Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

In the final part of my series on downloading all of your historical emails from the cloud, we’ll make backups of your archive and make sure we store them in multiple places, following the 3-2-1 backup rule. I’ll also tell you about an interesting open source email archive project that you might find interesting. In the news: the FCC wants to kill burner phones; the WeedHack malware targets Minecraft players; a new surveillance company wants to add personal radio IDs to our license plate reader data; Apple debuts new parental controls; a 17-million-device botnet has been dismantled; Slate Auto has a cheap new EV that’s got some great privacy features; Meta quickly deletes facial recognition features from smart glasses; FISA Section 702 is allowed to lapse; Signal alums reveal “Encrypted Spaces” tech for encrypted group collaboration. Article Links FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs: https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids Teens are using $5 WeedHack malware to target Minecraft players: https://mashable.com/tech/minecraft-weedhack-malware-as-a-service-report This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers: https://www.404media.co/this-company-will-add-phone-airpod-and-smartwatch-trackers-to-license-plate-readers Apple’s new parental controls are for keeping Apple out of trouble: https://www.theverge.com/policy/946331/apple-parental-controls-child-accounts-wwdc Botnet of more than 17 million devices dismantled: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/05/botnet-of-more-than-17-million-devices-dismantled Slate Auto gets serious about privacy for its bare-bones EV pickup: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/slate-says-its-electric-pickup-will-never-track-you Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report: https://www.wired.com/story/meta-removes-face-recognition-code-meta-ai-app-smart-glasses US surveillance law to expire for first time after lawmakers reject Trump’s controversial pick to lead spy agencies: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/12/us-spy-law-to-expire-for-first-time-after-lawmakers-reject-trumps-controversial-pick-to-lead-spy-agencies Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps: https://www.wired.com/story/signal-alums-release-encrypted-spaces-a-new-system-for-building-private-collaboration-apps Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/backup-your-email-archive/ Further Info FCC, submit comment (docket # 17-59 and 02-278): https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express Slate Truck: https://www.slate.auto/en My book: https://fdsd.me/book My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Table of Contents 0:00:08: Intro 0:01:32: News preview 0:03:36: FCC wants to ban burner phones 0:11:20: Teens using $5 WeedHack malware 0:17:23: ALPRs gain device tracking 0:22:39: Apple’s new child safety features 0:30:47: Botnet with 17M bots disabled 0:36:30: New Slate EV has no tracking 0:47:01: FISA Section 702 lapses 0:55:47: Secure Spaces for secure collaboration 1:02:12: Tip of the Week 1:07:51: Patron podcast preview 1:08:22: Looking ahead

The latest craze with artificial intelligence is agentic AI – exhibited most recently in the viral AI project called ClawdBot… or Moltbot… or OpenClaw. (The name has changed two times in less than a week.) You download this software, give it access to your AI chatbot accounts, and then give it full and complete access to your computer and online accounts. Why? So you can have an all-powerful assistant who can do real things in the real world as if they were you! What could go wrong? In other news: a new lawsuit claims Meta can read all your WhatsApp messages; an AI toy exposed chat transcripts of their toddler owners; another AI app leaks millions of private conversations; TikTok’s new terms of service are very scary; the US wants visitors to fork over tons of personal info; UK officials were hit by Volt Typhoon; the UK wants to increase facial recognition in public places; the FBI failed to unlock journalist’s iPhone with Lockdown Mode enabled; Google adds cool anti-theft features; CA town disables Flock cameras; Google cripples home proxy network; and Firefox adds one toggle to disable AI features. Article Links WhatsApp Encryption, a Lawsuit, and a Lot of Noise https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2026/02/02/whatsapp-encryption-a-lawsuit-and-a-lot-of-noise/ An AI Toy Exposed 50,000 Logs of Its Chats With Kids to Anyone With a Gmail Account https://www.wired.com/story/an-ai-toy-exposed-50000-logs-of-its-chats-with-kids-to-anyone-with-a-gmail-account/ Massive AI Chat App Leaked Millions of Users Private Conversations