[ DuckDuckGo Privacy Weekly ] For Nov 26, 2020

• Six Reasons Why Google Maps Is the Creepiest App on Your Phone [vice.com]
  "Google Maps knows everything," says Sebastian Meineck. "Ask yourself how much personal data you’re willing to sacrifice [for] convenience."
  Side note: At DuckDuckGo, we offer a private mapping alternative (for business lookup, route planning, etc.).
• Facebook's Data-Tracking Tool "Centra" Might Collect More Information Than You Realize [distractify.com]
  Facebook tracks you — not just on its sites — across the *entire Internet.* Also: "[Facebook] Centra tracks different profiles that a user visits, their message recipients, their linked accounts, pages they visit around the web with Facebook buttons," says Senator Josh Hawley.
• U.S. Military Buys App Tracking Data From Private Services [axios.com]
  U.S. military (& very likely not just the U.S. military) is buying location data from companies. "Though legal, the purchase of these data tracking services raises serious civil liberties and privacy questions," says Zach Dorfman.
• How Private Is My Pay App? [themarkup.org]
  "Using a payment app of any kind always introduces a middleman: an agent that uses data to execute a demand," explains Sara Harrison, "not all apps treat that data the same way." If you use PayPal, Venmo, etc., here's how to keep your info more private.
• AI's First Amendment Theory Threatens Privacy – and Free Speech, Too [slate.com]
  Clearview AI claims using face data without permission is protected by the 1st Amendment, but Ramya Krishnan and Jameel Jaffer say "extraction of biometric data from photos scraped from the internet does not belong to any recognized mode of expression."
• Reclaim Your Face [reclaimyourface.eu]
  A coalition is asking EU citizens to petition for a ban on biometric mass surveillance, demanding:
  • Transparency into facial recognition
  • An end to discrimination and unfair treatment
  • End using the general public as mass surveillance test subjects
• How Do Biased Algorithms Damage Marginalized Communities? [npr.org]
  The coded gaze, Joy Buolamwini's term for algorithmic bias, "can lead to exclusionary experiences and discriminatory practices" on a mass scale. Watch her TED talk to learn about the dangers of this unseen force.

Proudly Private,



Dax the Duck
Mascot - DuckDuckGo

Follow us on Twitter
Learn about privacy on our blog