Yale Privacy Lab

🤔 caller #privacy for unmonitored, informational phone lines 👇
github.com/connyay/redb...

Sometimes, the safest option is installing APKs directly from trusted developers.

These methods can avoid ad trackers, #surveillance code, and unwanted data sharing. To cut off these options is to put many activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and ordinary users at risk.

Independent audits have consistently revealed these issues inside of Google Play, even *after* #Google claims to have scrubbed.

For example, the X-mode SDK persisted long after it was banned in the USA by the FTC enforcement action, and was still present in many #Google Play apps...

Android is based upon free and #opensource software ( #FOSS) and that has always been defined by user choice. Blocking the capability to install apps directly from trusted sources outside #Google Play is not a small tweak. It removes a core freedom.

And while we’re pillorying Google for flagrant privacy invasions bsky.app/profile/yale...

🫶 As the #Thanksgiving holiday weekend continues, we want to thank all the tech projects, legal initiatives, information activists, and educators out there.

THANK YOU for defending #privacy & preserving #security of our digital commons!

great reporting by @zackwhittaker.com on #Oura ring #privacy and #healthcare data, as well as US gov't data requests 👇https://privacysafe.social/@zackwhittaker@mastodon.social/115627975719141861

No Kings, No Monopolies: How App Store Gatekeepers Enable Authoritarianism | TechPolicy.Press Meher Sethi discusses how the app-store duopoly enables government pressure, including censorship of apps like ICEBlock, and poses growing risks to democracy.

When the Trump administration demanded ICEBlock’s removal, Apple complied—no rival app stores, just one gatekeeper’s decision, explains Meher Sethi. The takedown exposed how easily government pressure can travel through Apple and Google’s app-store duopoly and the risk it poses to democracy.

Google is still collecting data from your old Nest thermostat. A security researcher discovered that Google is still collecting data from discontinued Nest thermostat models in millions of American homes.

Our @profdiggity.com on #Google Nest #privacy:
"Proximity signals alone can reveal when someone is home, when they leave and when they sleep... Over time, you get a very clear picture of household routine.”

by @mikaelthalen.bsky.social
san.com/cc/google-is...

#FreedomOfSpeech discussions all day at the @mfia-clinic.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social #AAC2025 conference: 🧐👉 law.yale.edu/isp/initiati...

#speech #1A

Kicking off the @mfia-clinic.bsky.social @yaleisp.bsky.social #aac2025 conference on this lovely fall day in #NewHaven

As deepfake technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and accessible, American lawmakers are responding with a flurry of urgent legislative action to address its potential harms. Our 50-state survey of proposed and enacted deepfake legislation reveals a complex regulatory landscape in which jurisdictions are adopting a range of legal approaches, including criminal punishments, civil remedies, or a combination of methods. We also find that legislators are frequently turning to tort-law frameworks to address the harms of deepfakes. This article explores the current landscape of tort-based regulations of deepfakes. In addition to providing an overview of the most recent legislative developments, we unpack and compare the various tort-law methods arising at the state and federal level. We further consider how lawmakers are modifying existing tort laws to address the unique concerns raised by deepfakes. While individualistic tort remedies allow victims of deepfakes to seek direct recourse through familiar private rights of action, our analysis also identifies practical and conceptual limitations with this approach. Traditional tort frameworks struggle to address key challenges posed by deepfakes, including anonymous creation, viral distribution at technological scale, and harms affecting both individuals and society broadly. In light of these limitations, legislators are innovatively adapting traditional tort concepts—such as standing, mental states, causation, immunities, and remedies—to address deepfakes’ unique characteristics. Yet the very need for these adaptations reveals some of tort law’s shortcomings and suggests a space for complementary regulatory approaches. We consider some potential approaches that could provide this more complete framework, like tort liability for entities that enable deepfake creation and circulation, and civil enforcement mechanisms that empower state actors to vindicate both individual and societal interests. Ultimately, our finding…

My new piece with @sonjawest.bsky.social is live in the Journal of Tort Law!

