This Week in Privacy

Signal has rolled out registration without a phone number on Android in beta, Revolut breached customer data through fake law enforcement requests, X Chat has mysteriously disappeared from the App Store and more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #71! Signal image in cover taken by About Signal: https://aboutsignal.com/news/signal-registration-without-a-phone-number-now-available/ ★ Support this podcast ★

Apple's new watches are always listening with their new Live Rewind feature, GrapheneOS plans to overhaul all it's default apps, LG's TVs have been caught listening even when they're offline or on standby, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #70. ★ Support this podcast ★

The GrapheneOS team has discovered that the Pixel 11 devices appear to have a key security feature disabled, the feature then re-appeared in a later beta update but was still disabled. We'll explain everything you need to know, and cover the latest privacy & security news on This Week In Privacy #69! (00:00) - Intro (00:45) - Start of podcast (01:20) - GrapheneOS Unable to Complete Pixel 11 Port Due to Cut Security Feature (04:29) - Pixel 11 Has Hardware MTE Support, "May Still Be Usable" for GrapheneOS (17:07) - Forum Updates: 1Password wades into a right wing mess after funding a Linux project (37:16) - SIte updates (45:15) - Trump Goes After Anonymous Email Provider in Italy. The Real Target Is Free Speech in the US (01:00:54) - California's Age Verification Bill Passes with Linux Exemption Intact (01:06:44) - Brave launches Email Aliases to keep your personal email address private from websites (01:14:41) - Introducing Ad Blocker for Firefox on iOS: More Control, Fewer Distractions (01:21:09) - Q&A (01:23:13) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

X.com has sent a cease and desist letter to Nitter, the privacy focused frontend for Twitter, demanding immediate takedown of the service and its repositories. This move brings into question whether other privacy frontends could also suffer the same fate, we'll discuss this and more on This Week In Privacy #68! ★ Support this podcast ★

Microsoft’s Copilot had a one-click vulnerability that let attackers quietly exfiltrate data, no user interaction required beyond a single click. Microsoft's AI push seems to be backfiring as security incidents continue to increase. Join us for This Week In Privacy #67! ★ Support this podcast ★

Google has announced it's new chip the Tensor G6 which brings serious security upgrades to the new Pixel 11 devices, is it a good idea to pre-order or should you hold off? Join us for This Week In Privacy #66 (00:00) - Intro (00:40) - Start of podcast (01:34) - Google's new Tensor G6 brings serious performance efficiency, and security upgrades to the Pixel 11 series (16:40) - White House taps security firms for offensive hack-back operations (25:23) - Site updates (32:50) - Amazon will train on Twitch streamer's content by default, unless they opt out (40:10) - Forum Updates: Proton VPN accused of running price sensitivity testing (A/B Testing) on their customers (52:03) - Mozilla Issues New Firefox GPG Key Following Exposure (01:01:49) - More linked devices are on the table (and the Android tablet) (01:09:01) - Introducing Automatic Key Verification (01:13:42) - Signal is working on registration without a phone number. But what form will it take? (01:19:55) - Q&A (01:31:35) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Researchers have discovered a host of issue's with Apple's iCloud Private Relay, namely one that allowed websites to see a user's hidden IP address, Linux market-share has just surpassed 10% in North America and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #65 ★ Support this podcast ★

An activist has been charged with a felony for providing a "duress code" which wiped his GrapheneOS device, we'll be discussing the legal implications and the latest privacy & security news on This Week In Privacy #64! (00:00) - Intro (00:44) - Start of podcast (02:15) - Activist charged with felony after giving borer agent "duress code" that wiped his phone (43:32) - The Pokémon Company is turning to facial recognition scans to help combat scalpers (46:56) - Facial Recognition at Madison Square Garden (56:01) - Forum updates: Surveillance Cameras Can Now Be Retrofitted to Track Your Wireless Device Fingerprint (01:05:58) - Site updates (01:10:55) - Trump admin exempts SpaceX's Starlink from FCC ban on foreign-made routers (01:21:38) - Inside the dystopian world of Germany's free speech crackdown (01:27:38) - eBay reaches $56M settlement with e-commerce newsletter writers it terrorized in 2019 (01:35:07) - Q&A Time: Ask us anything in the livestream chat and we'll do our best to answer! (01:47:28) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Mullvad's Co-owner Daniel Berntsson has made a large political donation from Mullvad's profits, leading people to cancel their service, Apple has fixed a vulnerability in Hide-My-Email and an explosion of surveillance towers are coming to the US border costing over $1 billion US dollars. Join us for This Week In Privacy #63 (00:00) - Intro (00:35) - Start of podcast (02:39) - Mullvad Donation Controversy (34:46) - An Explosion of Surveillance Towers is Coming to U.S. Borders, Costing Over $1 Billion (45:14) - Forum updates: Is there space for another private messaging app (54:20) - Site updates (01:02:34) - The Fourth Circuit Says Border Agents Can Search Your Phone By Hand, No Suspicion Required (01:14:03) - Forum updates: Leave FCC Comment, Deadline Tomorrow (01:23:43) - OpenAI Models Escaped Containment and Hacked Hugging Face (01:32:22) - Forum updates: Is there a point in supporting projects? (01:41:58) - Apple Fixes Hide My Email Vulnerability After 404 Media Coverage (01:56:54) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Microsoft just fixed a record number of vulnerabilities this patch Tuesday, but a 0 day exploit dropped right after leaving them scrambling, the Los Angeles Police Department just let it's contract expire with Flock, citing 'serious concerns' over privacy and Cloudflare is rolling out a creepy bot detection system that watches your keyboard and mouse movements. Join us for this Week In Privacy #62! (00:00) - Intro (00:40) - Start of podcast (01:04) - Windows 0-day drops the same day Microsoft releases record number of patches (17:00) - Microsoft Restores Player's 25-Year-Old Account With Son's Baby Photos After Nuking It Due to Hacker (25:49) - LAPD lets contract with surveillance giant Flock expire, citing 'serious concerns' over civil liberties and privacy (37:33) - Site updates (41:06) - Cloudflare Precursor watches your mouse and keyboard to decide if you are human (49:25) - Your Period Data Should Be Private (01:05:58) - Forum updates (01:12:26) - Q&A (01:42:16) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

