Stilgherrian

Australian government to set up opt-in blocks for gambling adverts, Meta in court again (again), France’s teen social media ban ruled unconstitutional, and much more.

Could 2018 finally be the watershed year, when the narrative shifts against the surveillance economy?Image credit: Daniel von AppenOur computers and smart devices don’t leak our personal data. It’s sucked out of them by an infestation of parasite…

Stories abound of people who mentioned a subject while their phone was sitting idle, then got bombarded with online ads about that subject.Image credit: Alexandre GodreauIt may seem like an urban myth, but plenty of people are convinced that Facebook…

So-called “session replay scripts” not only record everything you type, they track every mouse movement, and even what you’re looking at on the web — including personal information.Image credit: Glenn Carstens-PetersSometimes privacy fears are…

A new Crikey series, edited by technology writer Stilgherrian.Image credit: Andrew GuanBefore she’s even awake, Susan is under surveillance.Her sleep tracker recorded a restless night, the third in a row. In a database, somewhere, she’s flagged as…

How do websites and apps make you buy or sign up for things that you didn't mean to? It’s duplicitous, but all too easy.Online businesses want your personal data, and they’ll deploy every scam they know to trick you into handing it over — and keep…

"I think the journalism profession should push back on the use of the term 'metadata' by surveillance agencies. It's data. It's private," tweeted high-profile network engineer Mark Newton last Friday. Those who use the term are maintaining a fiction,…

Anthony Weiner. “About 13,900 results in 0.09 seconds,” says Google News. One photo of a man’s underwear-clad p-nis gets as much media attention as Syria’s entire civil uprising. I despair for humanity. And yet, upon reflection, it’s actually so very…