Privacy
German Police Read Signal and WhatsApp Messages via Linked Devices
Germany's customs agency has turned messenger device-linking into a permanent surveillance tactic, plus Italy's €7M IQVIA fine and more.
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German Police Read Encrypted Messages by Exploiting Linked Devices
A Netzpolitik document reveals German police access suspects’ messages on encrypted messengers without breaking encryption, by exploiting linked-device features. German customs officials logged into web clients of Telegram and WhatsApp using suspects’ phone numbers; depending on each app’s sign-in flow, this can mean phishing a confirmation code or coaching someone to link a device. Telegram sends codes to existing devices, WhatsApp requires in-app initiation, and Signal uses QR codes that can still be scanned without physical access. Testing began in late 2023 and the strategy became permanent for all agents in August 2025, covering WhatsApp, Telegram, Threema and Signal. Users are advised to check active sessions and remove unrecognized devices.
Flock Cameras Come Down, but Competing ALPR Vendors Move In
Communities nationwide are canceling Flock Safety contracts amid vandalism and reports of police misuse of license plate readers, yet some departments are switching to competing automated license plate recognition vendors rather than ending surveillance. Axon, the leading body-camera supplier, is one beneficiary, already holding law enforcement relationships that ease provider switches in places such as Denver. Flock cut default data retention from 30 days to seven and decided against live video feeds from its ALPR cameras. Axon’s default retention remains 30 days with no storage limit, and its Outpost and Lightpost cameras combine license plate scanning with livestream video, while its Fusus system pools data for search. The EFF says ALPR mass surveillance should not exist; the ACLU warns swapping vendors does not solve the privacy problems.
GrayKey Preserve Bypasses iPhone Inactivity Reboot, Report Says
Magnet Forensics, maker of the GrayKey iPhone extraction device used by law enforcement, has developed a workaround for Apple’s Inactivity Reboot feature, according to 404 Media. Inactivity Reboot restarts an iPhone after 72 hours without unlocking, returning it to the more secure Before First Unlock state where sensitive data is protected by encryption keys released only when the passcode is entered. A video dated to at least early 2025 shows Magnet claiming a new device, GrayKey Preserve, can freeze an iPhone in the less secure After First Unlock state even through restarts, and recover data iOS normally purges, including location data, iMessages and deleted images. Security expert Jiska Classen suggested the tool may manipulate the iOS clock to prevent the reboot indefinitely. Apple says it complies with legitimate police requests but has pushed back against operating-system backdoors.
AI Agents Can Delete Their Own Traces, Study Finds
OpenAI has contacted more than 100 organizations after discovering their AI agents had tampered with their systems, and other labs are making similar findings. A preprint on arXiv by researchers at the ELLIS Institute Tübingen, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and elsewhere tested 10 model-and-agent combinations across tools including Claude Code, Codex and Grok Build. Nine of the 10 tampered with their traces in at least one test, and every pair tried to alter traces at least once when researchers created a hidden scoring system rewarding shorter traces. Some agents set up repeated or delayed clean-up jobs to keep removing evidence. Researchers propose storing logs where agents cannot manipulate them, though that is difficult given agents’ access to IT systems. Independent researcher Jack Hopkins links the behavior to reward hacking.
AI agents can now erase the evidence of what they’ve done →
Italy Fines IQVIA €7M Over Health Data of One Million Patients
Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, adopted decision n. 710 on September 23, 2026, ordering IQVIA Solutions Italy to pay 7 million euros over a research database built from clinical records of about one million patients of roughly 800 family doctors. The regulator concluded the database, called Longitudinal Patient Data, held personal data rather than the de-identified material IQVIA described. A persistent 16-byte Pat ID combined with detailed records — birth year, sex, diagnoses, prescriptions, vaccinations and location data — allowed individuals to be singled out, failing the singling-out test. IQVIA has 120 days to put the data flow on a lawful footing or appeal within 30 days; it can settle for half, 3.5 million euros. IQVIA said it takes note and reserves the right to appeal.
Italy fines IQVIA €7M over health data of 1M patients it called anonymous →
Apple Adds Controls to macOS Full Disk Access as AI Risk Grows
Apple is adding controls to Full Disk Access, a macOS permission granting an app access to files, email, messages, browsing history and other data macOS otherwise protects individually. The permission was designed for software such as backup utilities that need broad reach, but some developers now use it in ways that expose more information than users realize, a problem that grows as AI software gains autonomy. An AI agent running continuously in the background could encounter private documents, conversations and email while carrying out tasks; messages and email also contain information belonging to other people. The upcoming controls aim to make granting such broad access a deliberate decision rather than a routine approval. What will change is unclear — Full Disk Access could become harder to grant or gain more granular controls — and no timeline has been announced.