A security researcher has discovered that the iOS App Store saves all keystrokes and ties it to your Apple ID - raising privacy concerns, yet another cop is using Automated License Plate Readers to stalker someone, and all cars in the EU might require a camera aimed at your face! Join us for This Week In Privacy #61. (00:00) - Intro (00:36) - Start of podcast (01:03) - Apple adds keylogger to iOS App Store for targeted advertising (10:17) - A Third Party Breached The Intercept's Signal Tip Line and Has Been Soliciting Whistleblowers (21:16) - Footage Shows Cop Stalking Woman He Met on a TV Set After Surveilling Her With a License Plate Reader (36:15) - Site updates (41:14) - ICE's Internal Watchdog Is Now Investigating Online Critics (54:01) - All Cars Sold in the EU Now Require a Camera Aimed at Your Face. It's Still Not Clear Where That Data Goes (01:04:34) - Forum updates (01:23:21) - Q&A (01:25:50) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

CalyxOS is officially back with a stable release, A researcher has discovered Apple's Hide My Email feature can originating email addresses, the US Supreme Court has gutted the governments ability to use geofence warrants, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #60. (00:00) - Intro (00:39) - Start of podcast (01:10) - CalyxOS is back - release 7.2.2.0 with full maintenance support (18:24) - Apple 'Hide My Email' Vulnerability Reveals People's Real Email Addresses (26:55) - Supreme Court ruling guts government's use of geofence warrants (34:28) - Site updates (40:14) - WhatsApp usernames are already raising impersonation red flags (50:54) - Woman Surprised When Flock Surveillance Tower Appears in Her Yard Without Warning (56:54) - Forum updates (01:15:15) - Q&A (01:29:40) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

It's a quiet news week, so we're diving into questions from the community and discussing a few less interesting stories. Join us for This Week In Privacy #59 (00:00) - Intro (00:39) - Start of podcast (01:27) - Are there privacy advantages to desktop OS's vs GrapheneOS (06:50) - Announcing Mozilla.org (19:15) - Following user outcry, AMD reinstates memory encryption in consumer CPUs (32:07) - Site updates (38:00) - Are there any KeepAndroidOpen.org updates? (51:49) - White House app auto-downloads to government phones, can't be uninstalled (01:03:57) - 50% of LG and Samsung smart TV apps embed residential proxies (01:18:50) - Forum updates (01:28:42) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Android 17 has officially launched and GrapheneOS has just announced an experimental build with a stable release coming soon (update Jun 19: delayed...), the United States controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has expired but spying will continue till March 2027, AMD has striped hardware cryptography from it's consumer CPUs and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #58 (00:00) - Intro (00:39) - Start of podcast (01:13) - Android 17 Launched, What New Privacy/Security Features Does it Bring? (17:32) - (Canadian) Liberals dismiss 'tinfoil hat' privacy fears as lawful access bill passes (28:37) - Controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act spying law expires tonight. The spying will continue. (50:13) - Site updates (54:58) - If the FCC Bans Burner Phones, It Could Be a Privacy Nightmare (01:27:54) - UK to ban social media for kids under 16, may impose overnight curfews (01:39:20) - Forum updates (01:55:35) - Q&A (02:03:06) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Automated license readers by Flock have tied a person who was miles away to a violent crime effectively framing them, the state of Massachusetts in the US has passed a privacy bill to stop the sale of precise location data and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #57. (00:00) - Intro (00:49) - Start of podcast (01:14) - A flock license plate reader linked a San Diego man to a violent crime. He was five miles away. (19:42) - WhatsApp says it caught new spyware attacks linked to NSO Group in violation of court order (27:30) - Massachusetts votes to pass new privacy rights bill that bans sale of precise location data (42:39) - Site updates (51:50) - New apple feature automatically changes your compromised passwords (58:17) - Signal, DuckDuckGo among firms weighing Canada exit over lawful access bill (01:09:18) - Over 400 Arch Linux packages compromised to push rootkit, infostealer (01:17:29) - Forum updates (01:27:42) - Q&A (01:45:55) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

