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Electronic Privacy Information Center

Washington research and advocacy group focused on privacy and data protection law.

Current stories

productOne report1 publisher

Character.ai users who want their chats should request an export before the bankruptcy sale

Character.ai's parent filed Chapter 11 on Oct. 12 and expects a court-supervised sale to close in late November or early December. Exports take three to four weeks, so a user who files a request now has little slack before the sale closes.

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption50
Hype gap−5
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence62
scienceOne report1 publisher

AI transcription of police bodycam video undercounts the people speaking

Northeastern researchers found AI transcripts of police bodycam video named 3.3 speakers on average, against 4.8 in versions edited by people. Most of the words came through, and the authors say a person must still check who said what before a transcript is used in a criminal case.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap0
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence45
securityOne report1 publisher

Meta's Muse agent asks new users for total control of their Gmail, calendar and Mac

Meta's free Muse agent, downloaded millions of times, asks for total control of users' Gmail, calendar and, on Macs, the whole computer. The researcher whose foundation found serious flaws in the app would uninstall it, while warnings that agents will swamp sites built for people are still forecasts.

Publishers:bbc.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption35
Hype gap+35
Incentives40
Confidence45
productConfirmed4 publishers

The White House plans to move passport and Medicare sign-ups behind America.gov's chatbot

President Trump's order makes America.gov, an answer-only chatbot today, the single online entry point for covered federal services, linked to Login.gov. Teams that run federal services now have to design how a user moves from an anonymous chat to a signed-in transaction.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 31%
Operator
Operator 54%
Investor
Investor 15%

Reality

Evidence62
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+30
Incentives55
Confidence60
productConfirmed4 publishers

Google paid $10M for a dead airline's paperwork, and the flight attendants object

The Spirit Airlines bankruptcy auction put a price on a defunct company's internal records. The union's objection shows the scrubbing standard was written for customers, not staff.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 30%
Operator
Operator 39%
Investor
Investor 31%

Reality

Evidence72
Adoption35
Hype gap+15
Incentives70
Confidence65
securityOne report1 publisher

Supreme Court clears states to check voter citizenship against DHS's SAVE database

Supreme Court lets states screen voters against DHS's SAVE database, over three dissents and lower-court findings that its data is inaccurate. Each state decides whether to use it, so eligible voters' exposure depends on which states opt in before the midterms.

Publishers:cyberscoop.com

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+15
Incentives60
Confidence50
productOne report1 publisher

Meta's Muse offers better weekly summaries in exchange for a live bank connection

Sensor Tower counted more than 900,000 downloads of Meta's Muse in its first week. Wired's reviewer found an agent that browses competently while its ideas tab keeps pitching a live link to the bank.

Publishers:wired.com

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption35
Hype gap+30
Incentives60
Confidence50