https://www.404media.co/massive-ai-chat-app-leaked-millions-of-users-private-conversations/ TikTok’s New Terms of Service Has Raised Alarm Bells https://lifehacker.com/tech/tiktoks-new-ownership-tos-concerns The Trump Administration wants your DNA and social media https://www.privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/5713/trump-administration-wants-your-dna-and-social-media Hackers suspected of spying on UK officials’ calls for years https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/27/chinalinked_hackers_accused_of_yearslong/ Police to get 40 new live facial recognition vans and AI help in sweeping reforms https://news.sky.com/story/facial-recognition-technology-to-be-rolled-out-nationally-and-police-will-get-ai-support-13499172 FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled https://www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-get-into-wapo-reporters-iphone-because-it-had-lockdown-mode-enabled/ Google Just Updated These Android Theft Protection Features https://lifehacker.com/tech/google-just-updated-these-android-theft-protection-features California city turns off Flock cameras after company shared data without authorization https://therecord.media/california-city-turns-off-flock-cameras-unauthorized-sharing Google cripples IPIDEA proxy network abused by crims https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/google_ipidea_crime_network/ Mozilla Adds One-Click Option to Disable Generative AI Features in Firefox https://thehackernews.com/2026/02/mozilla-adds-one-click-option-to.html Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/agents-of-misfortune/  Further Info TikTok’s Real Privacy Risks: https://internetsafetylabs.org/blog/research/tiktoks-real-privacy-risks/  Private TikTok viewer: https://sticktock.com/  EFF’s Atlas of Surveillance: https://www.atlasofsurveillance.org/  DeFlock: https://deflock.org/  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:51: News rundown 0:02:51: WhatsApp encryption questioned 0:11:34: AI toy’s logs exposed 0:16:17: AI app leaks user data 0:19:27: TikTok gets worse for privacy 0:23:52: US demands more visitor data 0:30:41: UK hit by Salt Typhoon 0:33:47: UK proposes more mass surveillance 0:36:51: Lockdown Mode protects WaPo journalist iPhone 0:43:03: New Android anti-theft features 0:45:54: CA town shuts down Flock 0:49:07: Google hobbles bad proxy network 0:52:33: Firefox AI kill switch 0:55:18: Tip of the Week 1:02:08: Wrap-up 1:02:21: Patron podcast preview 1:02:30: Looking ahead

There exist many interesting technical tools which can greatly improve our privacy while still allowing us to use very personal data. In the next installment of my series on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, we’ll look at zero-knowledge proofs – what they are, how they work and what types of privacy problems they can address. Specifically, we’ll show how you can prove that you know a secret without actually revealing the secret. In other news: Florida may be implementing an age-gating law; the UK government is now considering a ban on VPNs; 17 more people browser plugins that steal your data; popular apps used to harvest data using real-time bidding; police unmask millions of surveillance targets due to Flock redaction failures; AI company sued for secretly scoring job seekers; Microsoft gives BitLocker keys to FBI; and the FTC finalizes restrictions on GM car data gathering and sharing. Article Links Oppose Florida’s AI age verification bill, protect your privacy https://www.miamitech.club/oppose-sb-482/ UK government targets VPNs in online safety consultation as Lords vote for ban https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/uk-government-targets-vpns-in-new-online-safety-consultation-as-lords-vote-for-ban If You’ve Installed Any of These 17 Browser Extensions, Delete Them Now https://lifehacker.com/tech/delete-malicious-ghostposter-browser-extensions Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location https://www.wired.com/story/gravy-location-data-app-leak-rtb/ Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error https://www.404media.co/police-unmask-millions-of-surveillance-targets-because-of-flock-redaction-error/ AI Company Eightfold Sued Helping Companies Secretly Score Job Seekers 2026 01 21 https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/ai-company-eightfold-sued-helping-companies-secretly-score-job-seekers-2026-01-21/ Microsoft Gave FBI BitLocker Encryption Keys, Exposing Privacy Flaw https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/ FTC Finalizes Order Settling Allegations that GM and OnStar Collected and Sold Geolocation Data Without Consumers’ Informed Consent https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/01/ftc-finalizes-order-settling-allegations-gm-onstar-collected-sold-geolocation-data-without-consumers Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-zero-knowledge-proofs-work/ Further Info Annual Listener Survey!!! https://fdsd.me/survey2026 New Patron Promotion!! https://fdsd.me/promo126 Data Privacy Week: https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week HaveIBeenFlocked: https://haveibeenflocked.com/ 404 Media FOIA Forum: https://www.404media.co/foia-forum-archive/ NextDNS: https://nextdns.io/ My book: https://fdsd.me/book My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Table of Contents 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:51: Last call for survey, dragon coin 0:02:17: Winter storm 0:03:14: News preview 0:05:02: Proposed FL age-gating bill 0:11:33: UK government targets VPNs 0:15:42: More malicious browser extensions 0:21:22: Popular apps leaking personal info (again) 0:31:26: Have I Been Flocked? 0:41:37: AI company sued for secretly scoring job seekers 0:46:41: Microsoft give BitLocker keys to FBI 0:56:05: FTC restricts GM from selling car data 0:59:34: Tip of the Week 1:10:49: Wrap-up 1:12:16: Patron podcast preview 1:12:42: Looking ahead

AI has many problems, but also has promise. Today I’m going to focus on one particular problem that has some viable solutions: privacy. Chat bots like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude all require your queries to be processed in the cloud. All the personal questions we ask are probably being logged against our identity and could be used to train future AI models or to present us with targeted ads. But there are alternatives that protect your data – I’ll give you a handful of solid options. In other news: a Texas court has blocked the app store age verification law; Flock’s people-tracking cameras have horrible security; PornHub confirms data leak due to third party; stalkerware maker pleads guilty; Texas sues 5 TV makers over data collection; Wegman’s grocery using facial recognition in NYC; New York’s surveillance pricing transparency law goes into effect; DROP tool debuts in California for deleting broker data; two Chrome extensions caught stealing chat bot session text; ChatGPT rolls out new Health tool. Article Links Judge blocks Texas app store age verification law https://www.theverge.com/news/849752/texas-app-store-accountability-act-age-verification-injunction Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/ PornHub Confirms Premium User Data Exposure Linked to Mixpanel Breach https://thecyberexpress.com/pornhub-data-breach-premium-users/ Founder of spyware maker pcTattletale pleads guilty to hacking and advertising surveillance software https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/06/founder-of-spyware-maker-pctattletale-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-and-advertising-surveillance-software/ Texas sues 5 smart TV manufacturers over data collection practices https://therecord.media/texas-sues-5-smart-tv-makers-over-acr-tech Popular grocery store chain uses biometric surveillance on shoppers, raising privacy concerns https://www.aol.com/articles/popular-grocery-store-chain-uses-130056099.html How New York’s Personalized Pricing Law Affects Consumers And Retailers https://www.forbes.com/sites/anishasircar/2025/12/03/new-yorks-algorithmic-pricing-law-what-it-does-and-why-it-matters/ This Tool Deletes Your Info From Data Broker Sites (If You Live in One State) https://lifehacker.com/tech/california-new-data-removal-tool Two Chrome Extensions Caught Stealing ChatGPT and DeepSeek Chats from 900,000 Users https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/two-chrome-extensions-caught-stealing.html Why I Won’t Be Giving ChatGPT Health My Medical Records https://lifehacker.com/tech/dont-give-chatgpt-health-your-medical-records Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/ai-chat-privacy/  Further Info Annual Listener Survey!!! https://fdsd.me/survey2026  New Patron Promotion!! https://fdsd.me/promo126  Flock You project: https://github.com/colonelpanichacks/flock-you  Shodan: https://www.shodan.io/dashboard  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Table of Contents 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:36: Listener survey 0:01:24: Dragon coin promo 0:02:11: News rundown 0:04:00: Court blocks Texas app store age check 0:09:52: Flock exposed its AI cameras to internet 0:21:04: Some PornHub user data leaked 0:26:22: Stalkerware maker pleads guilty 0:33:57: Texas sues 5 TV makers over data collection 0:39:39: Wegmans grocery is using facial recognition 0:44:33: NY personalized pricing law goes into effect 0:47:28: CA tool mass-deletes broker data 0:50:49: Two Chrome extensions steal AI chat records 0:54:56: ChatGPT unveils new Health feature 0:58:25: Tip of the Week 1:07:28: Wrap up 1:07:47: Patron podcast preview 1:08:23: Looking ahead