X faces a new EU privacy investigation after its Grok chatbot generated nonconsensual deepfake images on the platform. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said on Tuesday that it has opened the case under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. The regulator says Grok has created and shared sexualized images of real people, including children. Researchers say some examples appear to involve minors. X did not respond to a request for comment. X had added some limits to Grok, but European authorities weren't satisfied. X also faces other probes in Europe over illegal content and user safety. That includes Spain, which has has ordered prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok for alleged crimes related to AI-generated child sex abuse materials on their platforms.
The IRS has erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security, according to a new court filing. It was part of the agencies’ controversial agreement to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S. A declaration filed Wednesday by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo stated that the IRS was only able to verify roughly 47,000 of the 1.28 million names requested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For less than 5% of those individuals, the IRS gave ICE additional address information, potentially violating privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.
More than two dozen privacy groups are urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to remove covert license plate readers in southern California. The Associated Press has reported that such devices feed data into a U.S. Border Patrol intelligence program that scans roadways for suspicious travel patterns. The nonprofits Electronic Frontier Foundation, Imperial Valley Equity and Justice and other organizations sent a letter Tuesday asking for an investigation and removal of these devices. The AP's November report revealed that the Border Patrol hides these readers in traffic equipment. The program monitors millions of drivers to identify suspicious travel, raising privacy concerns. Critics argue this surveillance may violate the Fourth Amendment.
Video in investigation into Nancy Guthrie's abduction raises questions about surveillance technology
Investigators have found surveillance footage of an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie's doorstep on the night she disappeared. Guthrie is the mother of “Today Show” host Savannah Guthrie. The FBI said the footage was retrieved from "backend servers" after initially believing it was lost. The camera was disconnected, and Guthrie didn't have a subscription to the camera company. This discovery raises questions about the persistence of digital content. Experts say footage can remain on cloud servers even if it seems deleted. Privacy concerns are also highlighted, as companies may share data with law enforcement without user consent.
Nude photos. The names and faces of sexual abuse victims. Bank account and Social Security numbers in full view. All of these things appeared in the mountain of documents released publicly by the U.S. Justice Department as part of its effort to comply with a law requiring it to open its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein. A review by The Associated Press and other news organizations has found countless examples of sloppy, inconsistent or nonexistent redactions that have revealed sensitive private information. Lawyers for some of the accusers have called on the Justice Department to temporarily take down the information. The Justice Department says it is taking down all inadvertently disclosed private information it’s been made aware of.
French prosecutors have raided the offices of social media platform X as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that include spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. They have also summoned owner Elon Musk for questioning. The investigation, which began in January last year, is looking into alleged complicity in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, among other charges. X and Musk's AI company xAI face scrutiny from Britain's data privacy regulator over their handling of personal data. The chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, sparked outrage after generating sexualized deepfake images. The investigation continues with support from Europol.
Federal immigration officials say more than 100 people have been detained in Maine this week as part of an enforcement surge targeting what ICE calls “the worst of the worst.” But court records and legal filings reviewed by The Associated Press show the cases cited by the agency span a wide range of legal circumstances, including serious violent felony convictions, dismissed charges and unresolved immigration proceedings. ICE has released details on only a small number of arrests and provided limited information about the rest. State and local officials, attorneys and judges say the lack of context has made it difficult to assess who is being detained and why.
Participates in the Kentucky Safe at Home program now have access to a privacy information service called DeleteMe.
House Bill 45 also takes aim at 'deep fakes,' tracking devices and the futuristic practice of human microchipping.
The health insurance giant said they aren't aware of any misuse of the patient's information.