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Content type: Video
Links- Read more of our work on EdTech- Find out more about Google Classroom in Denmark- Taser drones- Our tracker looking at the use of EdTech around the world
Content type: Report
Introduction
Several policy initiatives are in progress at the EU level. They seek to address the sustainability of connected devices such as smartphones, tablets and smart speakers. While initiatives to extend the useful life of hardware are important, software must not be ignored. Almost any digital device with which we interact today relies on software to function, which acts as a set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. From smart thermostats to smart speakers, to our…
Content type: Course Section
Knowledge gap?
Research finding: In 2018, a study by the NGO Doteveryone on digital understanding found a “major understanding gap” of British citizens when it comes to digital technologies. For example, they found that 83% of British don’t realise that information shared about them by others is collected, and 70% don’t realise free apps make money from data.
Finding: In 2020, another study by Doteveryone found that while the public’s understanding of data collection has increased, it still…
Content type: Long Read
The global COVID-19 health crisis not only induced a public health crisis, but has led to severe social, economic and educational crises which have laid bare any pre-existing gaps in social protection policies and frameworks. Measures identified as necessary for an effective public health response such as lockdowns have impacted billions workers and people's ability to sustain their livelihood worldwide, with countries seeing unprecedented levels of applications for welfare benefits support,…
Content type: Key Resources
Public-private partnerships might very well involve a technology that is well-known and already widely deployed in other contexts, but it might also be a ground for innovation and novelty.
We can identify two main types of innovation:
A new technology that isn’t widely used or hasn’t been deployed in real world context (outside of a lab or a research paper);
A new set of features added to an existing technology which greatly expand its performances and capabilities.
Another type of “…
Content type: Key Resources
i. Added Literature review
There are several resources available that simplify and popularise complex technologies, starting with Wikipedia. Other resources can be tremendously useful even with little to no technical background, such as semi-specialised press. See for example:
MIT Technology review (e.g. quantum computing)
ArsTechnica, (e.g. on NFTS)
PC Mag (e.g. on 5G Mag)
Academic papers are also an avenue to find information although the language might be less accessible without…
Content type: Report
Privacy International’s submissions for the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration inspection of the Home Office Satellite Tracking Service Programme
The Home Office have introduced 24/7 electronic monitoring and collection of the location data of migrants via GPS ankle tags. This seismic change cannot be overstated. The use of GPS tags and intention to use location data, kept for six years after the tag is removed, in immigration decision-making goes far beyond the mere…
Content type: Video
Links
The Enablers by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
PI's report
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Content type: Long Read
Here are just 10 of our biggest achievements in 2021.
WE CHALLENGED COMPANIES TO CHANGE THEIR BUSINESS MODELS AND PRACTICES
In 2021 we effectively challenged big tech companies including Google, Facebook, Tecno, and smaller and equally urgent companies like Clearview AI, Web-IQ, Palantir etc. and achieved substantial impact including:
- Popular diet apps include better protections in their products
Many diet sites and apps ask you to take tests to create profiles of your body and eating…
Content type: Explainer
Bluetooth
The majority of apps settled on using Bluetooth for proximity tracing.
Just what is Bluetooth?
Named after the 10th Century King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson who unified Scandinavia — and whose runic initials comprise the logo — Bluetooth is a wireless, low-power, and therefore short-distance, set of protocols used primarily to connect devices directly to each other in order to transfer data, such as video and audio.
Bluetooth for tracking?
Most of us who've encountered Bluetooth use…
Content type: Long Read
This piece is a part of a collection of research that demonstrates how data-intensive systems that are built to deliver reproductive and maternal healthcare are not adequately prioritising equality and privacy.
Digital health apps of all kinds are being used by people to better understand their bodies, their fertility, and to access health information. But there are concerns that the information people both knowingly and unknowing provide to the app, which can be very personal health…
Content type: Explainer
Introduction/Background
Electronic tags have been a key part of criminal justice offender management for over 20 years, being used in the United States since the mid 1980’s and in the UK and some other commonwealth countries since 2003. In 2021 the UK introduced GPS tagging for immigration bail.
The tag is predominantly used to curtail the liberties of individuals. For those on criminal bail its intended use includes managing return into communities while deterring reoffending.
As we explore…
Content type: Video
Links
Teens and Facebook
Frances Haugen and Instagram
Facebook and Metaverse
Metaverse and Bandwidth
EFF on new Google replacement for cookies
Google's follow up plan to replace cookies
EV cars and the national grid
The gates of hell
South Africa, Omicron, and travel
Patent-free covid vaccine
Covid vaccine plastic bag shortage
James Webb telescope
Human trails for Elon Musks' brain chip
Content type: Video
Links
Our predictions from 2021
Clearview UK provisional fine
Clearview legal trouble in France
Clearview investments
TRIPS waiver
Travel podcast
Patent-free vaccine
Mental health podcast
Dr David works for the Mental Health Foundation
Google unionise
The 'Great Resignation'
PI has been working with two unions on our managed by bots campaign
Complicated history of plagues and workers
Indian National Education Plan
Ugandan Election
Crypto mining trouble
US commitment…
Content type: Guide step
The information you (consciously or not) share with Telegram can be very revealing. It can also be (mis)interpreted by government agencies and used to profile individuals. Once installed on a device, depending on your settings, the Telegram app may have access to information such as your location, contact information and media stored on the same device. All of this data can be potentially be accessed remotely using cloud extraction technology.
Your Telegram app generates a lot of data that can…
Content type: Guide step
The information you (consciously or not) share with Facebook can be very revealing. It can also be (mis)interpreted by government agencies and used to profile individuals. Once installed on a device, depending on your settings, the Facebook app may have access to information such as your location, contact information and media stored on the same device. All of this data can be potentially be accessed remotely using cloud extraction technology.
