks for a tour of their home. He said a third of his income comes from the app, where he has more than 8 million followers. For creators like Simpson, the ban would more than impact their livelihood, the app is also where many creators have built relationships and created memories.

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AP Explains: Two jurors dismissed in Trump hush money trial

Google to purge billions of files containing personal data in settlement of Chrome privacy case

Kate Middleton’s medical records involved in potential security breach

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Brazil data regulator bans Meta from mining data to train AI models

Brazil’s national data protection authority determined on Tuesday that Meta cannot use data originating in the country to train its artificial intelligence.

US Coast Guard boss says she is not trying to hide the branch’s failure to handle sex assault cases

The commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard has tried to assure frustrated senators she is not attempting to cover up the branch’s failure to adequately handle cases of sexual assault and harassment at the service academy in Connecticut.

Facebook owner Meta seeks to train AI model on European data as it faces privacy concerns

Meta said Monday it wants to use data from users in privacy-conscious Europe to train its artificial intelligence models.

California advances measures targeting AI discrimination and deepfakes

California lawmakers have advanced a host of artificial intelligence proposals that would protect jobs, build public trust, fight algorithmic discrimination, and outlaw deepfakes involving elections or pornography.

Two ex-FBI officials who traded anti-Trump texts close to settlement over alleged privacy violations

Two former FBI officials have reached a tentative settlement with the Justice Department to resolve claims that their privacy was violated when the department leaked to the news media text messages they had sent one another that disparaged former President Donald Trump.

Court sides with West Virginia TV station over records on top official’s firing

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A termination letter involving a former top official at the now-defunct agency that ran West Virginia’s foster care and substance use support services is public information, a state appeals court ruled this week, siding with the television station that was denied the letter.

Case dismissed against Maryland couple accused of patient privacy violations to help Russia

A federal judge has tossed a case against a Maryland couple accused of divulging patients’ medical records as part of a conspiracy to aid Russia.

Vermont Legislature passes one of the strongest data privacy measures in the country

The Vermont legislature has passed one of the strongest data privacy measures in the country, aimed at cracking down on companies’ use of online personal data.

Maryland governor signs online data privacy bills

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has signed two measures into law to better protect personal data online from Big Tech.

Pennsylvania House passes bill restricting how social media companies treat minors

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives is backing legislation aimed at regulating how online social media platforms interact with children.

Senators want limits on the government’s use of facial recognition technology for airport screening

A bipartisan group of senators wants restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology by the Transportation Security Administration.

Number of FBI intelligence database searches on Americans has dropped in last year, report says

The number of FBI searches of a vast foreign intelligence repository for information about Americans and people in the United States plummeted over the last year from the prior 12 months, according to a U.S. government report released Tuesday.

These are the countries where TikTok is already banned

TikTok is banned in a handful of countries and not allowed on government-issued devices in a number of others.

Massachusetts official warns AI systems subject to consumer protection, anti-bias laws

The Massachusetts attorney general has issued an advisory cautioning developers and business users of artificial intelligence that they must comply with state laws governing data privacy as well as consumer and anti-discrimination protections.

Key lawmakers float new rules for personal data protection; bill would make privacy a consumer right

Two lawmakers from opposing parties are floating a new plan to protect the privacy of Americans’ personal data.

House to take up bill to reauthorize crucial US spy program as expiration date looms

The House is set to consider a bill next week that would reauthorize a surveillance program that U.S. officials consider vital to national security but that critics say raises privacy concerns.

Judge sides with conservative group in its push to access, publish voter rolls online

A federal judge has ruled that New Mexico election officials violated public disclosure provisions of the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to provide voter rolls to a conservative group and its public online database.

Browsing in incognito mode doesn’t protect you as much as you might think

Google’s widely used Chrome browser has offered a private browsing mode called “Incognito” for nearly a decade.

Google will purge billions of files containing personal data in settlement of Chrome privacy case

Google has agreed to purge billions of records containing personal information collected from more than 136 million people in the U.S. surfing the internet through its Chrome web browser.

A Texas woman sues prosecutors who charged her with murder after she self-managed an abortion

A South Texas woman sued the Starr County District Attorney’s office and the county after she was wrongfully charged with murder over a self-induced abortion in 2022.

Media attorney warns advancing bill would create ‘giant loophole’ in Kentucky’s open records law

A media attorney for the Kentucky Press Association says a bill advanced by lawmakers would carve out a “giant loophole” in the state’s open records law.

Kansas moves to join Texas and other states in requiring porn sites to verify people’s ages

Kansas is poised to require internet pornography sites to verify that visitors are adults. It would join Texas and a handful of other states despite concerns about privacy and how broadly the law could be applied.

TikTok bill faces uncertain fate in the Senate as legislation to regulate tech industry has stalled

TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest tech industry push since the House passed legislation that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake.

Federal officials want to know how airlines handle — and share — passengers’ personal information

The government wants to know how airlines handle personal information about their passengers. And whether the airlines share that personal information — and make money in the process.

Did UK hospital staff try to snoop on Kate’s medical records? A privacy watchdog is investigating

A British privacy watchdog is investigating a report that staff at a private London hospital tried to snoop on the Princess of Wales’ medical records while she was a patient for abdominal surgery.

Officers need warrants to use aircraft, zoom lenses to surveil areas around homes, Alaska court says

The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before using aircraft to scope out the area around a person’s home with binoculars or cameras with zoom lenses.

President Biden to make ‘unity agenda’ appeal to Congress in State of the Union

In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden will make an explicit appeal to the divided Congress for his “unity agenda.”

Spain puts temporary ban on Worldcoin eyeballs scans, citing concerns over privacy

Spain’s privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin to cease its operations for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users’ personal information.

Book Review: ‘Means of Control’ charts the disturbing rise of a secretive US surveillance regime

In the book “Means of Control,” former Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau exposes in disturbing detail how private Beltway contractors have grown a secretive surveillance regime, AP technology reporter Frank Bajak writes.

Michigan State starts sending convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar documents to attorney general

Michigan State University has begun sending documents from its investigation into convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar to state Attorney General Dana Nessel.