StartMail

Amazon's latest acquisition is a $50 Fitbit-style device that never stops listening Founded in 2022, Bee gained attention for its $50 wristband, designed not just as a fitness tracker, but also as a personal digital assistant. Unlike traditional wearables,...

Amazon's latest startup acquisition is a wearable that tracks literally everything someone does: conversations, tasks, activity, calendar events, photos...everything. www.techspot.com/news/108771-...

Hundreds of registered data brokers ignore user requests around personal data Researchers in California contacted data brokers in their state to exercise their rights under the California Privacy Protection Act. Many didn’t reply, while others threw up barriers.

Researchers in California contacted hundreds of data brokers to exercise their rights under the state's Privacy Protection Act. 40% of them didn't respond, and most of the rest "created numerous hurdles"...
cyberscoop.com/data-brokers...

Meta says it won't sign Europe AI agreement, calling it an overreach that will stunt growth "Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI," global affairs chief Joel Kaplan wrote in a post on LinkedIn Friday.

Meta has declined to sign Europe's artificial intelligence code of practice, claiming that it's an overreach that will "stunt growth". www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/m...

A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data Personally identifiable information has been found in DataComp CommonPool, one of the largest open-source data sets used to train image generation models.

Researchers have found evidence of passports, credit cards, birth certificates, and other personally identifiable information inside a major AI training set for image generation. www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/18/1...

Meta investors, Zuckerberg to square off at $8 billion trial over alleged privacy violations Mark Zuckerberg is expected to appear as a star witness in an unusual $8 billion trial that kicks off this week at which the Meta CEO is accused of operating Facebook as an illegal enterprise that allowed users' data to be harvested without their consent.

Meta investors are suing Mark Zuckerberg and other current and former Facebook executives, alleging that they operated Facebook as "an illegal enterprise that allowed users' data to be harvested without their consent." www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Meta investors, Zuckerberg to square off at $8 billion trial over alleged privacy violations Mark Zuckerberg is expected to appear as a star witness in an unusual $8 billion trial that kicks off this week at which the Meta CEO is accused of operating Facebook as an illegal enterprise that allowed users' data to be harvested without their consent.

Meta investors are suing Mark Zuckerberg and other current and former Facebook executives, alleging that they operated Facebook as "an illegal enterprise that allowed users' data to be harvested without their consent." www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

A comparison table that reads FEATURES: Additional Users: StartMail - 25% OFF, Proton Mail - Full Price Unlimited Aliases: StartMail - All plans, Proton Mail - Only on $9.99 plan Custom Domains: StartMail 1 of Unlimited (based on plan), Proton Mail: Limited, only from MailPlus plans Migration: StartMail - ShuttleCloud, Proton Mail: EasySwitch 3rd Party App Access: StartMail - Built-in , Proton Mail - Desktop Only, Requires Proton Bridge Email Support: StartMail: All users, Proton Mail: Tier-based

A comparison table that reads SECURITY: Open PGP: StartMail - Yes, Proton Mail - Yes Supports E2EE: StartMail - Configurable for all recipients, Proton Mail - Only between Proton accounts Phishing Protection: StartMail - Yes, Proton Mail - Yes Password Protected Messages: StartMail - Yes, Proton Mail - Yes Two-Factor: StartMail - TOTP, Proton Mail - TOTP + Hardware Keys Jurisdiction: StartMail Netherlands (GDPR), Proton Mail - Switzerland (FADP)

When it comes to private email, there's one name we get compared to most often: Proton Mail. We put together a side-by-side comparison of the features we think matter most, to help you decide which option is right for you!

A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors Infostealer data can include passwords, email and billing addresses, and the embarrassing websites you use. Farnsworth Intelligence is selling to divorce lawyers and other industries.

A startup called Farnsworth Intelligence has started selling people's stolen data to debt collectors, divorce attorneys, and other shady customers: www.404media.co/a-startup-is...

What made us want to create the world's most private email provider? For Robert and the rest of our founding team, it began with a search engine. When they saw just how much data was being gathered on their users, it became abundantly clear that someone was going to have to prioritize human rights.

Here's how ChatGPT was tricked into revealing Windows product keys As explained by 0DIN GenAI Bug Bounty Technical Product Manager Marco Figueroa, the jailbreak works by leveraging the game mechanics of large language models such as GPT-4o....

Despite all the guardrails that ChatGPT has in place, the chatbot can still be tricked into outputting sensitive or restricted information. Here's how it was tricked into revealing Windows product keys, including one used by a major bank: www.techspot.com/news/108637-...

'I can't drink the water' - life next to a US data centre Residents in rural Georgia say the data centre next door has disrupted their water supply.

More and more data centers are popping up across the US, UK, Germany, and other countries...and they're poisoning the air and water in nearby towns and neighborhoods. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Study shows AI coding assistants actually slow down experienced developers The research, conducted by the non-profit Model Evaluation & Threat Research (METR), set out to measure the real-world impact of advanced AI tools on software development. Over...

A recent study showed that AI coding assistants actually slow down experienced developers. While these devs predicted that their assistants would help them complete tasks 24% faster, it actually took them 19% longer. www.techspot.com/news/108651-...

