Signal Enables Phone Number-less Registration in Beta
Signal has officially announced signups without phone numbers on their community forum for the Android 8.28 beta version of the app.
Privacy & Security News
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X's Encrypted Messenger, X Chat, Disappears From the App Store and the Google Play Store
X Chat, X's dedicated end-to-end encrypted messaging app, has disappeared from both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store.
Cops Search Flock Database for Reasons Such as "LMAO," "LOL," and Random Keyboard Mashing
An investigation by the EFF found that cops treat mass surveillance as a joke, typing reasons for searches such as "LMAO," "LOL," and other non sequiturs or keyboard mashing in leu of an actual reason.
Revolut Gives Away Customer Passports, Selfies, and Transaction Histories to a Fake Government Request
Revolut disclosed customers' passports, selfies, and full transaction histories to a fake government employee over email.
Data Breach Roundup (Sep 4 - 10, 2026)
Two Trezor breaches, more healtcare companies, and more identification documents. This week was a mess.
Microsoft Shatters Another Record, Patching 973 Vulnerabilities in September
Microsoft patched a record 973 vulnerabilities this September, beating their other records from earlier this year.
New "Siri Recap" Feature for Apple Watches Can Create Summaries of Your Conversations Throughout the Day, Apple Says
Apple today announced Siri Recap, a new feature in their upcoming Apple Watches that will allow it to generate a summary of conversations you have throughout the day.
Alternate X.com Frontend Nitter Announces it Will Continue Despite the Cease and Desist
Nitter, an alternative frontend for X.com, announced that they "will be back up and running shortly" after a cease and desist from X Corp.
GrapheneOS Will Overhaul Default Apps and Implement a Secure Clipboard
GrapheneOS announced that they are overhauling the default apps into "modern" apps, including RCS support in the messaging app, as well as implementing a secure clipboard feature to stop apps from accessing it without permission.
Data Breach Roundup (Aug 28 - Sep 3, 2026)
This week saw data breaches from more hospitals, a toy company, an age verification service, an update to a French breach from last year, and more.
Signal Android Beta Has Merged Support for Numberless Accounts, Although It's Not Enabled Yet
Signal has merged numberless accounts into the code as a feature in the upcoming Android beta 8.26, although you can't use it yet.
Google Messages Bug Sends Old Texts to Random People
A bug in Google Messages is causing some people's texts from months or years ago to be sent to random people instead.
Pixel 11 Has Hardware MTE Support, "May Still Be Usable" for GrapheneOS
After GrapheneOS previously hit a roadblock porting to the Pixel 11 due to a missing security feature, they found the hardware does have "at least bare minimum support for MTE."
Router Manufacturer Found With Multiple Backdoors in its Products
Researchers at VulnCheck found multiple backdoors in routers from Chinese manufacturer Zbtlink allowing a remote server root access to the router with no authentication.
GrapheneOS Unable to Complete Pixel 11 Port Due to Cut Security Feature
GrapheneOS has completed a partial port to the new Pixel 11 devices, but they say they're unable to complete it due to Google dropping ARM Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) support.
Data Breach Roundup (August 21 - 27, 2026)
Once again, multiple hospitals have been hit this week, as well as apparel companies, airports, and more.
Windows is Testing New Privacy Protections For Apps
Windows is making new app-level permissions such as location, camera, and microphone available to Windows Insiders users.
WhatsApp Offers Improved Security Features
Meta's end-to-end encrypted messenger remains popular around the world, so it's still a win that they offer additional protections to users.
X.com Sends Privacy Frontend Nitter a Cease and Desist, Permanently Shuts It Down
The popular privacy frontend Nitter has received a cease and desist letter from X Corp demanding a permanent takedown of the project's repository and all instances.
Android Car Head Units Are Getting Hacked Through Their Built-In Updates
Researchers at Securelist discovered a new type of Android malware that infects car infotainment systems without any user interaction using the built-in updater.
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