By Peter A. McKay

Of all the things tech companies know about you, your spending habits are perhaps among the most sensitive — and the most overlooked by users.

Chalk the latter up to the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, which since has thrown a bright spotlight on potential abuses of social-networking data in particular, with Facebook arguably taking the brunt of criticism for the entire technology industry. 

By Samantha Cleaver

The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) switched from in-person to online classes in March because of COVID-19.

Students were about to take quarterly final exams, and professors were given the option to use ProctorU, an online test-proctoring company.

The service was new to many faculty, Claudio Fogu, associate professor of Italian studies, told Digital Privacy News.

But Fogu and other faculty members read through ProctorU’s privacy policy and raised concerns about what data was collected, how it was used and whether students could opt out.

By Gregory Austin

Gamers across the world are eagerly awaiting the release of the PlayStation 5 this holiday season.

But one of the device’s most popular add-ons, the new DualSense wireless controller, likely will incorporate a higher level of data-collection that could infringe upon user privacy, experts told Digital Privacy News.

The DualSense’s built-in, headset-free microphone and upgraded hand sensors could leave users vulnerable to a hack like PlayStation’s enormous network breach in 2011.

By Myrle Croasdale

Infrared tracking technology now is adding to the data-privacy discussion.

A Johns Hopkins University clinical and engineering team recently released a study that used detailed patient-mobility data to predict lengths of stay, the level of care patients needed when discharged and the likelihood of them being readmitted within 30 days.

By Sakshi Udavant

None of the 50 states in America have strong privacy laws, while 26 of them have regulations that are considered “very weak,” according to a recent survey.

The survey was conducted by Gabe Turner, content director of Security.org, and his research team to classify states by how strong their data-privacy laws are.

By Jeff Benson

This week, a bipartisan duo of senators, Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and Montana Republican Steve Daines, proposed an amendment to U.S. law that would have prevented intelligence agencies from accessing citizens’ internet search histories without a warrant.

“Getting access to somebody’s web-browsing history is almost like spying on their thoughts,” Wyden told Digital Privacy News and other outlets. “This level of surveillance absolutely ought to come with a warrant.”

But on Wednesday, the amendment, which needed 60 Senate votes to pass, failed on a 59-37 vote, despite bipartisan support.

Here’s how we got here — and what’s next.

By Aaryaman Aashind

Twitter users can no longer block the platform from sharing certain personal information with advertisers because of a recent change in its privacy policy, digital-rights experts told Digital Privacy News.

Twitter, which announced the change last month, also now will share your nonpublic information with Google, Facebook and other platforms to boost its marketing efforts.

“All too often, Twitter, Google and Facebook will give users only as much control as they think they need to in order to stave off regulation and competitors, but no more,” said Karen Gullo of the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.