A weekly live podcast from Privacy Guides - We cover updates on what we’re working on, privacy news from around the industry, and anything our community wants to share.
Privacy Guides is a non-profit, impartial organization that is focused on delivering the best online privacy advice and building a strong privacy community.
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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...
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 a...
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 ...
Canonical has laid out it's plans to integrate "AI" features into Ubuntu Linux, Signal is working on a standalone desktop version, that doesn't require a smartphone, Greece is banning anonymity on social media and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #51 (00:00) - Intro (00:35) - Start of podcast (01:13) - Ubuntu's AI Plans have Linux users looking for a 'kill switch' (24:22) - Turkey to Ban Anonymous VPNs (28:17) - Greece to ban anonymity on social media (38:13) - CopyFail Most Linux Distros ...
This week we are joined by Carey Parker from Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons, Brave has announced a paid $60 version of Brave with bloatware and features stripped out, in the US - Nevada police are tracking phones locations without a warrant, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #50. (00:00) - Intro (00:36) - Start of podcast (01:16) - Brave Origin strips web browser down to its core and asks you to pay for less (20:28) - Maryland becomes first state to pass bill banning 'surveillance pricing...
We recently interviewed Carissa Véliz, author of Privacy is Power and University of Oxford associate professor, to talk about how predictive AI will make a ‘meritocracy’ impossible, how lifelike chat bots are designed to deceive you, and the importance of privacy in the digital age. Her new book, ‘ Prophecy ,’ comes out on April 21st. View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E00mNfH75qM Listen in your favorite podcast app: https://privacyinterviews.transistor.fm/episodes/predictive-ai-w-...
An independant privacy audit of Microsoft, Google and Meta has found that privacy opt outs didn’t have an effect, Cal.com has moved from open-source to closed-source, Netgear has been exempt from the FCC’s non-US made router ban, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #49. (00:00) - Intro (00:45) - Start of podcast (01:19) - Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit (18:05) - Sovereign Tech Agency funding (Mastodon) (32:45) - Cal.com is...
We recently interviewed Cindy Cohn, EFF Executive Director and author of her new memoir: “Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance” View on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PFv0ki3nDc Listen in your favorite podcast app: https://privacyinterviews.transistor.fm/episodes/defending-privacy-w-cindy-cohn-effs-executive-director The RSS feed for our audio interviews is separate from This Week in Privacy, you can find it at https://privacyinterviews.transistor.fm/s...
Microsoft is suspending developer accounts for key privacy tools like VeraCrypt and Wireguard, Employers are using your personal data to figure out the lowest salary you’ll accept, and more! Welcome to This Week In Privacy #48! (00:00) - Intro (00:45) - Start of podcast (01:09) - Microsoft Abruptly Terminates VeraCrypt Account, Halting Windows Updates (18:53) - Employers are using your personal data to figure out the lowest salary you’ll accept (36:51) - Site updates (44:01) - Little Snitch for ...
Anthropic’s Claude Code just leaked it’s own source code, ONLYOFFICE suspends Nextcloud partnership, LinkedIn scans your browser extensions, and more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #47! (00:00) - Intro (00:42) - Start of podcast (01:19) - Entire Claude Code CLI source code leaks thanks to exposed map file (18:43) - California bill would require parent bloggers to delete content of minors on social media (26:39) - Site updates (30:13) - ONLYOFFICE suspends Nextcloud partnership for forking its...
The US’s Federal Communications Commission has banned all foreign made routers stating their are not secure for use. Walmart digital price labels are coming to every store shelf in the US, Systemd has integrated age verification systems, and more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #46! (00:00) - Intro (00:37) - Start of podcast (01:13) - The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US (23:31) - Systemd's New Feature Brings Age Verification Option to Linux (38:11) - Site updates...
