A new report reveals that EU and US spy agencies are spending millions on commercially available personal data for surveillance purposes. This practice, known as AdInt, uses data collected by the advertising industry to track individuals' locations, preferences, and communication patterns.
Kee Wah Bakery in Hong Kong suffered a ransomware attack on its internal network, potentially exposing employee, customer, and business partner data. The privacy watchdog is investigating the risk of a data leak, while the bakery engages cybersecurity experts.
Hong Kong's privacy watchdog has launched the Hong Kong International Data Privacy Academy to train privacy professionals and align with the city's goal of becoming an international talent hub. The academy will offer seminars, workshops, and expert dialogues, addressing AI and new technology challenges.
The Agirc-Arrco pension scheme is alerting the public to a rise in fraudulent communications, including SMS, calls, and emails, that impersonate the organization to steal personal data. These scams often involve commercial offers unrelated to the pension scheme.
Visual Arts, the company behind the game brand "Key," announced on June 4th that personal information, including customer names, addresses, and supplier My Numbers, may have been leaked due to unauthorized access. The leak was discovered after master data for the new game "anemoi" was found on an overseas site.
Google Labs has launched Dreambeans, an AI-powered app for iOS and Android that generates personalized lifestyle suggestions based on user data from Google services like Gmail, Calendar, and Photos. The app aims to provide curated, AI-illustrated stories to inspire users and combat doomscrolling.
A restaurant owner in Hualien was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years, for illegally using personal data and defaming a performer. The owner posted a video of the performer kissing a female customer, along with personal photos and defamatory remarks, on social media out of revenge.
Urasoe City, Okinawa, reported the theft of 83 business laptops, with 3 containing citizen personal information. While 47 have been recovered, no data leakage or misuse has been confirmed. The incident is suspected to be for resale by a contractor employee.
Almerys, a health insurance third-party payment specialist, confirmed a cyberattack on its claims processing site (PEC), exposing personal data including social security numbers of beneficiaries. The company has taken immediate measures, including closing the affected site, and is working on temporary solutions.
Three brothers, including two active-duty army sergeants, have been indicted for illegally obtaining and using soldiers' personal information to scalp tickets for popular concerts and sporting events, amassing over NT$20.43 million in illicit gains. Authorities seized over NT$20.79 million in assets, including 36 tickets for a sold-out G.E.M. concert.
Hong Kong's privacy commissioner criticizes Canvas owner for paying ransom to hackers who stole 9,000 institutions' data, advising cybersecurity investment instead.
A global data leak involving learning platform Canvas has exposed the personal information of more than 72,000 students and staff across Hong Kong educational institutions, with authorities warning of further threats targeting those affected. As of Tuesday, seven local educational institutions had reported data breaches to the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, including major universities such as the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Polytechnic University and City...
According to Pavel Durov, the French authorities are illegally collecting personal data, processing it without proper security, extracting data from automated systems, and violating the secrecy of electronic communications
French prosecutors are seeking charges against Elon Musk and his social platform X for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok. The Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it has opened an investigation into X on charges including complicity in possessing and distributing child sexual abuse images, unlawfully collecting personal data and without...
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas argues the iPhone cannot be disrupted by AI due to three key advantages: its role as a 'digital passport' storing personal data, Apple's custom Silicon chip advantage enabling local AI processing, and strong ecosystem lock-in with proven security and privacy reputation. Speaking on the This Week in AI podcast, Srinivas said these factors are 'really underrated.'
JetBlue is facing a proposed class action lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court alleging the airline uses customers' personal data and trackers to dynamically set ticket prices, potentially violating federal anti-wiretapping law and New York state consumer protection laws. The lawsuit followed an April 18 X post where a passenger complained about a $230 ticket increase, to which JetBlue incorrectly suggested clearing cache and cookies. Two Democratic lawmakers have also requested information from JetBlue about whether it uses personal data to set prices.
Eurail, the Dutch company selling Interrail passes, suffered a data breach in December exposing personal data of over 300,000 European travelers. This week Eurail revealed that stolen data including passport numbers, names, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses and dates of birth is being offered for sale on the dark web, with a sample published on Telegram. Affected customers in the UK and Denmark are being told to cancel and replace their passports at personal expense, with UK replacement costing £102 and Danish over £200. Customers are demanding compensation under GDPR Article 82.
A ransomware attack on the Yau Yat Chuen Garden City Club has exposed the personal data of over 9,000 individuals. Hong Kong's privacy commissioner cited outdated software and poor security practices as the primary causes of the breach.
Nicholas Moore hacked into three U.S. government networks using stolen credentials, and then bragged about it and posted victims' personal data on Instagram under the handle @ihackedthegovernment.
Booking.com confirmed a data breach where hackers may have accessed personal customer data, including names, emails, and booking details. The company notified affected customers and stated financial information was not compromised.
