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Beware, Facebook and LinkedIn Are the Worst Social Media for Your Privacy
Despite using social media platforms every day, we all know that they may be bad for our digital privacy — even if you’re using security software like the best VPN apps.
But how bad are they, exactly? This is what the team at Incogni, a data removal service provider, set out to discover.
After looking into the top 15 most popular social networks, researchers uncovered stark differences in how these platforms handle our personal data.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Facebook and LinkedIn came out as the worst when it comes to protecting our privacy.
Reddit, Snapchat, and Pinterest (in order) are the platforms representing the lowest risk.
Keep reading as I go through some of the biggest takeaways and some tips to boost your social media privacy.
California Schools Must Curb Student Phone Use under New Law
School districts in California will have to create rules restricting student smartphone use under a new law that the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, signed on Monday.
The law requires districts to pass rules by July 1, 2026 to limit or ban students from using smartphones on campus or while they are under the supervision of school staff.
Districts will have to update their policies every five years after that.
The legislation makes California the latest state to try to curb student phone access in an effort to minimize distractions in the classroom and address the mental health impacts of social media on children.
“This new law will help students focus on academics, social development and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they’re in school,” Newsom said in a statement.
How Google Made the Ad Tech Industry Revolve around Itself
Google’s mission statement seems made to evoke warm and fuzzy feelings about how its products help everyone. “Our mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” Google says on its corporate site.
The company used to have an even more saccharine motto: “Don’t be evil.”
But the decisions Google made in growing its massive advertising technology business were cold-blooded and carefully crafted to primarily benefit itself, the Department of Justice argued during the first two weeks of its antitrust trial.
The U.S. Department of Justice finished arguing its case-in-chief on Friday in a Virginia federal court, and now it’s Google’s turn to haul in witnesses, including U.S. government agencies that use the company’s products.
Linkedin’s 930 Million Users Unknowingly Train AI, Sparking Data Privacy Concerns
LinkedIn has thrust its 930 million users into an unexpected role: unwitting AI trainers, igniting a firestorm over data privacy and consumer trust.
The professional networking giant’s recent User Agreement and Privacy Policy update, which will take effect on Nov. 20, has caused concern in the business community.
LinkedIn admitted it has been using users’ data to train its AI without consent, and while users can opt out of future training, there’s no way to undo past data use.
This revelation has warned experts of growing tension between AI innovation and user privacy.
“Data is the new oil. When the data being sifted through contains personal information, that’s where privacy questions come into play,” David McInerney, commercial manager for data privacy at Cassie, told PYMNTS.
LinkedIn’s move could force businesses to reconsider their digital footprint, balancing the need for professional connectivity against the risk of compromising sensitive information.
McInerney emphasized the stakes: “A whopping 93% [of consumers] are concerned about the security of their personal information online.”
Ex-Gov. Cuomo ‘Inappropriately Influenced’ Witness in Text Message as House Probed COVID Deaths: Memo
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to “inappropriately influence” a top aide’s testimony during a congressional investigation into his administration’s disastrous mandate that forced COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, a bombshell new House document claimed.
Witness Jim Malatras said the 66-year-old ex-governor made him “uncomfortable” by calling and texting him as the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic probed the March 25, 2020 “must admit” order for nursing homes, according to new evidence in a subcommittee staff memo exclusively obtained by The Post.
The House COVID-19 panel revealed in a memo earlier this month that Cuomo had reached out to Malatras to “check in” at least once during the course of their investigation.
But in an addendum to that memo released Wednesday, text messages and a letter from Malatras show Cuomo reached out to his ex-aide three times since early 2021 — and always “within 48 hours of the Select Subcommittee taking a specific action in its nursing home investigation.
“This includes one action that was not public and only known by Mr. Cuomo and his counsel,” the addendum states. “The evidence in this Memo supports the finding that former Governor Andrew Cuomo acted in a manner consistent with an attempt to inappropriately influence the testimony of a witness and obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation.”
Massive Data Leak Could Mean One-Third of Americans Has Data Leaked Online
Researchers have discovered a huge data leak originating from background check firm MC2 Data, which apparently left a 2.2TB database online without a password, freely accessible to anyone on the internet.
The team at Cybernews says the data is said to have included the private information of 106,316,633 US citizens, almost a third of the nation’s population. As a background check company, MC2 Data held personally identifiable information on a range of people – including names, addresses, phone numbers, legal records, employment history, and more.
The researchers suggest the leak was likely caused by human error, as it contained the information not just of those who had background checks performed, but also of over two million users who had subscribed to M2C Data services.