The ‘dark sword’ exploit affects over 220 million iPhones running outdated iOS versions, the FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, a Tennessee grandmother was jailed after an AI facial recognition error linked her to fraud, and much more, join us for This Week In Privacy #45! (00:00) - Intro (00:51) - Start of the podcast (01:42) - Hundreds of Millions of iPhones Can Be Hacked With a New Tool Found in the Wild (16:41) - FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confi...
European parliament MEPs vote to end untargeted mass scanning of private chats, is this the end of Chat Control? A new consortium wants to remove custom ROM hurdles with digital payment systems, and more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #44. (00:00) - Intro (00:44) - Start of podcast (01:18) - Historic Chat Control Vote in the EU Parliament: MEPs Vote to End Untargeted Mass Scanning of Private Chats (07:54) - Where are Jonah and Nate right now? (09:42) - Paying without Google: New consortium wa...
GrapheneOS has announced who their official hardware partner is, a new US Californian law is says all operating systems must have age verification, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #43! (00:00) - Intro (00:20) - Start of podcast (00:57) - Motorola confirms GrapheneOS support for a future phone, bringing over features (14:44) - iPhone and iPad aprpoved to handle classified NATO information (23:25) - Meta sued over AI smart glasses' privacy concerns, nudity, sex, and other footage (...
Apple is verifying user’s ages to download R18+ apps and games on the app store globally to comply with age verification laws, people across the US are destroying and dismantling FLOCK cameras, Firefox has a new “block AI” switch to disable AI features, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #42! (00:00) - Intro (00:21) - Start of podcast (01:17) - Apple rolls out age-verification tools worldwide to comply with growing web of child safety laws (32:24) - Open source registries don't have...
Meta plans to add facial recognition technology to their smart glasses, popular password managers fall short of their “zero knowledge” claims, Apple is testing end-to-end encryption with RCS in iOS 26.4 beta, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #41! (00:00) - Intro (00:20) - Start of podcast (01:38) - Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses (17:26) - Popular password managers fall short of “zero-knowledge” claims (31:11) - iOS 26.3 adds unique new privacy...
Discord is facing backlash after requiring all users to provide ID to access age restricted servers and channels, this comes after Discord breached 70,000 of its users government ID documents, Apple is moving to remove anonymous chat apps from the App Store, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #40. (00:00) - Intro (00:22) - Start of the podcast (01:23) - Discord faces backlash over age checks after data breach exposed 70,000 IDs (33:27) - Upgraded Google safety tools can now find and...
The FBI Couldn’t Get into a reporter’s iPhone because it had lockdown mode enabled, RAM shortages have hit Raspberry Pi prices, more countries are rolling out Australia style under 16 social media bans, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #39. (00:00) - Intro (00:23) - Start of the podcast (01:12) - FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled (21:12) - Notepad++ update feature hijacked by Chinese state hackers for months (31:40) - Site updates (4...
WhatsApp encryption is coming under scrutiny, French lawmakers are pushing an under-15s social media ban, TikTok’s privacy policy has gotten worse after it has been bought by American investors, and much more! Join us for This Week In Privacy #38. (00:00) - Intro (00:21) - Start of podcast (01:12) - Site updates (04:47) - Lawsuit Alleges That WhatsApp Has No End-to-End Encryption (19:04) - French lawmakers vote to ban social media use by under-15s (36:23) - UK Lords vote to ban VPNs for children...
Bitwarden is raising prices, Microsoft handed over encryption keys to the FBI, U.S. ICE agents are misidentifying people with facial recognition, and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #37! (00:00) - Introduction (00:22) - Start of Podcast (01:50) - Site Updates (04:42) - Bitwarden launches enhanced premium plan (17:02) - Predator Spyware Turns Failed Attacks Into Intelligence for Future Exploits (22:33) - Ireland wants to give its cops spyware, ability to crack encrypted messages (31:4...
Moxie Marlinspike has created a private AI alternative called Confer, Windscribe has helped form a privacy alliance, Threema got acquired by Comitis Capital, E2EE comes to RCS messaging on iOS 26.3, and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #36! (00:00) - Intro (00:21) - Start of podcast (01:10) - Site updates (05:57) - Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike wants to do for AI what he did for messaging (30:13) - Windscribe Partners with Kagi, Notesnook, Addy.io, and Ente to Create a Privacy-Focu...
