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Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices Flock Safety, the police technology company most notable for their extensive network of automated license plate readers spread throughout the United States, is rolling out a new and troubling product that may create headaches for the cities that adopt i...

Surveillance company Flock is expanding their surveillance products to include eavesdropping microphones that supposedly detect "human distress", despite not revealing how it works: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flocks-gunshot-detection-microphones-will-start-listening-human-voices

EU Entry/Exit System: Everything Travelers Need to Prepare For The Entry/Exit System (EES) will replace passport stamps with digital checks, affecting visa-exempt travelers. Learn how it impacts your trips.

Starting next week, the EU is introducing it's new "Entry and Exit System" for all tourists, which will require them to submit biometric data in order to enter any European country with no ability to opt out: https://etias.com/articles/eu-entry/exit-system-everything-travelers-need-to-prepare-for

Ted Cruz blocks bill that would extend privacy protections to all Americans | TechCrunch The Texas senator blocked a bill that would have prevented data brokers from selling personal data on anyone in the United States, and not just federal lawmakers and government officials.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz blocked legislation that would have extended data privacy protections for federal lawmakers and public officials to everyone in the United States. Read more:
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/30/ted-cruz-blocks-bill-that-would-extend-privacy-protections-to-all-americans/

One of the great parts of having a support team of REAL LIFE HUMANS? We actually listen take your feedback seriously! That's how we arrived at offering unlimited aliases to every StartMail subscriber. You ask, we deliver...it's that simple!

EU fines Google $3.5 billion for abusing dominance in digital ad market The investigation, which spanned over four years, focused on Google's practices linking advertisers to publishers through various proprietary platforms, such as Google Ads, DV360, the DoubleClick for....

After a 4 year investigation, the EU recently fined Google almost $3.5 billion dollars for "abuse of its dominant position in the digital advertising market": https://www.techspot.com/news/109360-eu-fines-google-35-billion-abusing-dominance-digital.html

After investigating AI chatbots marketed for children, a child safety organization logged "one harmful interaction every five minutes," including instances of grooming, racism, hate speech, and encouragement of violence and self harm: https://heatinitiative.org/research-heat-initiative/

StartMail isn't just great for your personal messages! If you're sending any sensitive emails about your business, you DEFINITELY don't want tech giants scanning all of your messages. Our business customers LOVE the peace of mind knowing that their sensitive information is safe.

Meta sparks outrage by using Instagram photos of schoolgirls in ads for Threads Meta is under fire from parents after photos of young girls in school uniforms were reportedly used in ads designed to get users to sign up for Threads.

Meta recently sparked outrage when it used an Instagram photo of underage schoolgirls in an ad for Threads without their knowledge or consent: https://www.msn.com/en-us/education-and-learning/general/meta-sparks-outrage-by-using-instagram-photos-of-schoolgirls-in-ads-for-threads/ar-AA1MXS3D

Starting next month, LinkedIn will start training its AI on the profiles, resumes, and posts of its members. The good news is that users still have time to opt out... https://www.techradar.com/pro/linkedin-set-to-start-to-train-its-ai-on-member-profiles

Google Secretly Handed ICE Data About Pro-Palestine Student Activist Google handed over Gmail account information to ICE before notifying the student or giving him an opportunity to challenge the subpoena.

Google handed the account information of a student activist to ICE before notifying them of the subpoena or giving them a chance to contest it: https://theintercept.com/2025/09/16/google-facebook-subpoena-ice-students-gaza/

When it comes to privacy tools, our unlimited alias feature is literally unmatched. Let our CTO, Ronald, explain precisely why it's so useful and important...which is why we offer it to every single one of our customers!

Mexican Allies Raise Alarms About New Mass Surveillance Laws, Call for International Support The Mexican government passed a package of outrageously privacy-invasive laws in July that gives both civil and military law enforcement forces access to troves of personal data and forces every individual to turn over biometric information regardless o...

Privacy advocates in Mexico are warning about new laws that require everyone to "turn over biometric information regardless of any suspicion of crime": https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/mexican-allies-raise-alarms-about-new-mass-surveillance-laws-call-international

Microsoft's AI Chief Says Machine Consciousness Is an ‘Illusion' Mustafa Suleyman says that designing AI systems to exceed human intelligence--and to mimic behavior that suggests consciousness--would be “dangerous and misguided.”

Machine consciousness is an illusion. That's not our assessment, that's from the CEO of Inflection AI and the co-founder of DeepMind...and he has many more cautions for Silicon Valley: https://www.wired.com/story/microsofts-ai-chief-says-machine-consciousness-is-an-illusion/

Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching New documents obtained by 404 Media show how a data broker owned by American Airlines, United, Delta, and many other airlines is selling masses of passenger data to the U.S. government.

A data broker firm owned by major airlines is "selling access to five billion...records to the government" to help them monitor people's movements without a warrant: https://www.404media.co/airlines-sell-5-billion-plane-ticket-records-to-the-government-for-warrantless-searching/

A promotional graphic with a quote from a StartMail user that reads, "Excellent, easy to use private encrypted email. Can set up unlimited aliases for nft platforms, exchanges, newsletters, services, and enter notes on each one to keep it all organized. Can also create quick burners for sites where they need an email just to view or do one time buys."