A quote graphic that reads, "I am thrilled with StartMail...It offers data protection, privacy, convenience functions such as alias addresses, flexible filters, encryption, account portability... WebMail... I definitely have to mention the professional, extremely friendly and competent support." -StartMail-User

To someone who's used to trading their privacy for an email address, the idea of paying for email might seem strange. You don't have to take our word for it when we say that you're getting more for your money... we let our happy customers do that for us!

Provider of covert surveillance app spills passwords for 62,000 users Creators say app is intended for parental monitoring. So why the emphasis on stealth?

The maker of a popular phone surveillance app has leaked email addresses, plain-text passwords, and other sensitive data belonging to 62,000 users... arstechnica.com/security/202...

Call center workers say their AI assistants create more problems than they solve A study carried out by researchers from several Chinese universities and a Chinese power company looked at what impact AI assistants were having on the plant's customer...

Call center workers say their AI assistants create more problems than they solve, calling into question just how many jobs that AI bots can supposedly replace. www.techspot.com/news/108547-...

Anthropic tasked an AI with running a vending machine in its offices, and it not only sold some products at a big loss but it invented people, meetings, and experienced a bizarre identity crisis It's all funny to watch an AI have an existential moment in a little experiment, but it's a stark reminder of the limitations that LLMs have.

Anthropic tasked an AI with running a vending machine in its offices. According to the company's own admission, the AI failed "in curious ways" that say a lot about the limitations of autonomous chatbots. www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...

Google hit with $314 million US verdict in cellular data class action A jury in San Jose, California, said on Tuesday that Google misused customers' cell phone data and must pay more than $314.6 million to Android smartphone users in the state, according to an attorney for the plaintiffs.

A California jury has determined that Google misused customers' cell phone data and must pay more than $314.6 million to Android smartphone users. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

The EU wants to decrypt your private data by 2030 The EU Commission unveiled the first step in its security strategy to ensure "lawful and effective" law enforcement access to data

The EU wants to decrypt everyone's private data by 2030 to ensure that law enfocement has "lawful and effective" access to data: www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-priv...

A person would still need access to your home Wi-Fi network in order to surveil you, so keeping that network secure and encrypted would be the key to protecting your privacy. 👍

Did you know that your home's wifi network can be used to surveil your physical whereabouts while you're inside? Now an American telecom company is attempting to market this as an exciting new feature: www.xfinity.com/support/arti...

We don't currently have any plans to integrate AI into our product, specifically because of this and many other potential vulnerabilities that we've been reading about. It simply isn't work the risk!

Google to Gemini Users: We’re Going to Look at Your Texts Whether You Like It or Not An email sent out to Android users should raise the eyebrows of anyone worried about privacy.

Google recently sent an email to Gemini users, stating that the AI will “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” This has privacy advocates extremely worried. gizmodo.com/google-to-ge...

U.S. House tells staffers not to use Meta’s WhatsApp Meta is pushing back against a ban on WhatsApp from government devices.

The U.S. House of Representatives has banned all staff from using WhatsApp, citing "a lack of transparency about WhatsApp’s data privacy and security practices".
www.cnbc.com/2025/06/23/m...

Android 16 can warn you that you might be connected to a fake cell tower Android 16 has a new "network notifications" feature that can warn you when your device might be connected to a fake cell tower.

In a bit of good news, Android 16 can now warn you that your device might be connected to a "fake cell tower" that's used to covertly conduct surveillance and steal your data: www.androidauthority.com/android-16-m...

Facebook wants to access your camera roll for Meta AI photo suggestions The intrusive request appears when Facebook users create a new "Story" on the app. TechCrunch reports that it's here where a popup appears asking if users want...

Facebook is now asking users for access to their entire camera rolls and the ability to upload any of its content to their servers on an "ongoing basis". But of course, they're attempting to conceal this fact by calling it something else... www.techspot.com/news/108497-...

Godfather malware is now hijacking legitimate banking apps — and you won’t see it coming First it was fake login screens, now it’s virtual instances of banking apps

A notorious banking malware that specializes in targeting Android phones can now create spoof versions of popular banking apps in order to steal your information and money. Learn more about how it works and how to stay safe: www.tomsguide.com/computing/ma...

ChatGPT's Impact On Our Brains According to an MIT Study The study, from MIT Lab scholars, measured the brain activity of subjects writing SAT essays with and without ChatGPT.

Using ChatGPT may harm your critical thinking, language, and learning skills, accordiong to a new study published by the MIT Media Lab. time.com/7295195/ai-c...

Bots are overwhelming websites with their hunger for AI data : GLAM-E Labs report warns of risk to online cultural resources

AI bots are now overwhelming important websites in their search to gather more and more data to train their models, prompting warnings from experts and site administrators: www.theregister.com/2025/06/17/b...

The High Stakes of Tracking Menstruation In this report we map the existing and future harms of tracking menstrual cycles by Femtech companies and suggest ways to mitigate the risks to individuals and society.

Researchers at Cambridge are warning that menstrual app tracking data is "a ‘gold mine’ for advertisers that risks women’s safety". "This data in the wrong hands could enable harms that go beyond reproductive health..." www.mctd.ac.uk/femtech-high...

There's a lie that's often repeated by tech companies and authoritarian dictatorships across the world: "you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide." Everyone has a right to privacy, so don't let tech companies shift the blame. Make no mistake: they're guilty, not you.