Data Attack - It's Personal

Perennial public service announcement that all your data are belong to us:

ParkMobile app update: Deadline for $32.8M data breach settlement is here

Mar 2025, nj.com

https://www.nj.com/news/2025/03/parkmobile-app-update-deadline-for-328m-data-breach-settlement-is-here.html

As many as 21 million people could be eligible for the settlement, which stems from a data breach that happened in 2021.

ParkMobile, popular app used by many Jersey Shore beach towns that collect parking fees, agreed to the $32.8 million settlement to resolve claims “relating to an unknown actor’s unauthorized access to the Personal Information of ParkMobile App users,” the settlement website said.

Mostly unrelated image credit: AI Art - Sandwich Man 2 - 2024

Ex-cop admits hacking into social media accounts of nearly 20 women, distributing naked pics, officials say

Mar 2025, nj.com

https://www.nj.com/burlington/2025/03/ex-cop-admits-hacking-into-social-media-accounts-of-nearly-20-women-distributing-naked-pics-officials-say.html

A former Mount Laurel police officer admitted this week to hacking into multiple women’s social media accounts and distributing their nude photos, authorities said.

The investigation began in September 2022. He was a rookie officer with the Mount Laurel Police Department at the time, was arrested on Oct. 21, 2022 and charged with three counts of computer crime, invasion of privacy and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, investigators said.

As the investigation continued, 18 more women were found to be victimized by him, police said. Investigators determined that all the victims had a student email account through Rowan College in Burlington County, the office said.

Detectives learned that he illegally accessed approximately 5,000 email accounts associated with the college, authorities said. He hacked the accounts from his own personal devices while on duty as a patrol officer, according to the release.

Signs You May Have a Problem

Wait a second - are we really coming up with substance abuse treatments for cell phone usage? Like as if it was nicotine or heroin? If the healthier way to "use" a phone involves an override program that literally makes it more difficult to use, then I think we have a problem here. 

Managing screen time by making phones slightly more annoying to use

May 2024, phys.org

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-05-screen-slightly-annoying.html

Once the user's designated screen limit has been reached, InteractOut can delay the phone's response to a user's gesture, shift where tapping motions are registered or slow the screen scrolling speed.

The strength of the delays and shifts continues to increase each time the user touches the phone, up to a pre-set maximum, and the user can decide how the app interferes with their phone use. The app's gradual interference allows users to continue using their phone, but with a little extra difficulty.

"If we just continuously add a little bit of friction to the interaction with the phone, eventually the user becomes more aware of what they are doing because there's a mismatch between what they expect to happen and what actually happens. That makes using smartphones a more deliberate process." 

via University of Michigan: Tao Lu et al, InteractOut: Leveraging Interaction Proxies as Input Manipulation Strategies for Reducing Smartphone Overuse, Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2024). DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3642317

https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642317

Image credit: I think this is an early generation of AI image generation, pre 2022 pre Stable Diffusion-era?

Companies may still buy consumer genetic information despite its modest predictive power

May 2024, phys.org

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-companies-buy-consumer-genetic-modest.html

At-home DNA tests have provided millions with insights into their family history and health risk by simply spitting in a tube. Genetic risk screening of embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics is now available. These tests rely on polygenic scores—a tally of variations in human genes that influence a certain trait. However, while powerful at predicting traits in large populations, these scores are rather weak at an individual level.

"Firms operate under a lot of uncertainty and any little bit of information that they have about you is worthwhile."

Using an economic model, the researchers found that companies might be willing to pay because the information may raise profit and is relatively cheap.

The researchers argue that current laws and policies are inadequate to address the ethical, privacy, and legal concerns surrounding the potential corporate use of polygenic scores. While the US Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits discrimination in health coverage and employment based on genetic information, there are loopholes. The act only covers health insurance, excluding long-term, disability, life, and other insurances. It also doesn't apply to employers with fewer than 15 people, which accounts for 85% of US companies.

"I don't think people realize that when they give up their genetic information today, they're not giving it up just for today; they're giving it up forever"

via Johns Hopkins University Geisinger College of Health Sciences: Potential Corporate Uses of Polygenic Indexes: Starting a Conversation about the Associated Ethics and Policy Issues, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.03.010. 

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.03.010