GoKawiil
Tech News
The Austin suburb's city council voted unanimously on August 25 to terminate its agreement with Flock Safety, cutting off access to its automated license plate reader system. City staff had already begun covering the 28 cameras installed around town earlier that day, ending a relationship with the vendor that dated back to 2020.
Leaker Kacper Skrzypek shared screenshots and video showing Xiaomi's upcoming Smart Privacy Display, a feature that lets users block onlookers from viewing their screen at certain apps or notifications. Unlike Samsung's hardware-based Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Xiaomi's version appears to be software-driven and is expected to arrive with the HyperOS 4 update later this year. Some related options, like Page Privacy Display and XiaoAI app groups, currently only appear on the China ROM.
A WIRED journalist filed data access requests with more than 100 companies under the California Consumer Privacy Act, seeking to see what personal information had been collected. Instead of providing the requested data, many firms sent deletion confirmations the reporter never asked for, or refused to honor the contact method listed in their own privacy policies. McDonald's, notably, returned a 515-page file detailing app usage and predictive behavioral profiling.
Proton's new report examined VPN apps available in the US and found that 64 are linked to Chinese companies, many collecting device IDs, network data, carrier information and even user location. These apps were downloaded more than 13 million times in June alone, and 31 relied on shell companies in places like Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK to obscure ownership. About a quarter of the flagged apps were found actively tracking location data.
Bluesky launched a new account-level privacy setting letting users opt out of appearing in the app's algorithmic Discover feed for people who don't already follow them. The toggle, found in privacy settings, applies to all posts at once rather than individual posts, and doesn't make accounts private since Bluesky has no private-account option.
A DuckDuckGo Research survey found that about one-third of people disclose sensitive personal details to AI chatbots that they withhold from friends, family, and doctors, with the figure rising to 56% among self-identified AI enthusiasts. Nearly half of parents surveyed admitted to telling chatbots things they've never shared with their own children or closest confidants.
Meta's settlement with attorneys general from 29 states, which includes up to $18 billion in payments and new child safety measures, contains a clause shielding Meta from COPPA-related lawsuits over its use of children's data. The exemption applies specifically to data used to build and test an age-verification model meant to detect users under 13, and Meta must build this system within a year of the agreement taking effect. The deal explicitly bars use of under-13 data for ad targeting or algorithmic optimization, though critics note enforcement could be tricky.
Meta is rolling out a software update that stops its smart glasses cameras from recording if the indicator light is covered after recording has already started. VP of AR Alex Himel confirmed the fix on Threads, addressing a loophole that had been widely shared in online tutorials for covert filming.
Basement, a well-known New York City nightclub, announced on social media that anyone wearing or carrying smart glasses, such as Meta's, will be asked to leave and could face a lifetime ban. The club says the devices' ability to secretly record conflicts with its existing no-photo, no-video policy meant to protect patrons' privacy on the dance floor.
The home of Flock Safety's chief executive has had its image blurred out on Google Maps and its listing obscured on Zillow, apparently after users flagged the address in response to privacy concerns about the company's surveillance camera network. Commentators note that such blurring requests are free and available to any homeowner who wants their property hidden from these mapping services.
On August 26, 2026, the US government added the volunteer-run Italian collective Autistici/Inventati—operator of the noblogs.org hosting platform—to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, citing its 'far-left' political orientation. The same announcement designated the UK group Palestine Action and the Palestinian movement Masar Badil. Autistici/Inventati, founded in 2001, provides free email, blogs, mailing lists and websites to roughly 16,000 mailboxes and thousands of independent projects, including anti-fascist researchers and cultural organizations.
OpenAI expanded its free ChatGPT for Teachers initiative to 55 more school systems across 20 states, adding over 100,000 educators and staff. The company now partners with more than 100 K-12 organizations in 30 states, offering free access and training to over 300,000 educators through June 2028. OpenAI also introduced a 16-state data privacy agreement giving districts a shared framework to assess the tool against student data protection standards.