Tag - privacy

 
 

PRIVACY

A girl uses her smartphone as she walks her dog in Moscow on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
Online behavior under scrutiny as Russia hunts 'extremists'
Internet users who search for web pages, books, artwork or music albums that the authorities deem extremist will be fined under new legislation.
An Apple store in London in 2024. The iPhone-maker withdrew its Advanced Data Protection feature for U.K. users in February following an order from the British government to create a backdoor to encrypted user data.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 19, 2025
U.S. spy chief Gabbard says U.K. will drop data 'backdoor' order for Apple
The iPhone-maker withdrew its Advanced Data Protection feature for U.K. users after the order from the British government to create a backdoor to encrypted user data.
China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing on Telegram has shocked many in China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025
Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups
Sexually exploitative images of women were shared with hundreds of thousands of users on Telegram, with the scale of the sharing shocking many in China.
Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Satoru Tezuka in Tokyo on July 15
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 26, 2025
Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says
A law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
The National Police Agency will begin a trial run of wearable cameras starting in late August.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2025
Police in Japan to trial wearable cameras from late August
Officers will clearly indicate when recording is taking place using illuminated lights, stickers or armbands.
The Microsoft logo is seen at the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs in Hanover, Germany, on March 31.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2025
Microsoft rushes to stop hackers from wreaking global havoc
Unidentified hackers are exploiting a flaw in the SharePoint document management software to break into the systems of governments, businesses and other organizations.
Wreckage of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane on the open ground outside Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, where it took off and crashed nearby shortly afterwards, in Ahmedabad, India, on July 12
WORLD / Society
Jul 16, 2025
Air India crash and helicopter crash report rekindle cockpit-video debate
Advocates for cockpit video cameras say footage could fill gaps left by the audio and data recorders, while opponents say concerns about privacy and misuse outweigh benefits.
Foreign nationals applying for U.S. student and exchange visitor visas will now be asked to set their social media profiles to public so that they can be reviewed.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025
U.S. orders social media vetting for student visa applicants
The move steps up measures to restrict foreign nationals’ entry to American campuses over national security concerns.
A library on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, late last month
WORLD / Society
Jun 13, 2025
Foreign students scrub social media as U.S. expands visa vetting
Digital rights lawyers argue that the level of scrutiny that appears to be under consideration could set a dangerous precedent for digital surveillance in immigration processes.
A pollster for the national census leaves a note at a house in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in September 2020 after no one answered the door.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2025
Japan faces staffing challenges for crucial census
The pollster workforce is aging, while increased public concerns over privacy have led more residents to refuse to participate.
Personal data leaks involving My Number personal identification numbers reported under the My Number law climbed to 2,052 cases from 334 in fiscal 2023, according to the Personal Information Protection Commission's report adopted by the Cabinet Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025
Personal info leak cases hit record high in Japan in fiscal 2024
Personal data leaks involving My Number personal identification numbers reported under the My Number law climbed to 2,052 cases from 334 in fiscal 2023.
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal and learned about the recycling of the rare metals contained in them last November.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 6, 2025
Disposal questions arise as student learning devices need replacing in Japan
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal.
The U.S., U.K. and Europe are aligning with China and Russia in their efforts to undermine the encryption tools that millions of internet users depend on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025
Don't let governments break encryption
To convince the public that breaking encryption is necessary, governments often rely on technical jargon and emotionally charged anecdotes.
The proposal reportedly calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store communication records for a fixed period.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
LDP proposal would require telecom companies to store usage records
The proposal calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store metadata and usage records for a fixed period.
Vehicles wait in line to cross into the United States at the Canada-U.S. border in St-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, Canada.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025
Avoid U.S. travel or take burner devices, Canadian organizations tell staff
Employees have also been given advice on how to minimize information that can be accessed by border agents.
Demonstrators gather in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outside the agency's main campus in Atlanta on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
Volunteers on 'right side of history' fight Trump data purge
The Trump administration has gutted several federal agencies, fired tens of thousands of employees and altered or deleted thousands of government webpages since taking office.
A whirling dervish stands in front of Turkish anti-riot police officers during a rally in support of Istanbul's arrested mayor in the city on March 23.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2025
In Turkey, new technologies reinforce repression
People have been arrested in predawn raids at their homes after being identified from footage or photos taken by the police during demonstrations.
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, speaks during an event at the company’s campus.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 31, 2025
'Something is rotten': Apple's AI strategy faces doubts
Theories vary on why Apple is having trouble seizing the AI moment.
Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the White House in Washington on Feb. 11.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2025
Member of Elon Musk's DOGE team provided tech service to cybercrime ring
Edward Coristine, 19, is among the most visible members of the DOGE effort that has been given sweeping access to U.S. government networks.
An illustration shows avatars that will be created at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion of the Osaka Expo.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025
Errors found in Osaka Expo pavilion's privacy policy
The operator of the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion and a sponsor company are considering whether to correct a discrepancy relating to the handling of visitors' personal information.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past