2018-11-25 20:00
“You should always use strong passwords. Also, use a different password for each account. Additionally, you should keep changing passwords regularly.” You must’ve heard thi… Read More
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Online Privacy blog by Private Internet Access VPN. Learn how an anonymous VPN can help protect you and your family along with other top tech news and info.
2018-11-25 17:00
Oh, the sweet lure of a public Wi-Fi. It’s public, it’s free, and it lets you check your social media networks without wasting your mobile data. Don’t you just love the res… Read More
2018-11-24 22:00
TL/DR: Don’t use your fingerprintsor facial recognition as access passwords. Biometric access is not secure. Fingerprints or facial recognition as passwords are not legally protec… Read More
2018-11-24 20:00
Back in 2012, the FBI published a now-infamous report on Bitcoin. It called Bitcoin a “venue for individuals to generate, transfer, launder, and steal illicit funds with some anonymity… Read More
2018-11-24 18:00
That fact that massive surveillance is taking place around the world is hardly a secret, not least since Edward Snowden revealed the extraordinary scale and reach of Western spying. But what… Read More
2018-11-24 17:00
A colleague got to know your password and BAM, your account is hacked. Strong passwords are good. But they’re not good enough. That’s why you need two-factor or multi-factor auth… Read More
2018-11-21 17:00
The IOT is back in the news again this week. A judge has ordered Amazon to turn over audio data from an Alexa device related to a murder investigation. There’s a few interesting things… Read More
2018-11-18 17:00
If your personal information was involved in a data breach, would you know? While it’s unfortunately become the norm to see data breaches announced in the headline, it&rsqu&hell…Read More
2018-11-17 17:00
Privacy News Online explores a rich mix of information about privacy. Things like threats to privacy, privacy wins, ways to enhance privacy. One common thread is how bad people are at protec… Read More
2018-11-14 17:00
In doing my research around the impact of TLS 1.3 for Private Internet Access, I came across some peculiar items in the new standards. TLS 1.3 represents a relatively large shift in cryptogr… Read More
2018-11-10 17:00
As the borders between nations have become increasingly sensitive from a political point of view, so the threats to privacy there have grown. Privacy News Online has already reported on the… Read More
2018-11-09 23:00
Readers of this blog hardly need to be told that surveillance represents a grave threat to privacy. By its very nature, it seeks to know who we are and what we do, whether we wish that or no… Read More
2018-11-09 17:00
Whether it violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or not, it’s an unfortunate fact that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents routinely force travelers entering the… Read More
2018-11-06 18:00
With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Home devices, our environments are becoming more connected however this comes with the compromise of security. We’ve seen nume… Read More
2018-11-01 16:00
Earlier in October 2018, the Chinese government passed a law that grants local and central law enforcement the ability to enter the premises of any internet service providers (ISPs) or inter… Read More
2018-10-30 16:00
We often hear complaints about throughput (the technical term for download and upload speeds) and our Customer Support team will go through extensive testing, including traceroutes, MTRs, co… Read More
2018-10-27 16:00
The idea of “smart cities” – the application of digital technologies to the urban environment – is much in vogue. But as this blog has noted, although potentially pow… Read More
2018-10-26 16:00
Last month, the State of California banned default passwords on network devices, starting January 1, 2020. This law mandates that manufacturers preprogram a unique password for each individu… Read More
2018-10-24 16:00
The short answer: No. The long answer: Noooooooooooo. If you haven’t had a primer on what a quantum computer is or does, Kurzgesagt has a fantastic crash course introduction here: http… Read More
2018-10-21 13:16
The image you see above, is part of a full page ad we ran in The New York Times Sunday Edition today, October 21, 2018. Late last night, we were informed that our ad had been pul… Read More
2018-10-20 16:00
Earlier this year, Privacy News Online wrote about how long-standing linked but unsolved murder cases were resolved by checking genetic material found at some of the crime scenes against onl… Read More
2018-10-17 16:00
Everyone wants to be more secure. They want their browsing, their money, their utilities, and their lives to be as safe as possible. When you ask users of any service about security in a vac… Read More
2018-10-13 22:00
Last year, Privacy News Online noted that there was a new frontier for digital privacy: home devices that understand spoken commands. Recent research from Canalys confirms that the market co… Read More
2018-10-10 16:00
