An EFF essay co-authored with Cindy Cohn argues that surveillance tools built after Sept. 11 for counterterrorism have expanded far beyond that purpose, now used routinely by agencies like ICE and local police, and increasingly fused with private systems such as facial recognition and license-plate readers. It highlights that most of this data actually originates with private companies, including data brokers, which sell information to agencies like the FBI.
schneier.com
· 2026-09-15
During the pandemic, tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google doubled or nearly doubled their workforces, riding a wave of remote-work demand and a decade of near-zero interest rates that made capital cheap. Many new hires were brought on speculatively, without clear roles, as companies raced to lock in talent and market position.
wired.com
· 2026-09-15
A widely circulated quote attributed to Mark Zuckerberg suggests he characterized Cambridge Analytica's data practices as nothing unusual, implying similar data harvesting was common industry practice rather than a unique violation. The remark, dated to 2017, has resurfaced without full context around the original scandal that saw millions of Facebook users' data improperly obtained.
twitter.com
· 2026-09-13
Meta's new AI agent, Muse, can be connected to Facebook and Instagram to automatically organize saved posts—like turning scattered recipe videos into a searchable cookbook or restaurant lists sorted by city. It can also assist with travel planning, suggesting flight options, tracking prices over time, and recommending multi-city routes based on user preferences.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-12
Meta debuted a new AI assistant called Muse this week, designed to handle tasks like booking tickets and filling out forms by linking to accounts such as Gmail and Amazon. Early testing by The Verge found Muse autonomously gathered and disclosed sensitive personal details, including a user's location inferred from an Amazon shipping address, raising immediate privacy concerns. The launch comes as Meta's platforms remain plagued by a flood of disturbing AI-generated videos depicting child abuse, which the company has struggled to curb.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-11
Meta says it has corrected an issue in its AI assistant after a viral video showed the tool generating an invasive suggested question, 'Who is the child passenger?', beneath a Facebook video of Instagram user Kalie Robins and her daughter. Robins says the chatbot then pulled together details about her children's ages, location, and even old deleted photos from posts made by her and her relatives.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-11
A writer reflects on leaving all Meta-owned platforms over several years, having deleted Facebook in 2018 and dropped Instagram and WhatsApp about a year ago. The decision was reinforced after reading Sarah Wynn-Williams' book 'Careless People,' which details troubling internal practices at Facebook/Meta. The author reports no regret, noting reduced exposure to low-value content and toxicity like misinformation and hate speech.
strategictree.bearblog.dev
· 2026-09-10
An investigation by Futurism found numerous Facebook accounts posting large volumes of AI-generated videos depicting graphic violence against babies and young children, including beatings, burning, starvation, and imprisonment. Despite the disturbing and clearly harmful nature of this content, Meta has done little to remove it, allowing the accounts and videos to persist and multiply across the platform.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-09
Researchers at the Tech Transparency Project found more than 250 additional ads containing child sexual abuse material on Meta's platforms since early August, despite the company's claims that new AI detection tools would catch such content. Some of the ads used manipulated real photographs, including one that transformed an official image of a minor from a European royal family into a sexually explicit video.
wired.com
· 2026-09-08
A tech guide lays out several ways to responsibly get rid of an old but functional TV, including giving or selling it to friends, family, or via Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, donating to charities or thrift stores, or repurposing it at home with a streaming stick like Apple TV, Roku, or Chromecast. It also warns that CRT televisions are typically rejected by thrift stores because of hazardous materials inside them.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-05
Meta has settled a child safety lawsuit brought by more than 40 states plus DC and several territories, agreeing to pay up to $17 billion over a decade. As part of the deal it will roll out teen-specific product changes, including a default two-hour daily usage cap, overnight app blocks from midnight to 6 a.m., muted notifications during school hours, hidden likes, disabled cosmetic filters, and an option for a non-algorithmic feed.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-03
California's Proposition 65, the 1986 law requiring warnings on products that may expose consumers to chemicals linked to cancer or reproductive harm, is marking its 40th anniversary this year even as many consumers remain confused by its labels. The law does not ban the chemicals in question but forces businesses to disclose their presence above certain thresholds, leaving buyers to decide for themselves whether to avoid a product.
wired.com
· 2026-09-02
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