The Future of Weaponized App Data

It’s an old story with a new twist. A top administrator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned after someone leaked information about his private life. Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill left his post after a Catholic-oriented Substack accused him of being a frequent user of Grindr.

How, exactly, did the Substack know that Msgnr. Burrill was using Grindr? How many of our apps are spying on us and collecting this kind of data? And just how easy is it for a viscous third party to get hold of that data for nefarious ends.

The Inevitable Weaponization of App Data Is Here, and Motherboard staff writer Joseph Cox saw it coming. 

Also on the pod this week, Lorenzo and I discuss the 48 advocacy groups calling on the FTC to ban Amazon’s surveillance programs, a “raid” Israeli authorities conducted on the NSO offices, and the video game company Blizzard’s inappropriate actions at a hacker conference.

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