Back in our Firefox Hardening guide, we talked about installing the extension Firefox Lightbeam. What is Lightbeam? Lightbeam is an app that gives you a visual graph of what your browsing lo… Read More
2018-10-07 16:00
After months of negotiations and significant political tension, the United States, Canada and Mexico announced a new trade agreement earlier this week. The “new NAFTA” will be kn… Read More
2018-10-06 16:00
It’s no secret that the current design of the World Wide Web has huge problems. This was shown most dramatically by the recent security breach at Facebook that saw 50 million accounts… Read More
2018-10-04 16:00
Today we are going to talk about uMatrix, a more powerful cousin of the uBlock Origin ad-blocker. uMatrix adds Cookie, CSS, Media/Image, Script, XML Http Requests (XHR), Frame, and other typ… Read More
2018-09-29 19:00
Privacy News Online recently wrote about how the widely-used real-time bidding (RTB) system for online ads causes personal data to be spread widely among potential advertisers. We noted that… Read More
2018-09-26 16:30
Purpose: This guide shows a user in an easy-to-follow way how to improve the privacy and security settings of Firefox, which, when combined with a privacy VPN, gives a user a strong framewor… Read More
2018-09-25 16:00
With the changes to Chrome 69 (Chrome 69.0.3497.81 to be precise), Google pushed out a change which stealthily signs you into the Chrome application. This means that all your browsing habits… Read More
2018-09-22 19:00
Five years have passed since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the scale of surveillance by the US and UK shocked the world. Things have gone rather quiet on that front now, partly be… Read More
2018-09-21 19:00
Last week, a so-called vulnerability acquisition company by the name of Zerodium disclosed a Tor Browser 0-day vulnerability to the public, in an apparent PR stunt. As you may know, 0-days a… Read More
2018-09-19 19:00
Articles 11 and 13 in the New EU Copyright Directive are a Path to More Surveillance Privacy activists were caught off guard last week when the EU passed its controversial copyright legislat… Read More
2018-09-15 19:00
Electric vehicles and driverless cars may get the headlines, but the real revolution on roads is happening elsewhere, silently and out of sight. For twenty years, more and more digital techn… Read More
2018-09-08 19:00
Most people have heard of Moore’s Law, which roughly means that computers have doubled in power every few years. One of the benefits of Moore’s Law is that it has put a supercomp… Read More
2018-09-07 19:00
For an unknown amount of time, the Chrome browser has contained a vulnerability which allows malicious websites to hijack the back button. This was recently demonstrated with striking effect… Read More
2018-09-05 16:00
In security circles, WireGuard is an exciting proposition. It is a modern, open-source VPN client and server system that is highly streamlined, lean, and easy to review due to its simplicity… Read More
2018-09-04 19:00
The most secure and private system is one that is disconnected from everything (even power), buried in a box in an inaccessible location. Something like a computer buried in a concrete box a… Read More
2018-09-02 19:00
In the modern “gig economy”, workers and customers frequently rely on websites and phone apps to schedule, track and evaluate services. The data gathered and shared through… Read More
2018-09-01 19:00
Remember Google Glass? Five years ago, it was the hot new accessory for those who wanted to live at the bleeding edge of technology. But once Google Glasses started being used in public, peo… Read More
2018-08-29 19:00
One of the most popular privacy uses for a VPN is setting up the service on a VPN router. The router protects the entire network behind it by routing all of the devices through your preferre… Read More
2018-08-25 22:00
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most important – and controversial – privacy law passed in recent years. Despite its origin in the EU, its reach is truly glo… Read More
2018-08-25 19:00
Is your home router a sitting duck with ports open to the world just waiting to be hacked? Let’s go over how you can check. First, it’s important to start with implementing basic… Read More
2018-08-21 19:00
Passwords are one of the easiest (and first) ways to fail. We’re always told to have secure password but not told how to make one or why. It might shock you to know the two most common… Read More
2018-08-19 19:00
How often do you hold your phone in your left hand? How big are your hands? Do your hands shake when you type or move a mouse? If your pointer disappears from your screen… Read More
2018-08-18 19:00
Last year, Privacy News Online wrote about the Swedish SJ Railways allowing customers to use under-the-skin microchip implants for “easy” ticket purchases. That might have seemed… Read More
2018-08-15 19:00
A new standard for cryptography is on the horizon, called Transport Level Security 1.3 (TLS 1.3). TLS 1.3 is a major update to cryptography, and fundamentally changes how websites and servic… Read More
2018-08-14 16:00