Our unlimited aliases feature has got to be one of our most underrated, since there are SO many different ways to put it to practical use. Here's one StartMail user describe all of the different ways that they use aliases to protect their privacy and obtain a bunch of other benefits...

Software update shoves ads onto Samsung's pricey fridges Samsung's “pilot program” is likely just the beginning.

Samsung confirmed that it is “conducting a pilot program" to start forcing ads onto their Family Hub refrigerator models without giving users an ability to opt out: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/samsung-forces-ads-onto-fridges-is-a-bad-sign-for-other-appliances/

Backgrounder: Bill C-2 raises privacy concerns - Canadian Constitution Foundation TORONTO – Millions of Canadians could lose fundamental privacy rights as Parliament pushes ahead with Bill C-2, legislation that would give police and CSIS

Millions of Canadians could lose fundamental privacy rights as Parliament pushes ahead with Bill C-2, legislation that would give police and CSIS unprecedented surveillance powers without proper judicial oversight: https://theccf.ca/backgrounder-bill-c-2-raises-privacy-concerns/

No...companies aren't listening to you to figure out how to advertise to you. They don't need to. If they know what's in your email inbox, then they know more than enough to target you with SCARY precision. So WHY are you still using Gmail, Yahoo, or any other free spymail??

Proton Mail Suspended Journalist Accounts at Request of Cybersecurity Agency The journalists were reporting on suspected North Korean hackers. Proton only reinstated their accounts after a public outcry.

Proton Mail suspended the accounts of multiple journalists who were reporting on North Korean hacks. While the accounts have been reinstated, users still want answers of why these suspensions occurred in the first place: https://theintercept.com/2025/09/12/proton-mail-journalist-accounts-suspended/

No, Your iPhone Isn't Listening to You. But the Truth Is Even Worse If you want a monster, it's not a hot mic. It's more about shadowy presences lurking on the internet.

You may think that you were served that hyper-personalized ad because your device is listening in on your conversations. The reality is a lot creepier: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/features/no-your-iphone-isnt-listening-to-you-heres-but-the-truth-is-even-worse/

Silicon Valley enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China, internal documents show U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China's surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.

Internal records show how Silicon Valley based tech companies "enabled brutal mass detention and surveillance in China" by designing and building the software that powers it. https://apnews.com/article/chinese-surveillance-silicon-valley-uyghurs-tech-xinjiang-8e000601dadb6aea230f18170ed54e88

Top AI models fail spectacularly when faced with slightly altered medical questions Artificial intelligence has dazzled with its test scores on medical exams, but a new study suggests this success may be superficial. When answer choices were modified, AI performance dropped sharply—r...

New research indicates that top AI models' cannot actually reason their way through medical exam questions. When responding to revised questions, these same AI models "fail spectacularly". https://www.psypost.org/top-ai-models-fail-spectacularly-when-faced-with-slightly-altered-medical-questions/

*gravely voice* I'm in...

Let's hope that AI is as terrible at ransomware as it is at virtually everything else 😅

The first AI-powered ransomware has been discovered — "PromptLock" uses local AI to foil heuristic detection and evade API tracking [Updated] Hackers finally discover a practical use for local AI models

Hackers have utilized local AI models to create the first AI-powered ransomware, which runs locally. https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/the-first-ai-powered-ransomware-has-been-discovered-promptlock-uses-local-ai-to-foil-heuristic-detection-and-evade-api-tracking

Google to pay $425 million after years of improper spying on smartphone activity A federal jury ordered Google to pay $425.7 million for invading users' privacy by collecting data on millions of users who had turned off a tracking feature.

Google has once again been found guilty of "improperly accessing devices to collect, save, and use data of people who...protected their online activity with privacy controls": https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/google-pay-425-million-after-years-improper-spying-smartphone-activity

TikTok Shop Sells Viral GPS Trackers Marketed to Stalkers "If your girl says she’s just out with friends every night, you’d better slap one of these on her car."

A TikTok shop is selling covert GPS trackers and explicitly marketing them towards would-be stalkers who want to secretly track their romantic partners: https://www.404media.co/tiktok-shop-sells-viral-gps-trackers-marketed-to-stalkers/

Age verification legislation is tanking traffic to sites that comply, and rewarding those that don't So much for horny jail.

The UK and US's new age verification laws have started tanking traffic to sites that comply and sending far more traffic to sites that openly refuse to comply. https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/age-verification-legislation-is-tanking-web-traffic-to-sites-that-comply-and-rewarding-those-that-dont/

N-VA verzet zich tegen chat control: “Monster dat inbreekt in je privacy en niet meer getemd wordt” Als er in oktober op Europees niveau wordt gestemd over ‘chat control’, zal België zich op z’n minst moeten onthouden. Regeringspartij N-VA verzet zich namelijk tegen het idee om alle berichten van Eu...

Belgium's ruling party opposes the EU's controversial Chat Control bill, calling it a "monster that breaks into your privacy”. https://www.hln.be/tech/n-va-verzet-zich-tegen-chat-control-monster-dat-inbreekt-in-je-privacy-en-niet-meer-getemd-wordt~a84cb9ed/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2F