Dell Cameron, Author at Gizmodo

Stop Doxing Yourself With Your Pet Photos

People are hyper-vigilant these days about protecting their personal information, all the little details about themselves that can lead to stalking or harassment online. But there’s one mistake they’re repeating so often it’s deserving of its own special reminder: leaving their home addresses and phone numbers exposed in photos of their beloved pets. It’s almost…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

A Buttplug Hacker Talks Security, Consent, and Why He Hacked a Buttplug

Voting machines weren’t the only thing getting penetrated at DEF CON this year. When most people think of the Internet of Things (IoT), they think about light switches, voice controllers, and doorbell cameras. But over the past several years, another class of devices has also gained connectivity—those used for sexual pleasure. One such device, the…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Wyden at DEF CON: Mitch McConnell Wants Foreign Hackers to Help Republicans Win Elections

Before a crowd of hacking conference goers, Senator Ron Wyden on Friday took aim at Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, accusing him of blocking election security legislation because, he said, Republicans have directly benefited from the meddling of foreign hackers. “Russia attacked the 2016 election, and the 2016 election turned out pretty well for…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Chelsea Manning Can Remain in Jail for Another Year, Judge Rules

Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst-turned-whistleblower, may remain behind bars for up to another year and face nearly a half-million dollars in fines over her ongoing refusal to testify before a grand jury about her disclosure of classified information to WikiLeaks. A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday denied a…

Tech News Dell Cameron

Twitter Under Fire Again for Failing to Ban White Supremacists as Charlottesville Anniversary Nears

With the anniversary of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, approaching, Twitter is facing increased pressure from a nationwide coalition of civil rights organizations to once and for all take a stand against the white supremacists that operate freely on its platform. Facebook and YouTube have taken (with mixed results) at…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Cops Are Giving Amazon’s Ring Your Real-Time 911 Caller Data

Amazon-owned home security company Ring is pursuing contracts with police departments that would grant it direct access to real-time emergency dispatch data, Gizmodo has learned. The California-based company is seeking police departments’ permission to tap into the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) feeds used to automate and improve decisions made by emergency dispatch personnel and cut down…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Everything Cops Say About Amazon’s Ring Is Scripted or Approved by Ring

Amazon’s home security company Ring has garnered enormous control over the ways in which its law enforcement partners are allowed to portray its products, going as far as to review and even author statements attributed to police in the press, according to emails and documents obtained by Gizmodo. This summer, Ring even urged a Florida…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

DOJ Approves T-Mobile and Sprint Megamerger, Says Dish Network Will Somehow Compete

T-Mobile’s planned takeover of Sprint took a sizable step forward on Friday after a deal negotiated with the U.S. Justice Department behind closed doors was announced. Under the proposed scheme, the nation’s third and fourth-largest wireless carriers would be forced to sell off wireless spectrum and prepaid businesses (such as Boost Mobile) to Dish Network,…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Wyden Blasts Senate Russia Report for Failing to Back ‘Mandatory’ Election Security Standards

Citing what he called the “ongoing crisis,” one of the U.S. Senate’s staunchest proponents of sweeping election-security reforms renewed a call Thursday for Congress to immediately intervene and impose mandatory security standards on election systems nationwide. “If there was ever a moment when Congress needed to exercise its clear constitutional authorities to regulate elections, this…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

This New Twitter Is the Best New Twitter Yet, Actually

Finally, it happened to me. There I was about *checks watch* four minutes ago, just clicking on a bunch of Cursed Tik Tok videos on Twitter, while supposedly writing an important article about shady stem cell products, or something, and then… whamo! Just like that, I was using New Twitter. I gotta say, it’s pretty…

Tech News Dell Cameron

A Bipartisan Bill That Could End Our Robocall Hell Just Passed the House 429-3

Two Republicans and one independent were the only holdouts Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act by a nearly unanimous vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, prescribes strict regulations around the use of automatic telephone dialing systems or…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

There’s Zero Chance Facebook’s FTC Fine Stops Future Abuse, Lawmakers and Privacy Experts Say

Sure, $5 billion sounds like a pretty big fine, and for most Americans, the size of it is difficult to fathom. But for a corporation as massive as Facebook, it represents only around three month’s worth of profit, a proverbial drop in the bucket. Evan as CEO Mark Zuckerberg boasted about the “historic fine” imposed…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

U.S. Lawmakers Balk at $700 Million Equifax Fine, Renew Calls for a Federal Data Breach Law

Several U.S. lawmakers have called for further action in the wake of a $700 settlement reached by state prosecutors with the credit bureau Equifax over its disastrous 2017 data breach. The settlement was announced on Monday, the largest thus far involving a security breach at a U.S. company. Up to $425 million will be used…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Treasury Secretary ‘Not Comfortable’ With Facebook’s Cryptocurrency as Bipartisan Hostility Grows