Google is changing how they release Android Open Source Project code, California is introducing a way for people to mass opt-out of data brokers, cryptocurrency theft attacks are still being traced to the 2022 Lastpass breach and much more! Join us for This Week in Privacy #35! (00:00) - Intro (00:19) - Start of podcast (01:20) - Site updates (05:08) - Breaking: Google will now only release Android source code twice a year (22:12) - Italy Fines Cloudflare €14 Million for Refusing to Filter Pirat...
Happy New Year! Join us for This Week in Privacy #34! (00:00) - Intro (00:23) - Start of podcast (01:41) - Simon Harris says Ireland to lead EU drive for ID-verified social media (22:20) - France targets Australia-style social media ban for children next year (41:30) - Hacker claims to leak WIRED database with 2.3 million records (48:35) - Texas father rescues kidnapped 15-year-old daughter after tracking her phone’s location (01:00:37) - Trump administration removes three spyware-linked executi...
Happy holidays! Join us for This Week in Privacy #33! (00:00) - Intro (00:22) - Start of podcast (01:09) - Site updates (04:00) - Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet (23:14) - Pa. high court rules on Google searches without a warrant (40:15) - EU prepares ground for wider data retention & VPN targets (56:48) - Judge blocks Texas app store age verification law (01:11:38) - South Korea to require face scans for SIM cards (01:24:17) - Forum highlights (01:39:56) - Q&A (02:0...
This week's privacy update explores alarming legislative actions impacting digital rights worldwide, including bipartisan US efforts for age verification and Section 230 repeal, and the UK's Online Safety Act aiming to ban VPNs and implement device-level nudity blocking, raising free speech concerns. The discussion also covers the US legal battle against Samurai Wallet developers, Germany's expanded surveillance powers reminiscent of the Stasi, and Mozilla's contentious shift towards AI features. The hosts emphasize the importance of public awareness and advocacy against these encroaching privacy threats.
A man is being charged for wiping his phone before being arrested, India is considering enabling GPS tracking on all mobile devices, a remote code execution vulnerability is exploiting over 30 organisations and 70k IP addresses, RAM shortages are causing massive increases in RAM costs, and much more, join us for This Week In Privacy #31! (00:00) - Intro (00:22) - Start of podcast (01:47) - Site updates (05:30) - Atlanta activist charged with wiping phone before CBP search (21:46) - Australia ban...
Session Messenger is getting a major privacy & security upgrade, age verification laws are shifting responsibility onto App Stores, Apple rejects India’s government request to preload devices with a “cyber safety app”, and much more, join us for This Week In Privacy #30! ★ Support this podcast ★
GrapheneOS now has expanded desktop mode features in beta, X (Twitter) has been doxing user’s locations, Android’s Quick Share is now compatible with Apple’s AirDrop and much more, join us for This Week In Privacy #29! ★ Support this podcast ★
Welcoming Nate Bartram to Privacy Guides! Also: WhatsApp is rolling out interoperable messaging in the EU, Windows 11 is rolling out an AI agent that scans your files and folders, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #28! Nate has been publishing resources at The New Oil for many years now, and is the former host of the Surveillance Report podcast. We’re really excited about our plans going forward into 2026, and we shared a bunch of them in this podcast! ★ Support this podcast ★...
Firefox is rolling out additional anti-fingerprinting detection, Chat Control is back and is being pushed through the EU Government, and much more. Join us for This Week In Privacy #27! (00:00) - Intro (00:19) - Start of podcast (01:20) - Site updates (05:10) - Mozilla's Firefox 145 is heeeeeere: Buffs up privacy, bloats AI (13:15) - Firefox adds AI Window, users want AI wall to keep it out (25:23) - The wait is over: Android 16 QPR1’s source code is now available on AOSP (36:23) - The Disguised...