[ DuckDuckGo Privacy Weekly ] For Feb 18, 2021

• Why You Should Care About Data Privacy Even If You Have "Nothing to Hide" [vox.com]
  "For years, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms have pushed content on their users that their algorithms tell them those users will want to see, based on the data they have about their users. […] You’re not looking for that content; it’s looking for you." Sara Morrison explains why data tracking has far more nefarious purposes than just ads.
• Here's a Way to Learn If Facial Recognition Systems Used Your Photos [nytimes.com]
  A new tool (exposing.ai) can uncover whether Flickr photos have been used to build facial recognition tech. Cade Metz and Kashmir Hill say the goal is "that companies and government will develop new norms, policies and laws that prevent mass collection of personal data."
• The Companies in Control of Our Secret Identities [privacyinternational.org]
  "Your personal information can indeed be gathered, cross-referenced and processed to profile you by companies you've never heard of. Using the data they collect about you, these companies can infer even more information about your interests, habits, goals, and fears, with variable accuracy."
  Take back your privacy: duckduckgo.com/app
• Who's Tracking the Health Trackers? [politico.com]
  Think twice before sharing personal details with health apps. They're often not as trustworthy as they appear, and "there’s little in the law to stop those app makers from sharing personal data with marketers," say Mohana Ravindranath and Katy Murphy.

Our Thoughts

• EDPS Opinions on the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act [europa.eu]
  Following the European Parliament's lead, we support European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the EU's data protection authority, in calling for a "ban on online targeted advertising based on pervasive tracking and [to] restrict the categories of data that can be processed for such advertising methods."

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