Priest Resigns After Lack of Privacy on Grindr
August 2021 Newsletter
Greetings human,
This month, humanID has been cooking up a lot of new projects and the tech world has made a lot of questionable decisions regarding privacy and anonymity. Keep reading to see what new things we have released in the last month. Don’t forget to reply back to this email and let us know what you think of all the new releases!
Only have a minute? Here’s a TL;DR:
humanID joins Instagram. Follow us @human_id_official or click here!
Catholic priest’s resignation reveals a lack of data privacy on dating apps Law enforcement targets sensitive cloud data in court-mandated subpoenas
Black athletes call for more online accountability after facing racism on social media
humanID’s Instagram page goes live!
humanID has joined Instagram! Follow us at @human_id_official to learn more about our vision for a safer internet and to stay updated on everything humanID.
humanID x Reality 2.0
We have partnered with Reality 2.0, a podcast on privacy and digital identity, to share our joint vision of protecting the internet. Co-hosts Katherine Druckman and Doc Searls have a chat with humanID co-founders Bastian Purrer and Namik Muduroglu about the open-source anonymous single sign-on solution. Check out this podcast to learn about humanID and our mission to #FixTheInternet.
Click here to see the collaboration!
Check out our new blog and Medium posts!
Should You Use Email or Phone Number Authentication? by Helena Miller
Read about what kind of authentication is best for your device to maximize privacy and anonymity
Top Five Single Sign-Ons, by Tanunnut Suebsang
Learn which single sign-ons are best along with why humanID is the best option for single sign-on
Pros and Cons of Single Sign-On, by Quan Nguyen
Read about the benefits of using a single sign-on and why it’s the most secure login
Have any ideas for blog or Medium posts? Comment below and tell us what you think should be covered next!
human of humanID
This month’s human of humanID is Joey Kravetz!
Joey has been leaving his mark on humanID since June when he joined the Partnerships team. He is currently a junior at the University of Southern California majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Entertainment Industry.
One day, Joey hopes to move to Italy to perfect the art of making pasta but for now, he is content watching his favorite movies, correcting his friends’ grammar, and being the four-time fantasy football champion.
Here’s what he had to say about joining humanID:
“I was intrigued by the mission and the idea of working in a startup environment. Everything seemed very fast-paced and task-oriented while also maintaining a super friendly work atmosphere. I honestly expect humanID to take off over the next few years.”
He also wanted everyone to meet the pet behind the human of humanID. Here are Baxter and Jesse, some of the good-est boys!
Join the humanID team for a community that will help you grow and challenge yourself by providing the opportunity to take on new responsibilities and collaborate with other students. Apply using the link here.
A lack of data privacy on Grindr leads to the outing and resignation of a Catholic Priest
A Catholic newsletter called The Pillar was able to find sensitive information about a priest from what they claimed was “commercially available app signal data” and ultimately caused him to resign
The lack of privacy on LGBTQ+ dating apps is another poignant example of how data collected by advertising companies can be used to track and disclose the most personal details of an online user’s life
Packages of data such as approximate locations and telephone static ID numbers (a unique string of numbers assigned to every mobile device) can even be purchased from third-party vendors
How do you feel about personal data often being so easy to access? Comment below and share your sentiments!
Microsoft rep exposes secret government subpoenas for cloud service providers to the House
The US House Committee on the Judiciary gathered to hear testimonies on the government’s practice of secretly subpoenaing cloud service providers
During the second half of 2020, Microsoft reported having received 24,798 requests for consumer data from US law enforcement
There is a plethora of sensitive data stored in the cloud and federal law enforcement’s ability to breach that data is a threat to user security
What do you think about the government’s history of secret cloud subpoenas? Tell us your thoughts by commenting below!
Black athletes call for online accountability after racial abuse on social media
Black athletes who have been recently targeted by racist comments online boycotted social media demanding that platforms increase accountability and implement real-name policies to reduce instances of prejudice on the web
The athletes called for the outlawing of online anonymity. But for various groups such as activists and whistleblowers, anonymity offers a chance to expose injustice and preserve the truth with a reduced risk of persecution
humanID’s SSO login offers an alternative solution by keeping users anonymous while simultaneously maintaining accountability and preventing abuse online
Athletic organizations in the UK ultimately confronted Twitter and Facebook for what they said was systemic failure to prevent their platforms being used to spread racism
What are your thoughts on having more accountability on the web? Let us know by commenting below!
Our Team
humanID is diverse and growing! People from 8 countries and 37 universities contribute to humanID’s mission, and we’re actively recruiting for our Fundraising and Sales teams for the summer. Check out open internship positions and apply here.
Can you support us in our mission to fix the internet? Donate today.
This email was brought to you by Hinal Patel, Noe Rouizem, Sherry Liang, Winnie Huang, Hur-Ali Rizvi, Angela Ao, Helena Miller, Tanunnut Suebsang, Quan Nguyen, and Chris Lethert.