Latest news with #Privacy


Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Gizmodo
How to Unblock and Use 4chan in the UK: Complete Guide
Are you struggling to use 4chan in the United Kingdom? Consider yourself lucky! 4chan blocked access to all UK residents on July 25th. The decision was brought due to the Online Safety Act. For those uninformed, this act requires all websites with mature content to verify their visitors' age. However, this verification is usually realized through: Such requirements infringe on the user's privacy, which is why they're frowned upon. 4chan seems to agree, and after a tough decision, it decided to block access to all British visitors. But, there's a solution; read on. Unblocking restricted websites is easily facilitated through a VPN. We often recommend NordVPN because it's a jack of all trades. Above all, it's inexpensive, compatible with all devices, and secure. It offers servers in over 125 countries, ensuring you can swiftly change your IP. Unblock 4chan with NordVPN Speaking of which, that's fundamental for unblocking 4chan in the UK. You want to replace your UK IP with an IP address abroad. NordVPN lets you connect to a remote server, get its IP address, and overwrite your original UK IP. Now, you'll appear elsewhere online. Once you go to 4chan, the website should function regularly. Since the block only affects British visitors, any VPN server will work. NordVPN is a premium VPN that offers hefty discounts for long-term plans. However, it also has a 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows a full refund within the given period, so you'll lose nothing by testing it. Yes, 4chan is legal. If you examine its announcement to block access to UK visitors, you'll notice that it stems from the Online Safety Act. All websites with adult content wanting to remain operable need to implement age verification systems. 4chan is one of the rare examples of non-compliant websites. So, instead of breaching the Online Safety Act and violating visitors' privacy, it decided to block access. We've seen this scenario with Pornhub in Florida, for example. Instead of verifying age, Pornhub did the same. This means you can use 4chan in the UK without legal repercussions. 4chan used the 'self-ban' method to restrict access to its site. If the UK government banned it, then it would be illegal. As you've likely noticed, it's getting increasingly difficult to access adult content in the UK. Unblocking 4chan in the UK is easy, and luckily, the same goes for other websites, applications, and platforms. Pornhub requires age verification; so does Reddit. They're different because you can use them IF you comply and verify your age. However, if you use NordVPN or any other VPN, you can bypass age verification and not infringe on your privacy. The Online Safety Act is here to stay, and we reckon it could only be more stringent. We support its goal of protecting children and minors from obscene content. Simultaneously, this comes at the cost of privacy. Fortunately, a risk-free VPN like NordVPN helps alleviate the inconvenience. It provides additional security and privacy for adult content consumers, letting them leave no traces of their digital whereabouts. Try NordVPN risk-free now


The Verge
3 days ago
- General
- The Verge
I just wanted to do a little media criticism!
Posted Jul 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM UTC Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Elizabeth Lopatto Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Law Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Podcasts Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Politics Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Privacy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Security Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Social Media Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech

ABC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Advance used unblurred footage of minors taken from education organisations without consent in new ad
Conservative lobby group Advance is under fire for repurposing footage of identifiable children without obtaining consent in a new ad attacking Welcome to Country ceremonies. When contacted by ABC NEWS Verify, many of the schools, child education centres, and organisations that had videos taken for use in the ad, said permission was not granted to use the footage, and they want the ad taken down. Advance started advertising with the ad, titled "Welcome To Your Own Country", on June 15 on Meta platforms. It uploaded the video on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube — where, combined, it has been viewed more than 230,000 times. The ad shows minors taking part in Acknowledgement of Country activities at education facilities — with some of the children clearly identifiable. A face blur has only been used on some of the children. Some adult educators can also be identified. ABC NEWS Verify has chosen not to name any of the education facilities involved. Below are stills of the ad, but the images have been blurred, so children and adults can't be identified. ABC NEWS Verify has analysed the video and, using basic open-source techniques, was able to identify footage taken from the public social media accounts of four childcare and/or early learning centres, one playgroup organisation, two primary schools, and one prep to year 12 school. Footage featuring children filmed by not-for-profit group Reconciliation Australia was also used — as well as a clip featuring children from ABC programming. ABC NEWS Verify contacted the above organisations to ask if permission had been sought by Advance to use the footage in its ad. All but one replied by deadline confirming permission had not been sought. "The ad has been sourced from material publicly available on the internet," a spokesperson for Advance said. Some of the schools referred the inquiry to their respective education departments. "No permission has been granted by the ACT Education Directorate [or the primary school] for the use of this video. No consent has been granted by the parents of the children in the video for it to be used in this way," one said. "We object to footage of our students being used in this way, even more so without their knowledge and without the consent of their parents," it said. The Queensland Education Department said neither it, nor the school featured in the ad, were approached for permission to use the video. "The department is currently supporting the school to report the unauthorised use of footage to YouTube," it said. Reconciliation Australia also provided a statement. "Advance has not sought our permission to use the images contained in their ad," it said. "Written release forms were signed by all parents and guardians giving permission for Reconciliation Australia to use images of the children featured in the original video. "We are very concerned that Advance appears to have used images of minors with no attempt to de-identify many of the children nor to acquire consent from their parents or guardians, and without permission from Reconciliation Australia," it said. At least seven adult educators feature in the video — some have their faces blurred, but a number do not. A staff member from a playgroup organisation is prominently featured at the start of the ad. That organisation's chief executive told ABC NEWS Verify it had lodged an official complaint with YouTube and was seeking advice from the eSafety Commissioner on what to do if the video isn't removed. "I am deeply concerned to learn that footage originating from our official YouTube channel has been used without our consent in a political advertising campaign," they said. "We unequivocally condemn Advance Australia's unauthorised use of [the] material." It is understood the ABC was also unaware of its footage being used in the ad. ABC NEWS Verify contacted Advance and informed them that several organisations had said they would like their footage removed from the ad. In response, Advance said that it had not received any complaints. "We have not been contacted by any individual or organisations with the concerns you refer to in your questions," it said. "In fact, the response to the ad has been overwhelmingly positive." Technology and privacy legal expert James Patto from Scildan Legal said "it's at least arguable" that Advance has breached the Privacy Act in repurposing the footage. But he said it depends on whether the footage is considered "personal information" or "sensitive information" under the act. "If it's personal information — say the children are identifiable but there's no sensitive characteristics — then Advance Australia wouldn't necessarily need consent to collect it," he told ABC NEWS Verify. "But that doesn't mean they're off the hook. "They'd also need to notify individuals, unless that wasn't reasonably practicable. "It's important to remember that just because something's online doesn't mean it's fair game under privacy law." He said it's a different story if the footage is determined to be "sensitive information". "If the footage includes sensitive information, like racial or ethnic origin or biometric features, then consent is required to collect and use it," Mr Patto said. "That consent has to be specific to Advance and for the political purpose. Consent given to a school or film crew wouldn't likely cut it. "I think it's at least arguable that some of the footage could reveal sensitive information, like race and ethnic origin," he said. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is the country's privacy regulator. It was contacted but failed to respond directly to questions concerning the ad.


BBC News
20-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
গাজায় হাজার হাজার ভবন পরিকল্পিতভাবে গুঁড়িয়ে দিচ্ছে ইসরায়েল - BBC News বাংলা
We've updated our Privacy and Cookies Policy We've made some important changes to our Privacy and Cookies Policy and we want you to know what this means for you and your data.


CBC
19-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Here's who can actually ask for your SIN
Cybersecurity expert Claudiu Popa shares his tips for keeping your social insurance number safe. He says it starts with just saying no to most companies and organizations that request it.