A few days after EU citizens were called to vote on their next parliamentary representatives, we just have a rough idea of what the upcoming political squad will look like. What is certain, however, is that anti-encryption sentiments are still thriving across the Union.

We already reported the revised proposal to halt the spread of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that wants your permission to scan your WhatsApp messages. Now, a leaked 42-point plan puts forward new recommendations on how companies must handle people's online activities, including data retention, access, and interception of all digital services.

The goal is simple: make the digital devices we use every day, from smartphones and smart homes to IoT devices and even cars, legally and technically monitorable at all times by law enforcement bodies.

According to Jan Jonsson, CEO at Mullvad—one of the best VPNs around with a privacy-first mandate—all encrypted traffic will no longer be private and secure if the legislation passes. "A VPN won’t help either," he told me. "It would mean total surveillance and that Europe's inhabitants carry state spyware in their pockets."

I wanted to know if my local Food Basics store is tracking me.

I looked at the privacy policy on foodbasics.ca and not finding any mention of this, but wanting to be sure, I emailed their Privacy Officer.

This is the email I sent:

Hello,

I shop at the food basics store at [Address] in [City],

I would like to know if you use facial recognition or identification technology in the store? And if so, for what purpose, and if the information is stored for how long?

Thank you,
[Me]

Here is the response I got:

Hello,

I confirm that Metro does not use facial recognition technology or any other technology that allows the identification of individual at the Food Basics stores.

Best regards
Eliane
Legal Counsel

Just want to share to encourage everyone to learn about and exercise your consumer privacy rights.

Meta will start training its AI models using everyone's social media posts though European Union users can opt out, a luxury the rest of the world won't enjoy. The AI training rules kick in worldwide on June 26.

Meta has so far not included its European userbase in its AI training data, presumably to avoid legal conflict with the continent's privacy regulations. Now it's pushing ahead with that despite complaints.

As training AI from user data is doubtlessly going to be contentious in Europe, Meta has attempted to cover itself in two ways. Firstly, when it says "public content," Meta means posts, comments, photos, and other content posted on its social media platforms by users over the age of 18. Private messages are, apparently, strictly verboten from the training data.

I don't have a FB or Instagram account, I only use Whatsapp because it's work related.

The woman remembers the first time she got a smartphone.

It was 2011, and she was living in Hotan, an oasis town in Xinjiang, in northwest China. The 30-year-old, Nurjamal Atawula, loved to take pictures of her children and exchange strings of emoji with her husband while he was out. In 2013, Atawula downloaded WeChat, the Chinese social messaging app. Not long after, rumors circulated among her friends: The government could track your location through your phone. At first, she didn’t believe them.

In early 2016, police started making routine checks on Atawula’s home. Her husband was regularly called to the police station. The police informed him they were suspicious of his WeChat activity. Atawula’s children began to cower in fear at the sight of a police officer.

Hey guys, I am trying to get rid of my old Facebook accounts. I have not been using them for years, in fact I dont know their login data and for one i dont even have access to the email address any more.

I am a EU citizen and attempted to instruct them to close the accounts per email, since logging in requires me to consent to them using my data or pay money (probably illegal here too).

They sent me a quick response basically to go fuck myself, even after I offered to provide personal identification to verify I am the account owner and reminded them that I am an EU citizen and that my data is subject to those laws.

How can i force these fuckers to comply with my request for deletion of the accounts and associated data?