Dragnets
Tracking Censorship and Surveillance
ProPublica investigates the threats to privacy in an era of cellphones, data mining and cyberwar, including how citizens are digitally tracked by governments and corporations.
Verizon to Pay $1.35 Million to Settle Zombie Cookie Privacy Charges
The settlement is the latest sign that the FCC is stepping up privacy enforcement actions.
I Ramped Up My Internet Security, and You Should Too
Here’s how ProPublica reporter Julia Angwin upped her defenses against hackers and spies.
Verizon’s Zombie Cookie Gets New Life
Verizon is merging its cellphone tracking supercookie with AOL’s ad tracking network to match users’ online habits with their offline details.
6 Tips for Protecting Your Communications From Prying Eyes
In an age of ubiquitous surveillance, there are still some things you can do to keep your communications private -- and not all of it is high-tech.
New Snowden Documents Reveal Secret Memos Expanding Spying
The Obama administration has stepped up the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program on U.S. soil to search for signs of hacking.
NSA Surveillance Lawsuit Tracker
A federal appeals court recently ruled that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of Americans' phone records is illegal.
Internet Censorship in China: We’ll Sing it for You
One Chinese government agency is so proud of how well they censor the Internet that they put their feelings to music.
Zombie Cookie: The Tracking Cookie That You Can't Kill
An online ad company called Turn is using tracking cookies that come back to life after Verizon users have deleted them. Turn's services are used by everyone from Google to Facebook.
Inside the Firewall: Tracking the News That China Blocks
Every day since Nov. 17, 2014, ProPublica has been testing whether the homepages of international news organizations are accessible to browsers inside China. Of the 18 in our test, 0 are currently blocked. Below are the results. To test, we use GreatFire.org, a censorship monitoring service in China that launched in 2011.
AT&T Stops Using Undeletable Phone Tracking IDs
Verizon remains committed to its program of inserting a tracking number into its customers' cellphone transmissions.
Somebody's Already Using Verizon's ID to Track Users
Twitter is using a newly discovered hidden code that the telecom carriers are adding to every page you visit – and it's very hard to opt out.
NSA Documents Suggest a Close Working Relationship Between NSA, U.S. Companies
Documents describe "contractual relationships" between NSA and U.S. companies, as well as undercover operatives at some U.S. companies.
U.S. Company Helps Russia Block Prominent Putin Critic
The U.S. blogging company LiveJournal is showing an error message to users inside Russia who try to read the blog of Alexei Navalny, a prominent politician and critic of the Russian government.
Leaked Docs Show Spyware Used to Snoop on U.S. Computers
Software created by the controversial U.K. based Gamma Group International was used to spy on computers that appear to be located in the United States.
Meet the Online Tracking Device That is Virtually Impossible to Block
A new kind of tracking tool, canvas fingerprinting, is being used to follow visitors to thousands of top websites, from WhiteHouse.gov to YouPorn.
Here’s One Way to Land on the NSA’s Watch List
If you downloaded the privacy software Tor in 2011, you may have been flagged to be spied on.
Privacy Tools: How to Block Online Tracking
Many companies track your behavior and request information about you without explicitly asking for your permission. Here’s how to combat the trackers.