U.S. Privacy And World Privacy News
Trump Judicial Nominees are at the Center of Reviving the Crusade to Ban Medication Abortion
Make America Healthy Again Commission Cited Non-Existent Sources in Report on Children's Health
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' report
Trump Is Weaponizing the Justice Department to Advance His Voter Suppression Plans
Appeals Court Strips Voters’ Ability to File Voting Rights Act Lawsuits in 7 States
Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists to lead ethics agency
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/30/nx-s1-5417902/trump-ingrassia-antisemitism-ethics
https://www.commondreams.org/news/paul-ingrassia
IRONY: The State Department will ban foreign officials to punish countries for social media rules
Meanwhile states across the country are banning kids from accessing social media
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/28/marco-rubio-social-media-europe-00372280
US limits free speech more than the EU, says tech commissioner
ADL Regional Director Calls for Government-Regulated Online Censorship
https://reclaimthenet.org/adl-pushes-internet-speech-regulation-and-corporate-censorship
Fannie Mae to let Palantir Spy on American's Mortgages
Google AI is wrecking newsrooms
Texas Governor Allows Big Tech (Apple and Google) to Verify the IDs of Customers Accessing App Store
"While the law does state that app developers should delete the personal data provided by the app store provider, the wider problem is that users will have to trust that an app developer will actually do so. App store providers such as Apple and Google will have to retain sensitive data on its users. Supporters of the Texas law argue that app stores are uniquely positioned to serve as the central checkpoint for age validation. Meta, Snap, and X have praised the move."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/28/tech/texas-apple-google-app-store-age-verification-law
https://reclaimthenet.org/texas-mandates-digital-id-to-access-app-store-apps
Google to appeal online search antitrust decision
Libraries: the Frontline in the Fight for Abortion Access—and Against Misinformation
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/libraries-abortion-access
Trump family's net worth has increased by $3 billion thanks to crypto investments
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-family-net-worth-crypto-investments/
JD Vance and President Trump’s Sons Hype Bitcoin at Las Vegas Conference
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jd-vance-bitcoin-event-today-trump-administration-crypto-ties-grow/
Trump is taking self-enrichment to a scale never seen before in America
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/05/trump-golden-age-corruption/682935
DISGUSTED: Supreme Court Blocks DOGE Personnel and Communications FOIA Request
https://www.courthousenews.com/doge-wins-supreme-court-shield-blocking-records-release-to-watchdog/
Trump Appointees Blocked From Entering US Copyright Office
https://www.wired.com/story/us-copyright-office-trump-takeover/
Privacy lawsuit claiming Dotdash Meredith shared consumers’ video activity with Facebook without consent Is withdrawn
Trump Is Turning Our Consumer Watchdog Into a Corporate Protector
Courts Are Quietly Taking Over the Internet
https://reason.com/2025/05/26/courts-are-quietly-taking-over-the-internet/
19 Years of Elon Musk's Broken Promises
https://www.wired.com/story/theres-a-very-simple-pattern-to-elon-musks-broken-promises/
Jeff Bezos' Washington Post launches major newsroom clear-out
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bezos-wapo-gives-staff-ultimatum-as-it-pushes-them-out/
Paramount board fears settling with Trump will open Pandora's box on bribery lawsuits
The Self-Driving Truck Startup That Siphoned Trade Secrets to Chinese Companies
Facebook, Apple, Google and Netflix, PayPal hit by massive login and password data breach
LexiNexis data breach affected 364K people
T-Life app has screen recording on by default, T-Mobile claims its not a privacy risk
https://www.droid-life.com/2025/05/27/t-mobile-t-life-screen-recording-tool-turn-off/
Judge rejects claim AI chatbots protected by First Amendment
ChatGPT Defeats Defamation Lawsuit Over Hallucination–Walters v. OpenAI
Encryption breakthrough lays groundwork for privacy-preserving AI models
Researchers claim ChatGPT o3 bypassed shutdown