GTA V cheat service Atlas Menu just got hacked exposing thousands of gamers as cheaters, Microsoft is under fire for threatening a security researcher who disclosed vulnerabilities, hackers are using Meta's AI chatbot to seize control of Instagram accounts and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #56. 0:00 Intro 0:43 Start of podcast 1:47 Grand Theft Auto V cheat service gets hacked, exposing thousands of gamers 18:08 Microsoft under fire for threatening security researcher with criminal investigation 33:49 Site updates 43:38 Hackers used Meta's AI Support Bot to Seize Instagram Accounts 58:29 Meta Silenty Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones 1:16:21 Dashlane explains how attackers managed to download encrypted password vaults 1:34:45 Forum updates 2:13:46 Q&A 2:25:08 Outro (00:00) - Intro (00:43) - Start of podcast (01:47) - Grand Theft Auto V cheat service gets hacked, exposing thousands of gamers (18:08) - Microsoft under fire for threatening security researcher with criminal investigation (33:49) - Site updates (43:38) - Hackers used Meta's AI Support Bot to Seize Instagram Accounts (58:29) - Meta Silenty Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones (01:16:21) - Dashlane explains how attackers managed to download encrypted password vaults (01:34:45) - Forum updates (02:13:46) - Q&A (02:25:08) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

GrapheneOS has announced the public release for it's speech synthesis service, which is open source and created in house by the GrapheneOS team, meanwhile in America, California is moving to exempt Linux from it's age verification laws, a company is putting AI cameras in school buses across the United States, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #55. (00:00) - Intro (00:45) - Start of podcast (01:18) - Initial release of GrapheneOS Spech Services for text-to-speech (14:23) - Identifying People Using Wi-Fi Routers (28:46) - Site updates (39:49) - California moves to exempt Linux from its upcoming age-verification law after backlash (01:03:12) - Funding F-Droid and Internet Freedom (01:15:23) - Perfect randomness realized for the first time (01:20:12) - Forum updates (01:59:05) - Q&A (02:29:25) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Google has announced Android XR it's new smart glasses platform, we'll dive into why this is such a threat to your privacy and why this announcement is so significant, Join us for This Week In Privacy #54! (00:00) - Intro (00:43) - Start of podcast (01:11) - Google smart glasses are coming this fall (27:52) - The FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers (41:54) - Researchers Wanted Preschool Teachers to Wear Cameras to Train AI (56:41) - Site updates (01:04:28) - Discord rolls out end-to-end encryption on voice, video calls (01:30:37) - Poland urges officials to ditch Signal for state-run messaging apps (01:52:02) - Forum updates (02:06:24) - Q&A (02:30:28) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

Google recently announced upcoming features for Android 17 which features new privacy & security upgrades, Signal is adding warnings to protect against phishing attacks, Windows Bitlocker has been broken by a new zero-day and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #53 (00:00) - Intro (00:43) - Start of podcast (01:33) - What's New in Android Security and Privacy in 2026 (13:00) - Signal adds security warning for social engineering phishing attacks (18:52) - Windows BitLocker zero-day gives access to protected drives, PoC released (28:29) - Site updates (35:43) - Only approved phones can pass Google's new reCAPTCHA, locking out privacy-focused alternatives (51:07) - Stop the Surveillance State: Stop Bill C-22 (01:08:31) - Forum updates (01:35:17) - Q&A (01:46:12) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★

After an extended break - CalyxOS has come back and released test builds of Android 16 for their supported devices, Disneyland is using facial recognition software in their parks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security compelled Google to share data about Canadians because of social media posts and much more! Join us for this Week In Privacy #52! (00:00) - Intro (00:37) - Start of podcast (01:23) - CalyxOS progress report - our test build with Android 16 is here (25:31) - Canvas login portals hacked in mass Shiny Hunters extortion campaign (40:36) - Site updates (50:08) - Google Chrome been silently pushing 4GB AI model to your device asking (01:13:29) - Microsoft Edge keeps all saved passwords unencrypted (01:22:12) - Forum updates (01:56:55) - Q&A (02:31:19) - Outro ★ Support this podcast ★