Photo by TED Conference, from Flickr
X Faces Complaints For Using EU Data Without Consent
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
Today, Reuters reported that the privacy group NOYB has filed a formal complaint against the social media platform X. The complaint alleges that the company, owned by Elon Musk, unlawfully used users’ personal data to train its AI systems without consent, in violation of EU privacy laws.
According to the complaint, X allegedly used the personal data of over 60 million European users to train its AI system (Grok) without their consent. The DPC has initiated court proceedings against the tech giant, but critics argue that the response has been inadequate.
Schrems states, “We have seen countless instances of inefficient and partial enforcement by the DPC in the past years. We want to ensure that Twitter (X) fully complies with EU law, which – at a bare minimum – requires to ask users for consent in this case.”
Schrems states, “Companies that interact directly with users simply need to show them a yes/no prompt before using their data. They do this regularly for lots of other things, so it would definitely be possible for AI training as well.”
The complaint states that while X has agreed to pause further AI training with EU data until September, NOYB’s complaint underscores the broader issues of compliance and transparency. However, no decision on the legality of the data use was made, and several questions remain unresolved. For instance, what will happen to the EU data already processed, and how can X properly separate EU data from non-EU data?
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
Trump Campaign Reports Hack of Internal Communications
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
Donald Trump’s campaign shared a statement this weekend announcing that their internal communications have been hacked and suggested a malicious attack from Iran.
According to Forbes , the news website Politico reported that it had been receiving emails with documents including a 271-page research Trump campaign had done on Senator JD Vance. The emails with the internal communications began in July, signed by “Robert”, with an anonymous AOL email account.
The user Robert claimed to have more documents including Trump’s legal court documents and other sensitive information. Politico said they have reached out to people familiar with the case and have confirmed the authenticity of the information shared.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, declared that the information had been obtained illegally.
A spokesman told the BBC that the attack came from “foreign sources hostile to the United States,” while Iranian officials have said publicly that they are not related to the hack.
However, Cheung also mentioned a report shared by Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) on August 9 mentioning that Iranian hackers have targeted the U.S. campaign through a phishing email. In the report, it is mentioned that the Islamic group Mint Sandstorm “sent a spear-phishing email to a high-ranking official of a presidential campaign from a compromised email account of a former senior advisor.”
Microsoft has not confirmed if the attack was addressed to Trump’s campaign, but the document acknowledges that Iranian threats have been targeting U.S. campaigns for the past three election cycles in the United States.
Cheung has also mentioned that the hacking had the clear intention to “interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process.”
During the current presidential campaigns, there are multiple cybersecurity concerns. Google recently announced a new disclosure tag required for political ads that used AI to avoid misinformation, just weeks after deepfake robocalls had been reported and used during the primaries to discourage people from voting.
