This privacy digest highlights critical concerns surrounding data privacy. Key stories include the IRS accessing flight data without warrants, a lawsuit against San Jose’s mass surveillance, Google’s continued collection of Nest thermostat data, and the ethical implications of AI listening in doctor’s offices. Stay informed about these pressing issues to protect your digital rights.
Top 5 Critical Privacy Alerts
- IRS Accessed Massive Database of Americans Flights Without a Warrant: The IRS accessed a database of hundreds of millions of travel records without a warrant, raising significant privacy concerns. Read more
- Lawsuit Challenges San Jose’s Warrantless ALPR Mass Surveillance: EFF and ACLU challenge San Jose’s warrantless searches of ALPR data, arguing it violates the California Constitution. Read more
- Google is collecting troves of data from downgraded Nest thermostats: Google continues to collect data from early Nest thermostats even after turning off remote control functionality. Read more
- At some doctors’ offices, AI is listening in the exam room: Some doctors are now recording patient visits using AI, raising concerns about privacy and consent in healthcare settings. Read more
- New ShadowRay attacks convert Ray clusters into crypto miners: ShadowRay 2.0 hijacks exposed Ray Clusters to turn them into a cryptomining botnet, exploiting an old code execution flaw. Read more
Privacy Laws & Regulations
- CIPL Publishes Discussion Paper Comparing U.S. State Privacy Law Definitions of Personal Data and Sensitive Data: CIPL published a discussion paper comparing key elements of U.S. state privacy laws regarding personal and sensitive data. Read more
- India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 brought into force: India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules 2025, operationalizing the 2023 Act. Read more
- When in Rome, Make Your AI Do As the Regulators Do: Italy enacted a comprehensive national AI law to work with the EU AI Act, adding more details and specific obligations. Read more
Data Minimization & User Consent
- Google is collecting troves of data from downgraded Nest thermostats: Google continues to collect data from early Nest thermostats even after turning off remote control functionality. Read more
- At some doctors’ offices, AI is listening in the exam room: Some doctors are now recording patient visits using AI, raising concerns about privacy and consent in healthcare settings. Read more
Surveillance
- IRS Accessed Massive Database of Americans Flights Without a Warrant: The IRS accessed a database of hundreds of millions of travel records without a warrant, raising significant privacy concerns. Read more
- Lawsuit Challenges San Jose’s Warrantless ALPR Mass Surveillance: EFF and ACLU challenge San Jose’s warrantless searches of ALPR data, arguing it violates the California Constitution. Read more
- Surveillance tech provider Protei was hacked, its data stolen, and its website defaced: Russian telecom company Protei, which develops surveillance tech, was hacked, its website defaced, and data stolen. Read more