https://www.perplexity.ai/page/report-claims-openai-s-o3-mode-a6U22aiwRyqMD6Ixqk1FxQ
AI-enabled 'vibe coding' lets anyone write software
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/30/nx-s1-5413387/vibe-coding-ai-software-development
A Smart Toothbrush Caught a Man Cheating on His Wife
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the the University of Washington fined $11.5M for data breach
BayCare Health System and St. Joseph's Hospital fined $800K for violating HIPPA
https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-ocr-hipaa-agreement-baycare.html
Marlboro-Chesterfield Pathology Data Breach Affected 235K People
https://mcpathology.com/wp-content/uploads/MC_Pathology_BreachNotice_2025.pdf
Covenant Health data breach affected St. Mary Hospital in ME and St. Joseph Hospital in NH
State & Local Privacy News
VT- Hospital drug markups spark legislation, anger
ME- Lawmakers want to examine how judges are disciplined. The judicial branch says that isn’t their call
https://themainemonitor.org/judicial-discipline-lawmakers/
NH- ‘No surprise’ ambulance billing could be on the way for Granite Staters
MA- Bar advocates to halt indigent defense work over stagnant pay
MA- Feds are reversing many investigations into police, but Worcester remains for now
MA- Judge puts Boston Police Department on hot seat, warns of sanctions
MA- MBTA police sergeant convicted of helping cover up a fellow officers beating of a homeless man
MA- As ICE touts island arrests, Healey highlights ‘fear’ and ‘anxiety’
MA- Lawmakers urged to block library book bans
The bipartisan proposal, which is being considered by the Legislature’s Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, would, if approved, make Massachusetts one of only two states to effectively outlaw book bans because of “partisan or doctrinal” reasons by setting new restrictions on receiving state funding.Under the proposal, libraries would be required to adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which declares that “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation” or a similar policy.
https://archive.ph/BU8N1
MA- Trump’s cuts force the elimination of library access to academic databases
"The federal impact cannot be overstated. In Massachusetts, over 1,600 school, public, academic and special libraries from across the state benefit from federal IMLS funding. Millions of people rely on federally funded library services. Developing a plan for services in an environment of almost daily federal change has been challenging, but our goal has remained constant: to maintain services that are integral to the functioning of our system and heavily relied on by the people of the Commonwealth."
MA- Senate Majority Leader Wants to Limit How Many Miles Residents Can Drive or Drive at All
MA- Harvard University's US-funded defense projects totaled $180M in recent years
VA- As police reforms take hold, decertifications jump
IL- Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School
https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-bans-police-ticketing-students-school-price-kids-pay
IL- Mahomet police to get 12 Flock Safety License Plate Readers
MO- Supreme Court Defies Voters, Halts Abortions in the State
NE- State Bans Minor Social Media Accounts Without Parental Consent
ND- State to Require Age Verification to View Porn
CO- Governor Vetoes Bill Targeting Algorithmic Rent-Setting
https://www.commondreams.org/news/jared-polis-rent-algorithms
OR- Legislature Passes Bill Banning Sale Of Consumer's Precise Location Data
https://therecord.media/oregon-passes-geolocation-kids-data-bill
HI- State to charge visitors a "green fee" or climate fee
https://www.courthousenews.com/hawaii-to-become-first-state-to-charge-visitors-a-climate-fee/
World Privacy
Palestinian Refugees Flock to US-Backed Aid Centers Despite Concerns Over Facial Recognition Security Checks
IDF Opens Fire on Starving Palestinians at Privatized Food Distribution Site
https://www.commondreams.org/news/aid-to-gaza-strip
American Contractors Throw Stun Grenades At Gazans Outside Aid Site
New Israeli Law Allows Palestinians as Young as 12 to Be Imprisoned for Life
Israel approves biggest expansion of West Bank settlements in decades
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/29/middleeast/israel-west-bank-settlements-expansion-intl
Regula Unveils the Regula Forensic Studio Real-Time ID for Law Enforcement and Border Police