Our original 50-state survey of 466 deepfake laws reveals a complex landscape in which lawmakers are experimenting with novel criminal, civil & administrative tools to address deepfakes. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

🤓 Register to contribute to the #FSF40 #hackathon. The energy since the event in #Boston a few weeks back has been great, and I really see a bright future (with your help!) 👇
www.fsf.org/events/fsf40...

Tomorrow! Join us for Prof. Hannah Bloch-Wehba's (Texas A&M University School of Law) talk about: "How Tech Took Over"

📅 Thu., Oct. 16, 2025
⏰12:00-1:30 PM
📍Baker Hall 405

DM for Zoom details (ISP fellows only)

Rational Security: The “Don’t Upset the Masks” Edition YouTube video by Lawfare

On Rational Security, @sranderson.bsky.social, @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, @klonick.bsky.social, and @mollyroberts.bsky.social talked through the week’s big national security news stories, including the Trump administration’s peace plan for Gaza, the government shutdown, and more.

Our @profdiggity.com in @zdnet.bsky.social on #copyright and #AI

I recently spoke with @zdnet.bsky.social about the release of #OpenAI’s #Sora2, a tool that can generate lifelike videos from text prompts.

At this week’s Ideas Lunch, we had the pleasure of hosting @ariezra.bsky.social’s enlightening presentation on “Challenging Technology Expertise!”

Face verification is a serious threat to #privacy. There is a lot to watch these days, but please take this campaign by @fightforthefuture.org seriously! www.stoponlineidchecks.org

"Age verification" laws are actually "upload your ID or get your face scanned to access every website, ending anonymity and associating your identity with everything you do online" laws and if more people understood that they would not be down for this authoritarian nonsense

Privacy Lab

Starting off #Monday with a fresh new look 🤩 privacylab.yale.edu

We are updating all of our #ssd training materials to better approach the creeping #surveillance over our #privacy landscape. Stay Tuned! 📺

Let’s talk about AI and end-to-end encryption Recently, I came across a fantastic new paper by a group of NYU and Cornell researchers entitled “How to think about end-to-end encryption and AI.” I’m extremely grateful to see t…

I wrote a post about how AI will interface with end-to-end encryption. TL;DR maybe not so well! blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2025/01/17/l...

Unique 0-click deanonymization attack targeting Signal, Discord and hundreds of platform Unique 0-click deanonymization attack targeting Signal, Discord and hundreds of platform - research.md

Timing attacks on @signal.org have always been a possibility re: media attachments because of the use of a CDN. This does not mean #Signal E2EE is "broken" but is something users should be aware of. I'm glad we have a demo to point to. Super important for many apps. gist.github.com/hackermondev...

It's pretty damning that @Apple broke multiple wiretap laws and the settlement is *tiny* for a multi-trillion-dollar company. Hey #Siri, what does #privacy mean to you? psafe.ly/NKFkS2

You may remember that I have to teach con law this spring after a 2-year long break, and I've been planning to go full crit, and also close reading of full texts (mostly but not exclusively cases) on core themes of our conflicts past and present. In case you're curious about the final readings:

🙌

Day 1 - #retrorandom - So no one will be surprised that I've found a picture of a Dragon to kick off this year of random photos from my archives! There's a lot to unpack here too. What we're seeing here is a Dragon with both VGA (right) and an MSX2 chipset (left) ... 1/3

White House: Salt Typhoon hacks possible because telecoms lacked basic security measures The White House said Friday the Salt Typhoon breach occurred in large part due to failures at telecom companies to protect their systems.

"... the damage caused by the Salt Typhoon hacks, the breach occurred in large part due to telecommunications companies *** failing to implement rudimentary cybersecurity measures*** across their IT infrastructure. "

#pausetake9
#CyberCivilDefense

cyberscoop.com/salt-typhoon...

Thank you to Abdi Aidid for an inspiring talk on “Privacy's Prediction Paradox” at today’s Law & Tech Talk!

Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues in Digital Dermatology TelemedicineTelemedicine and artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence (AI) are expected to revolutionize healthcare. These digital healthcare services can contribute to increased access to quali...

Our Bonnie Kaplan publishes a book chapter about "Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues in Digital Dermatology"

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...