Privacy
Meta hit with 43 million violations in New Mexico Cambridge Analytica verdict
A Santa Fe jury found Meta misled users over Cambridge Analytica, with penalties that could top $200 billion. Plus: Apple's new watch AI, PACER fees, and more.
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Meta found liable for 43 million violations in New Mexico data case
A Santa Fe jury found on Friday that Facebook deceived users about how it protected their data, including its response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Jurors found more than 43 million violations of New Mexico’s consumer protection law, tied to the number of affected users. Judge Francis Mathew can award up to $5,000 per violation, and the state will seek the maximum; Meta could owe more than $200 billion. The judge sets the penalty on 1 October. The trial centred on a third-party app that harvested data from up to 87 million Facebook users, later passed to Cambridge Analytica. Meta said it disagrees with the verdict and will keep defending itself.
Jury finds Meta misled New Mexico users over Cambridge Analytica →
Apple unveils Audio Intelligence for Apple Watch, with privacy safeguards
Apple announced Audio Intelligence features for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 at its 9 September 2026 keynote. The tools include Sound Recognition, Shazam-based Music Recognition, Live Rewind and Siri Recap. Live Rewind shows a text snippet of the previous 15 seconds of conversation when the Digital Crown is double-pressed; Siri Recap creates summaries of conversations throughout the day. Apple says raw audio is processed in the Secure Exclave on the Watch and iPhone, then deleted, with an encrypted condensed version sent to Private Cloud Compute and deleted after seven days unless saved. The features are opt-in, unavailable to under-13s, and will not initially launch in the EU.
Study: one day of privacy policies tops Shakespeare’s complete works
A Web3 Foundation study modelled UK and US households and examined privacy documents linked to phones, televisions, wearables, banks, schools, cars and cameras encountered in an ordinary day. For the model UK family, researchers identified 257 relevant policies, terms and notices containing almost 1.2 million words, requiring around 83 hours to read, or about 34 per cent more text than Shakespeare’s complete works. The family could appear on camera between 90 and 260 times in a single modelled day. Researchers examined documents from 143 organisations; 83 per cent described possible use of personal data for marketing or advertising, and at least 24 per cent mentioned using data to train AI or machine-learning systems.
PACER fees far exceed court system costs as modernization stalls
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced in June it was temporarily raising search and download fees for the PACER database. The judiciary says the extra revenue will cover a long-awaited modernization estimated at $700 million to $800 million over six years, spurred by two serious data breaches. Under the E-Government Act of 2002, the judiciary should collect only enough to cover maintenance, yet PACER takes in about $145 million annually against roughly $3 million in operating costs. It charges 10 cents per page, with a $3 cap and no charge if a user’s quarterly bill is under $15. The Open Courts Act, reintroduced this year, would eliminate the paywall.
Federal courts are running a surplus charging for public records →
Microsoft tests Cloud Rebuild recovery for Windows 11
Microsoft is developing Cloud Rebuild, a recovery feature for Windows 11 that reinstalls the operating system directly from the cloud as part of the Windows Recovery Environment. In an emergency, the computer downloads installation files from the internet and automatically sets up Windows, including the right drivers, removing the need for a USB stick. Cloud Rebuild can also clean drives before reinstallation, making it harder to recover deleted data than a normal reset. The feature targets businesses too: IT departments will be able to start recovery remotely, choose the Windows version and trigger a full reinstallation with data deletion. It is still in testing within the Windows Insider Program.