There are many webpages that you can read online which will detail why you should use a VPN whilst gaming with claims such as it will solve latency (ping) issues, allow access to regional DL… Read More
2018-08-12 22:00
Navigating our increasingly connected digital world can be difficult for the privacy-conscious parent. There are many decisions to make about how children engage safely and protect the… Read More
2018-08-11 22:00
For all the theoretical concerns about the limitations of facial recognition systems, there’s nothing like personal experience to hammer the point home. That was confirmed recently whe… Read More
2018-08-10 21:00
It’s a little easier to attack some wireless networks than previously thought. That’s because Jens Steube, the developer of the popular password cracking tool hashcat, has found… Read More
2018-08-08 16:00
We are in a world where everyone is trying to get a hold of your information. Corporations and governments want to know what you’re buying, what you’re saying, and essentially wh… Read More
2018-08-05 22:26
In the era of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, our municipalities have an increasing array of tools available to make the places where we live smarter and safer. By… Read More
2018-08-04 19:00
Providing first responders such as the police, fire services and paramedics with the best available technology makes sense. Lives can be saved and disasters averted if action is taken as pro… Read More
2018-08-03 19:00
Google will expand into China and launch a new search engine compliant with the Chinese government’s strict censorship rules, according to a recent report by The Intercept’s Ryan… Read More
2018-07-31 20:00
How to secure your digital identity. With the recent deployment of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (otherwise known as the GDPR), it has never been easier for EU c… Read More
2018-07-29 22:00
As digital citizens, we often think about how to secure our internet activity and communications from external sources, including Internet Service Providers, governments, and malicious hacke… Read More
2018-07-28 16:00
Gmail is used by well over a billion people worldwide, making it one of the most important online services. Google has recently started rolling out a new design that includes novel features… Read More
2018-07-27 10:00
A major difficulty in defending against attackers and performing accurate attribution, lies in the fact that threat actors often route their traffic through the proverbial seven proxies. Def… Read More
2018-07-25 16:00
We all know that the Internet is not a fundamentally safe place. With the tremendous gains in information sharing and the conveniences that the Internet brings, come opportunities for exploi… Read More
2018-07-24 10:00
* Note from the editor * This is the first part of the all new “Tutorial Tuesdays”. Each week we will post some type of tutorial, tips or guide that will improve your exper… Read More
2018-07-22 16:00
The FCC repealed net neutrality, which became official on June 11th. Every second that goes by, the internet is dying just a little bit more, as ISP’s prioritize data, raise pric… Read More
2018-07-21 16:00
Facial recognition technology represents one of the most serious threats to privacy. That’s for two principal reasons. Perhaps the most important is that it is almost impossible to cha… Read More
2018-07-20 16:00
Today, a global coalition led by civil society and technology experts sent a letter asking the government of Australia to abandon plans to introduce legislation that would undermine strong e… Read More
2018-07-18 16:00
OpSec – Staying Private Under Surveillance One of the biggest mistakes that people make while trying to operate privately on the internet is giving up their information over side… Read More
2018-07-15 22:00
When we’re discussing the internet, it’s not surprising that legislation and policy can have an impact that extends far beyond one country’s borders. While many of us are a… Read More
2018-07-14 22:00
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force back in May. One reason many people know about the GDPR is because they were bombarded with emails asking them to acc… Read More
2018-07-13 16:00
A big question for those who consider internet privacy essential is how to best use Tor in combination with a VPN service provider like Private Internet Access. Should a Tor connection be tu… Read More
2018-07-11 14:48
One of the billion-dollar problems in the world of computers is getting software to act reliably. Fundamentally, when software misbehaves, it leads to flaws that can impact performance, reli… Read More
2018-07-08 10:00
Earlier this year, a coalition of Canadian media groups including Bell, Rogers, Quebecor, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, presented a controversial proposal to the Canadian teleco… Read More
2018-07-06 18:00
Privacy News Online has been tracking the increasing use of facial recognition technologies for some time. Concerns about their wider deployment are growing. But the surveillance world does… Read More
2018-07-04 16:00
Oppression for Pennies – The Cost of Surveillance is Falling
If there’s one thing the Internet has taught us over the last 40 years, it is that information is power.
