Absurd, dystopian, or accidentally hilarious clauses found in actual terms of service, EULAs, contracts, and legal documents
Meta revised its commercial terms for business accounts to let it use content from linked websites for its products, drawing backlash from artists and small businesses. Users in the UK and EU can currently object through Instagram's privacy center, and some report approvals.
— via 404 Media, Jason Koebler
A new federal bill from Rep. Ritchie Torres would have the FTC write rules making digital game purchases actual ownership instead of revocable licenses, and would require online games to keep working offline after servers shut down. The Power to the Players Act also points toward resale rights, a step beyond what Stop Killing Games has pushed for.
— via TechDirt, Timothy Geigner
A federal watchdog found the TSA's facial recognition vendor could quietly pull passenger driver's license and passport images during routine system work, with no tracking of what was taken or proof it was ever deleted. TSA had no clear policy and never told travelers their data might be exposed.
— via EFF Deeplinks, Sophia Cope
Anyone can upload emails, phone numbers or Android device IDs to target specific ChatGPT users with ads, 404 Media's tests found. OpenAI won't say whether raw data gets hashed, and the system also uses private-seeming prompts to match ads.
— via 404 Media, Joseph Cox
New York just declared a statewide emergency over measles spreading from Pennsylvania, the first such declaration since the outbreak began. Gov. Hochul's order lets pharmacists vaccinate anyone 2 and older, and makes reporting shots to the state mandatory, no opt-out allowed.
— via TechDirt, Timothy Geigner
In-N-Out told a California high school football team to delete a viral video of players celebrating at its restaurant, citing trademark rules, despite the local store having approved the shoot. More than 600,000 views later, the chain's lawyers still won't budge.
— via TechDirt, Timothy Geigner
Meta's "privacy-focused" AI assistant Muse launched with a zero-day flaw, root-access exploit, and a habit of uploading private messages to the cloud even when told not to. Internal sources say engineers rushed half-baked fixes to avoid delaying launch, and some expect a massive breach is coming.
— via TechDirt, Karl Bode
BAM Franchising already settled one bogus RICO suit over its Lego stores: returning just 35 of 387 sets owed, seven of them not even the right ones. Now it's hitting a whistleblower-tracking site with bogus DMCA takedowns and a John Doe lawsuit that somehow skips the copyright claim entirely.
— via TechDirt, Mike Masnick
A federal judge just blocked Utah's SB 73, the first state law targeting VPN use to dodge age-verification gates. The court found the statute demands something no platform can deliver: perfect geolocation of every visitor, worldwide, with zero margin for error.
— via EFF Deeplinks, Rindala Alajaji
Marin County's sheriff shared license plate data out of state 254,131 times in November 2024 alone, despite a 2022 settlement promising to stop. EFF and the ACLU say the breach reached agencies in Alabama, Texas and other states that help ICE and restrict abortion access.
— via EFF Deeplinks, Jennifer Pinsof
Apple's new Siri AI in iOS 27 raises fresh data questions, and EFF's latest EFFector breaks down what you can actually lock down. The newsletter also covers drone surveillance, your right to record police, and video doorbell privacy, with a podcast explaining on-device versus server-side AI processing.
— via EFF Deeplinks, Hudson Hongo
Contractors hired to grade Microsoft's Copilot are reviewing users' uploaded photos alongside prompts asking for upskirt shots, enlarged breasts and children's cartoon characters in fetish poses. Internal documents show workers also encountered pro-anorexia content and requests to depict Ariana Grande with an eating disorder, with faces left uncensored throughout.
— via 404 Media, Joseph Cox
California regulators settled the Paramount-Warner Bros merger fight with a “independent” CNN/CBS oversight board Paramount itself proposed, staffed by journalists Paramount gets to hand-pick. Insiders, including Jim Acosta, call it toothless window dressing.
— via TechDirt, Karl Bode
A Springfield, Missouri woman flashed two middle fingers at a city council podium and got handcuffed for it, after the mayor cut her mic mid-sentence about license plate cameras. She was one of two people arrested that night after the council blocked a public review of its 41 Flock Safety cameras.
— via 404 Media, Matthew Gault
Meta's settlement will impose a two-hour daily time limit and content restrictions on users under 18, hampering young people's ability to organize rapid protests and political campaigns on Instagram and Facebook. The rules also risk blocking LGBTQ+ content that youth activists depend on.
— via TechDirt, Paige Collings and Kenyatta Thomas
Meta's Muse AI can call a restaurant to book your table, except sometimes it's not AI at all. Internal messages show human agents in call centers quietly picking up requests the assistant can't handle, and Meta's own employees are worried about what that means for privacy.
— via 404 Media, Jason Koebler
The new Siri now merges with Spotlight, pulling data from your apps, Private Cloud Compute, and even on-screen content, but there's no on-screen indicator telling you what's leaving your device. Here's how to lock down what it can actually see.
— via EFF Deeplinks, Thorin Klosowski