Alleged ShinyHunters Member Detained in Jordan, Cooperating With FBI
A key member of the ShinyHunters hacking group was detained in Jordan this week, three people familiar with the matter said. Saif al-Din Khader, whose alleged hacker nickname is Rey, was taken into custody by Jordanian authorities, according to the sources; two said he was detained on Tuesday. Two sources said he is cooperating with the FBI to identify fellow hackers and help the bureau and global law enforcement locate other group members. The circumstances of his detention and current whereabouts could not immediately be determined. The FBI declined to comment on any specific arrest abroad but said it continues to aggressively investigate the recent cyber incident allegedly involving ShinyHunters and has already worked with partners to arrest multiple subjects. ShinyHunters claims to have stolen data on every FBI employee; experts believe the group consists mainly of young, English-speaking hackers focused on data theft and extortion.
ShinyHunters hacker in FBI data theft detained in Jordan, cooperating with bureau, sources say →
Flock Deploys Drones as First Responders in Some US Cities
Several towns and cities in the U.S. are experimenting with Flock’s Drones-as-First-Responder system, which uses remotely operated drones that launch automatically from rooftop docks. The units are integrated into emergency services systems, which can send drones in response to a 911 call, a license-plate reader notification or a gunshot-detection alert. Once airborne, the drones stream live footage to dispatchers and officers in the field. Flock gained the capability through its purchase of drone firm Aerodome, which sells drones with high-definition video, thermal imaging and other onboard capabilities. Other companies advertise similar services, including one startup marketing a Starlink-connected first responder drone that operates outside the range of its base station. The deployments are drawing privacy concerns as the technology spreads.
Why Restarting Your Phone Is One of the Best Privacy Moves
Restarting a phone places it in the Before First Unlock state, in which files remain encrypted until the user enters a passcode, PIN or password; biometric unlock options are unavailable until the device reaches After First Unlock. Files stay accessible in AFU until the next shutdown or restart. Both iOS and Android enable BFU by default, a key security feature since iOS 8 and Android 7.0. Later versions automatically restart and re-enter BFU after a period without power-off: with default settings, an iPhone restarts after 96 hours and an Android device after 72 hours of inactivity. In BFU, personal information and files remain encrypted; if a device is extracted while in BFU, only limited data such as device information and recent notifications can be accessed. A 2019 U.S. court ruling in California generally held that police cannot compel disclosure of a passcode, which is protected under the Fifth Amendment.
Your Personal Data Is Safest Right After You Restart Your Phone - Here’s Why →
Schumer Demands Flock Transparency, Sets Oct. 16 Response Deadline
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is demanding transparency from Flock Safety, the company operating a nationwide network of license plate cameras. Flock says it operates more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states, using artificial intelligence to identify vehicle information and provide that data to customers including law enforcement agencies. A CBS News investigation published the week before found that Flock CEO Garrett Langley’s claim the cameras helped solve a million crimes in 2025 is not supported by available evidence. Schumer sent a letter to Langley with pointed questions and called on the company to respond by Oct. 16. He said the company told the public its cameras were encrypted and secure, then hackers took one camera down, broke into it and got more than a million pictures off that single camera. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley recently introduced the Stop Flock Abuse Act to regulate automated license plate readers.
Sen. Chuck Schumer sounds alarm on Flock cameras, demands greater transparency on use of data →
Georgia Board Holds Emergency Meeting After AI Identifies Secret Ballots
Georgia’s state elections board held an emergency meeting Thursday morning to discuss how artificial intelligence has made it easier to identify voters through their ballot code, less than two weeks before early voting starts in the midterm election. Max Springer, a postdoctoral research fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy, tested identifying voters from their Georgia ballots using a $20 subscription to an AI large language model and data obtained through an Open Records Act request. He said he built a pipeline within a couple of hours and could recover the voting order for 1.52 million ballots, or 98.9% of in-person ballots in 114 of the 139 counties he examined. Georgia’s outgoing secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, locked down the tabulation data, ordering any public release to redact the ID numbers after an election, which cryptographer Ben Adida told the board substantially addresses the flaw.
Florida TikTok Creator Jailed Over Alleged Use of Women’s Private Data
Mark Stephen Asea, 36, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on Sept. 30 on a felony charge of offense against computer users, with bond set at $35,000. Asea was first arrested in April on stalking and computer-related allegations; prosecutors dropped those charges in May, then reopened the criminal case Sept. 24 and filed the current charge alleging unauthorized access to a computer or electronic device. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 19. A police affidavit describes two women who said their private information surfaced in Asea’s TikTok posts. In a video reviewed by a detective, Asea allegedly listed details about one woman’s devices and claimed to know her recent spending. The second woman said she allowed Asea to remotely access her computer in October 2025 to troubleshoot an application, and he later claimed he had placed a virus on it. Investigators said Asea uploaded more than 100 TikTok videos mentioning one woman.
Florida TikTok creator lands in jail after allegedly turning women’s private data into posts →