Your Facebook app generates a lot of data that can…
Content type: Guide step
The information you share on WhatsApp can be very revealing. Once installed on a device, the app potentially has access to information such as your location, contact information, and media stored on the same device.
Your WhatsApp app generates a lot of data that can also be stored on your device and elsewhere. It’s important for you to be able to understand the types of data that apps like WhatsApp generate. Government agencies may seek access to this data through at least two routes: they…
Content type: Explainer
Before you get started
It would be useful to have:
Oracle Virtualbox (version 6.1 or later)
Genymotion, a virtual phone or a physical device
Unarchival software (7Zip, Peazip, Keka, Ark etc)
Android Developer Bridge (adb) (You can also install Android Debug Bridge, which is adb without the full Android SDK platform)
Web Browser
A small amount of linux/unix knowledge will help!
Setting up the Data Interception Environment
Download the latest release of the Data Interception…
Content type: Examples
As a result of the challenges emerging from Covid-19 to disburse financial assistance, the government of Paraguay decided to change its food security programme, Ñangareko, from an in-kind benefit to a bank transfer consisting of a one-off payment of PYG 500,000 (= +/-73USD).
The Ñangareko Programme is aimed at those affected by Covid-19 which are stated to include the most vulnerable, informal workers, persons without a RUC (the unique taxpayer registry number) or social security, and who don’…
Content type: Long Read
For over 20 years with the start of the first use of ICTs in the 1990s, we have seen a digital revolution in the health sector. The Covid-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the digitalisation of the health sector, and it illustrates how fast this uptake can be and what opportunities can emerge; but also, importantly, the risks that it involves.
As we've said many times before, whilst technologies can be part of the solution to tackle some socio-economic and political challenges facing our…
Content type: Examples
The global internet monitoring firm NetBlocks finds that Cuba has restricted access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as some Telegram servers, on the govt-owned telecom provider ETECSA during the largest protests the country has seen in decades. Access to the streaming services YouTube and Google Video was also limited. The protests focused on rising prices, curbs on civil liberties, and the government’s handling of the pandemic.…
Content type: Advocacy
Our environment is increasingly populated by devices connected to the Internet, from computers and mobile phones to sound systems and TVs to fridges, kettles, toys, or domestic alarms. There has been research into the negative safety and privacy impacts of inadequate security provided by the software in such devices (such as the creation of large scale botnets). This is also the case with outdated security, a risk enabled by software support periods that are shorter than a product’s usable life…
Content type: Long Read
Image source
This piece is a part of a collection of research that demonstrates how data-intensive systems that are built to deliver reproductive and maternal healthcare are not adequately prioritising equality and privacy.
Telemedicine describes the vast range of applications and technologies used to provide and manage healthcare remotely.
Telemedicine as its most basic refers to the transmission of data from a patient to a healthcare professional through a range of electronic…
Content type: Guide step
Introducción
Pi-hole es un bloqueador de anuncios de uso general que cubre toda la red y la protege de los anuncios y los rastreadores sin que sea necesario configurar cada uno de los dispositivos. Tiene la capacidad de bloquear anuncios en cualquier dispositivo de la red (por ejemplo, electrodomésticos inteligentes) y, a diferencia de las extensiones del navegador, Pi-hole bloquea los anuncios en cualquier tipo de software.
La configuración general funciona de la siguiente manera (Fig. 1).…
Content type: Guide step
Las redes de distribución de contenidos (CDN) son redes geográficamente distribuidas de servidores proxy que buscan ofrecer funciones como mejorar la disponibilidad y el rendimiento de los sitios web. Aunque el objetivo es loable, también implica que los proveedores de CDN reciben metadatos vinculados con los sitios web que visitas (donde están instalados). Sabiendo esto, quizá sea conveniente sacrificar estas ventajas adicionales y prescindir de los grandes proveedores de CDN (como Google y…
Content type: Long Read
Introduction
Technology has driven a number of changes in the way that financial services are packaged and accessed by consumers. These changes have led to the rise of fintech, a data intensive industry that has been touted for its convenience and as an alternative to traditional financial services.
The current article looks at the use of digital loan Apps in Philippines and Kenya and contextualises the global discussions on fintech which we have been monitoring for some years. Research…
Content type: Press release
Privacy International research released today shows that the brand new TECNO Y2 phone is being sold with outdated versions of the Android operating system. The version of Android, which is from 2013, no longer receives security updates, and contains over 200 known vulnerabilities. The phone also comes with pre-installed apps that the users cannot uninstall. What this means is that the privacy and security of people using TECNO’s Y2 phones can be at risk.
TECNO are a phone manufacturer based in…
Content type: Long Read
When you buy a brand-new low-cost phone, it’s likely to come pre-installed with insecure apps and an outdated operating system. What this means is that you or your loved ones could be left vulnerable to security risks or to having their data exploited. Privacy shouldn’t be a luxury. That’s why we advocate for companies to provide the latest security features and privacy protections for both low- and high-cost phones.
Content type: Long Read
For many, browsing the internet or checking social media comes with its fair share of being targeted with ads selling “fad diet” subscription-based programmes, magic weight-loss powders, or promising a secret trick to lose weight quickly. Some of the products and programmes sold have been described as scams, with a very real impact for those suffering from eating disorders and those who fall prey to these ads. This is even more problematic due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen the…
Content type: News & Analysis
As Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories continue to publish crucial information about the potential targets of NSO Group’s spyware, we know this much already: something needs to be done.
But what exactly needs to be done is less obvious. Even though this is not the first time that the world has learned about major abuses by the surveillance industry (indeed, it’s not even the first time this month), it’s difficult to know what needs to change.
So how can the proliferation and use of…