https://regulaforensics.com/news/regula-rolls-out-personal-data-masking-across-all-solutions/
Wealthy Countries Are Outsourcing Border Operations to Restrict Immigration
EU Pushes Metadata Retention Law, Reviving Mass Surveillance Despite Court Rulings
https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-metadata-retention-proposal-privacy-2025
EU opens probe into porn platforms over lapses in minor protection
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-pornhub-stripchat-xnxx-xvideos-goes-after-porn-platforms/
The EU digital age verification app launches in July
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-age-verification
Russia- Police arrest activists at letter-writing event for political prisoners
Russia- Government bans depictions of Putin as Adolf Hitler amid crackdown on dissent
https://www.thesun.ie/news/15292910/putin-bans-hitler-russia/
Hungary- 17 EU countries warn government not to use facial recognition to ID LGBTQ+ supporters
https://www.reuters.com/world/17-eu-countries-sound-alarm-over-hungarian-lgbtq-laws-2025-05-27/
Poland- Gov’t expands CCTV surveillance powers (facial and gait recognition)
https://centraleuropeantimes.com/polish-govt-expands-ai-surveillance-powers-2/
Sweden- Government expands criminalization and surveillance of sex workers
Greece- Government Launches Personal Citizen Numbers for the National Digital ID System
https://greekreporter.com/2025/05/27/greece-launches-personal-citizen-number/
Portugal- The Direção-Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais to use facial recognition to ID prisoners
https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/341838-2025
UK- Prosecutors collaborate with Israel to persecute anti-genocide activists as 'terrorists'
https://thegrayzone.com/2025/05/27/israeli-interference-uk-protests/
UK- Syrian dictator “would always be very welcome here”: Tony Blair
https://www.declassifieduk.org/syrian-dictator-always-welcome-here-tony-blair-said/
UK- Police facial recognition subjecting innocent people to “lengthy and aggressive” stops
UK- Police facial recognition CCTV cameras to become commonplace
UK- The NPCC Chair Gavin Stephens asked the government to commit £220M annually to expand facial recognition
UK- ICO reprimanded Greater Manchester Police for "losing" surveillance footage of a prisoner
https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/30/uk_data_watchdog_found_police/
UK- Big Brother Watch Files Complaint Against Asda's facial recognition
UK- AK Esports to use Creds facial recognition to ID drivers who compete in major sim racing titles
https://cheqd.io/blog/ak-esports-partners-with-creds-to-bring-verifiable-driver-id-to-global-racing-esports-competitions/
IRL- How Britain’s colonial cover-ups continued in Northern Ireland
https://www.declassifieduk.org/how-britains-colonial-cover-ups-continued-in-northern-ireland/
China- Government approves national online number ID or “Cyberspace IDs” for all citizens
http://www.china.org.cn/china/Off_the_Wire/2025-05/24/content_117892832.shtml
Hong Kong- Visa and ZA Bank launch "Click to Pay" facial recognition/fingerprint payments
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/visa-za-bank-bring-seamless-173033712.html
Taiwan- World and Rappi work together to expand iris scanning
https://world.org/blog/announcements/world-rappi-proof-of-human-verification
Thailand- Tencent unveils palm scanning payment system
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tencent-eyes-thai-market-palm-101400597.html
Vietnam- Government To Restrict Corporate Bank Access if They Don't use Facial Recognition to ID Employees
South Korea- Government Uses Meta’s Facial Recognition to Fight Celebrity Impersonation
https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2025/05/29/4WWFWSOHIRD35DR3CRJ5S7FFWY/
Iraq- The Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk have used facial recognition to ID 350K voters
https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/884721
Saudi Arabia- Police caught beating females in secret prisons families banish them to for years
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/saudi-police-filmed-beating-females-35313553
AU- Sydney airport to use IDEMIA facial recognition eGates to ID passengers
Canada- Equifax wiped out his credit score — and a little-known policy means he can't get it back
https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/equifax-credit-score-vanished-1.7542059