The Internet… Read More
2018-07-02 12:48
For the fifth year running, people will flock to the Hudson River to celebrate Independence Day together at the largest fireworks display in the state. Around 200,000 people are expected to… Read More
2018-06-26 21:48
In the computing world, there’s always a new buzzword or trend that everyone chases as the next “big thing.” Software Defined Networks (SDNs) will replace most network tec… Read More
2018-06-23 19:00
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force last week. As Rick Falkvinge noted in his post on the topic, its impact is potentially huge. The GDPR has already led to a flood… Read More
2018-06-22 19:00
The Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed the power of psychological profiling and hyper-targeted advertising based on personal data collected and stored by Facebook. As it became aware of th… Read More
2018-06-20 07:13
A Swedish police officer has been caught making 16,691 cases of unauthorized access into police case files, and is being charged with electronic trespassing. This is far more serious than if… Read More
2018-06-17 16:36
French politicians of the former Front National are furious: their entire YouTube channel was just taken down by automatic filters at YouTube for alleged copyright violations. Perhaps this w… Read More
2018-06-16 19:00
Domain Emails Are Dead (DEAD)
A security reminder that e-mail and DNS should never be a critical component of a secure system architecture.
PROBLEM
DEAD is a potential vulnerability in the D… Read More
2018-06-15 22:46
The FCC officially ended net neutrality protections on June 11th, 2018. Net neutrality was established when internet service providers were designated as Title II utility providers in 20xx… Read More
2018-06-15 16:23
French president Macron, in an attempt to have the Power of Narrative stay with the offline-born old guard, is pushing a law that will reintroduce regular news censorship — even i… Read More
2018-06-13 07:19
The Swiss have held their referendum on foreign online gambling, and voted overwhelmingly in favor of Internet censorship. With 73% in favor of censorship, it’s likely that people vote… Read More
2018-06-06 17:23
Julia Reda sounds the alarm that the European Parliament will vote on mandatory upload filtering in two weeks, with nowhere near enough attention to this issue from the public at large. Once… Read More
2018-06-06 13:49
Apple has years of your internet browsing history if you selected “sync browser tabs” in Safari. This internet history does not disappear from their servers when you click &ldquo&hell…Read More
2018-05-29 12:53
Though FOSTA-SESTA was signed into law just over one month ago, its impact on the Internet is already visible. The bill was meant to curb online sex trafficking. In reality, all it did was… Read More
2018-05-28 13:29
Amazon has developed a powerful cloud-based facial recognition system called “Rekognition”, which has major implications for privacy. It is already being used by multiple US poli… Read More
2018-05-25 17:07
If you lease an Xfinity router from internet service provider (ISP) Comcast, you need to install a VPN as soon as possible.
According to security researchers Karan Saini and Ryan Stevenson… Read More
2018-05-25 08:43
It’s May 25, and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect. It contains such a shocking amount of common sense, that companies worldwide have been scramb… Read More
2018-05-24 10:29
The Swiss Pirate Party reports that there is a Swiss referendum coming on June 10 to introduce Internet censorship for the first time. The purpose of the censorship is to protect domestic ga… Read More
2018-05-18 20:03
The cost of sequencing the DNA found in genomes has been decreasingly rapidly in recent years. Since 2008, it has been falling even faster than the well-known Moore’s Law for semicondu… Read More
2018-05-17 21:14
All major cell phone carriers collect and sell their customers’ real-time location data to third-party advertisers, information disclosed in a recent court case has revealed. Krebs On… Read More
2018-05-16 10:52
Today, the United States Senate will vote on whether or not to save net neutrality. All 49 Senate Democrats, with the support of key Republican Senators, have successfully forced… Read More
2018-05-09 16:28
VPNs are an indispensable part of online life, and they protect many aspects of privacy. But there’s a class of threats that VPNs can’t defend against: crypto backdoors, which al… Read More
2018-05-08 10:52
The European Commission is expanding its plans for proposed automated censorship: from only having concerned copyright infringements, which is bad enough and cannot nearly be determined by a… Read More
2018-05-07 12:20
In the next installment of “how bad can things get”, Chinese factories are not content with monitoring their workers’ communications and physical location, but have found i… Read More
2018-05-01 14:26
As Julia Reda has continuously reported from inside the European Parliament, the European Commission is pushing for an update to copyright monopoly laws that would introduce upload-time cens… Read More
2018-04-30 14:57
Freedom of Expression is a fundamental human right as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
But it sadly comes as no surprise to any of us that there are gove… Read More
2018-04-29 13:35
It was just an idea posted in a random financial forum, but people saw the implications immediately. The Bitcoin-BCH financial network brings with it an uncensorable Twitter-like microbloggi… Read More
2018-04-27 14:34
Email is one of the most ubiquitous forms of online communication around. According to Statista, there are over 3.7 billion email users in the world currently. Unfortunately, it’s like… Read More
2018-04-27 14:20
One of Japan’s largest internet service providers (ISPs) says that it will begin blocking pirate sites of its own volition, despite constitutional prohibitions on censorship.
Industry… Read More
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