March 22, 2025

Privacy

cybersecurity Department of Government Efficiency Government & Policy Privacy Security U.S. Treasury

DOGE staffer violated Treasury rules by emailing unencrypted personal data

A staffer working for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) broke Treasury policies by sending an email containing unencrypted personal information, according to testimony from a senior government cybersecurity official in a federal lawsuit. Marko Elez, a DOGE staffer working at the U.S. Treasury, emailed a spreadsheet with unencrypted personally identifiable information to two Trump administration

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apple icloud backdoor challenge Government & Policy In Brief Privacy Security

UK’s secret iCloud backdoor order triggers civil rights challenge

The U.K. government’s secret order to Apple demanding it backdoor the end-to-end encrypted version of its iCloud storage service has now been challenged by two civil rights groups, Liberty and Privacy International, which filed complaints Thursday. They called the order “unacceptable and disproportionate” and warned of “global consequences” as the access order is thought to

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Apple e2ee Google gsma Privacy RCS Social

iPhone and Android users will soon be able to send encrypted RCS messages to each other

Text messages sent between iPhones and Android devices will soon benefit from end-to-end encryption (E2EE), after the GSM Association (GSMA) yesterday published new specifications for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol that include support for cross-platform E2EE. RCS is a long-standing effort to enable SMS-style cross-platform communications with richer features, such as group messaging, typing

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Apple iOS iPad iPhone lockdown mode Privacy Security

Apple’s Lockdown Mode is good for security — but its notifications are baffling

As a paranoid journalist, I am an enthusiastic user of Apple’s opt-in “extreme protection” feature, Lockdown Mode.  Apple launched Lockdown Mode in 2022, and since then the security feature is considered a must-use for dissidents in corrupt countries, human-rights defenders in oppressive regimes, and journalists speaking truth to power.  Lockdown Mode is designed to switch

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Government & Policy icloud backdoor order In Brief Privacy Security

Apple’s appeal against UK’s secret iCloud backdoor order must be held in public, rights groups urge

Privacy rights groups have called on Apple’s legal challenge to a secret U.K. government order asking it to backdoor an end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) version of its iCloud storage service to be heard in public, rather than behind closed doors. The existence of the order emerged via press reports last month. Apple went on to confirm

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