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

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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/
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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

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Table of Contents