Category «Privacy»

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 28, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Scale AI’s Public Google Docs Reveal Security Holes in AI Projects; Judge rules Anthropic’s use of books to train AI model is fair use; US Official Claims DeepSeek Aids China’s Military, Evaded Controls; Who’s guarding the AI? Even security teams are bypassing oversight; and Financial deepfake scams targeted in bipartisan Senate bill.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Legislative, Privacy

We caught 4 more states sharing personal health data with Big Tech

State-run health care websites around the country, meant to provide a simple way to shop for insurance, have been quietly sending visitors’ sensitive health information to Google and social media companies, Colin Lecher and Tomas Apodaca of The Markup and CalMatters found. The data, including prescription drug names and dosages, was sent by web trackers on state exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act to help Americans purchase health coverage. The exchange websites ask users to answer a series of questions, including about their health histories, to find them the most relevant information on plans. But in some cases, when visitors responded to sensitive questions, the invisible trackers sent that information to platforms like Google, LinkedIn, and Snapchat. The Markup and CalMatters audited the websites of all 19 states that independently operate their own online health exchange. While most of the sites contained advertising trackers of some kind, The Markup and CalMatters found that four states exposed visitors’ sensitive health information.

Subjects: Big Data, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

3 years after abortion rights were overturned, contraception access is at risk

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated a nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states. The Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has vastly reshaped the national abortion landscape. Three years on, many states have severely restricted access to abortion care. But the decision has also had a less well-recognized outcome: It is increasingly jeopardizing access to contraception. Physician scientist Cynthia H. Chuang and sociologist and health services researcher Carol S. Weisman study women’s health care and policy, including access to contraception. They see a worrisome situation emerging.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Health, Healthcare, Insurance Law, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 21, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: How to Avoid a Huge Customs Bill on a Cheap Online Order; ‘No Kings’ Protests, Citizen-Run ICE Trackers Trigger Intelligence Warnings; 16 billion passwords exposed in record-breaking data breach, opening access to Facebook, Google, Apple, and any other service imaginable; How to Find the Owner of a VoIP Number: Easy Lookup Methods; and AI Chatbots Are Impersonating Students to Steal Financial Aid.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 7, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Deepfake Scams Are Distorting Reality Itself; Why does Amazon use palm scanners at Whole Foods and doctors’ offices? Crypto news: Why shocking and violent “wrench attacks” are going to get worse; Privacy Alarm: Meta Caught De-Anonymizing Android Web Activity; and When the FBI Has a Phone It Can’t Crack, It Calls These Israeli Hackers.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Government Resources, Privacy, Shopping, Social Media, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 31, 2025

On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Most AI chatbots devour your user data – these are the worst offenders; The US Is Building a One-Stop Shop for Buying Your Data; Digital Corruption Takes Over DC; A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations; and Cybercriminals exploit AI hype to spread ransomware, malware.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy

Safeguarding the Docket: A Roadmap for AI Agent Integration into Patent Docketing Workflows

Deadlines are everything in patent law. A missed deadline can result in abandoned patent applications, loss of rights, and costly malpractice claims. Accordingly, deadline management is one of the most important functions of patent docketing. Traditional docketing systems rely heavily on manual data entry, introducing opportunities for human error. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) agents (“Agents”) offers a practical solution to reduce these risks. Agents can extract deadlines from United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) communications, populate docketing systems, and even provide attorneys with regular updates on upcoming tasks. Agents create a highly reliable docketing system that reduces clerical mistakes and malpractice exposure and may ultimately lower malpractice insurance premiums over time when combined with human oversight. This paper by John Schulte outlines the potential benefits of using AI agents in docketing workflows and proposes an implementation roadmap, including three key safeguards for law firms to consider.

Subjects: AI, Legal Education, Legal Research, Legal Research Training, Legal Technology, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 17, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: License Plate Reader Company Flock Is Building a Massive People Lookup Tool, Leak Shows; Senators want TSA to scale back facial recognition at airports; How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, and Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups; Deepfakes, Scams, and the Age of Paranoia; Does One Line Fix Google?

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Spyware