Facebook’s plan to launch its Libra cryptocurrency is facing considerable pushback from federal officials who’ve raised concerns about the prospect of it being used to skirt anti-money laundering rules and fund other illicit activities. House Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee have already circulated draft legislation aimed at barring U.S. tech companies with annual…

Commerce Dell Cameron

Trump’s Racist Tweets Aren’t Racist, Twitter Decides

President Trump’s attack this Sunday on four first-term congresswomen was widely viewed as one of the most racist he’s ever produced. Not everyone agrees, however. Twitter, whose platform serves as a catapult for Trump’s bigoted attacks on migrants, has ruled internally that Trump’s words on Sunday were not racist at all—at least, insofar as its…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Trump Voices Support for Social Media Legislation Conservatives Call a Free-Speech Killer

“Senator [Hawley] thinks conservatives are too stupid to realize he’s trying to kill free speech online,” FreedomWorks, the conservative advocacy group, tweeted out last month. It’s not alone in its criticism. In recent weeks, a slew of prominent right-wing voices have taken similar aim at Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican of Missouri, over his “Ending…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Homeland Security Exhibits Ignorance, Incompetence in Handling of Surveillance Contractor Breach

At a Homeland Security hearing this week that largely focused on the unsolved mystery of whether it’s illegal to use face recognition software on U.S. citizens at airports, a senior Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official proved unable to answer the most rudimentary questions about a recent data breach that has exposed tens of thousands…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Photo: David J. Phillip / Associated Press

Customs and Border Protection Tells Congress It’s Totally Legal to Use Face Recognition on Americans

U.S. Homeland Security officials faced a barrage of questions on Wednesday from House lawmakers frustrated—as several put it—over the alleged lack transparency exhibited by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) when it comes to the legally murky use of face recognition tools at U.S. ports of entry. The hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee was…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Civil Rights Groups Mostly Unimpressed by New Twitter Policy Against ‘Dehumanizing’ Language

Civil rights organizations were, somehow, both pleased and exasperated with Twitter on Tuesday after the social network announced the latest update to its rules against “hateful conduct,” a change characterized by the New York Times, which first broke the news, as a “scaling back” of the company’s policymaking to focus solely on banning speech “insulting…

Tech Policy Dell Cameron

Seth Rich Conspiracy Spread by Fox News Linked to Russian Intelligence: Report

A stunning report published Tuesday by Yahoo News identifies a Russian intelligence service as the origin of a conspiracy theory connecting the unsolved murder of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich to the leak of thousands of DNC emails in the summer of 2016. The report, authored by Yahoo’s chief investigative correspondent, Michael Isikoff,…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron

Dell Cameron

Stop Doxing Yourself With Your Pet Photos

A Buttplug Hacker Talks Security, Consent, and Why He Hacked a Buttplug

Wyden at DEF CON: Mitch McConnell Wants Foreign Hackers to Help Republicans Win Elections

Chelsea Manning Can Remain in Jail for Another Year, Judge Rules

Twitter Under Fire Again for Failing to Ban White Supremacists as Charlottesville Anniversary Nears

Cops Are Giving Amazon’s Ring Your Real-Time 911 Caller Data

Everything Cops Say About Amazon’s Ring Is Scripted or Approved by Ring

DOJ Approves T-Mobile and Sprint Megamerger, Says Dish Network Will Somehow Compete

Wyden Blasts Senate Russia Report for Failing to Back ‘Mandatory’ Election Security Standards

This New Twitter Is the Best New Twitter Yet, Actually

A Bipartisan Bill That Could End Our Robocall Hell Just Passed the House 429-3

There’s Zero Chance Facebook’s FTC Fine Stops Future Abuse, Lawmakers and Privacy Experts Say

U.S. Lawmakers Balk at $700 Million Equifax Fine, Renew Calls for a Federal Data Breach Law

Treasury Secretary ‘Not Comfortable’ With Facebook’s Cryptocurrency as Bipartisan Hostility Grows

Trump’s Racist Tweets Aren’t Racist, Twitter Decides

Trump Voices Support for Social Media Legislation Conservatives Call a Free-Speech Killer

Homeland Security Exhibits Ignorance, Incompetence in Handling of Surveillance Contractor Breach

Customs and Border Protection Tells Congress It’s Totally Legal to Use Face Recognition on Americans

Civil Rights Groups Mostly Unimpressed by New Twitter Policy Against ‘Dehumanizing’ Language

Seth Rich Conspiracy Spread by Fox News Linked to Russian Intelligence: Report

Even the ‘Avatar’ Fighting Game Is Disrespecting ‘Legend of Korra’

Bluesky Has a New App, and It’s All About AI

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor *And* an Action Figure!

Whatever Just Happened with ‘Fruit Love Island,’ Nobody Won

AMC Puts a Stake in ‘Talamasca’ After One Season

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Do ‘Disclosure Day’ Prep With a Spielberg Sci-Fi Marathon

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor And an Action Figure!