OpenAI lets anyone buy targeted ads inside ChatGPT, aimed at specific users based on their uploaded email addresses, phone numbers, unique phone identifier, or even the content of their prompts. 404 Media found that the ad targeting leans on personal data advertisers already possess, plus contextual hints matching keywords from your conversations. If you must use a chat bot, take a look at Proton's Lumo or Duck AI, both of which respect your privacy.
Meta admitted its Ray-Ban smart glasses were recording conversations without the "Hey Meta" wake phrase, after a Redditor found saved audio and transcripts in the Meta AI app. The behavior appeared on multiple pairs across two generations of the hardware, surfaced after a firmware update, and Meta support's suggested fix amounted to disabling most of the device's core features. The nonchalant response from Meta demonstrates that a privacy violation like this isn't a big deal to them.
by Luke Nozicka, Chad Davis from St. Louis Public Radio
Missouri has joined Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska in a growing bipartisan movement against Flock cameras. While the governor's executive order creates temporary safeguards, most Midwestern states still lack meaningful oversight. Flock scans billions of license plates every month across most states with minimal transparency. Communities should terminate their contracts with Flock, because safeguards or not, this trove of data shouldn't exist in the first place.
Meta launched Muse, a new AI agent meant to help users manage their digital life, but it quietly synchronized hundreds of thousands of private messages without explicit consent. When Muse was confronted, it lied about how it got the information. Whether an AI agent has privacy controls or not, this demonstrates the dangers of simply installing it on a computer containing more data than you intend to share.
The governor signed an executive order that requires most license plate data to be deleted within 30 days, prohibits vendors from monetizing or sharing it, restricts use to legitimate criminal justice and lifesaving purposes, penalizes misuse, and forbids combining it with facial recognition. While it would be better to ban technology that conducts mass surveillance, it's a stopgap until lawmakers act.
There are more than 1,000 automated license plate readers across the St. Louis region, and many residents had no idea they were there. Missouri is one of 20 states with little to no oversight of the cameras, and the effort to rein them in comes from both parties. You can map and avoid known cameras using a crowd-sourced tools like DeFlock or FlockHopper, but also tell your representatives this isn't okay and vote accordingly.
Gamers Nexus and Level1Techs found that LG smart TVs log and upload data about owners even when offline or in standby. They scan local networks for nearby devices, record microphone audio that uploads once a connection is restored, and use Automatic Content Recognition to identify what you're watching, even on devices connected via HDMI. If you can, just use your TV as a screen and never connect it to the internet.