Week in the Privacy News 2026-33

Good Monday, friends of privacy!

This week: major moves in Zcash privacy, new ways to evade AI surveillance, threats to anonymous operating systems and the latest battles over who controls our devices and data.

And for tool of the week, Ironwood - Zcash's newest shielded pool, letting users hold and transact ZEC using ZK-proofs.

Tool of the week

• Ironwood

Insights

• Ironwood surpassed Orchard as the largest Zcash shielded pool
• Researchers find a way to make people harder for AI surveillance cameras to detect
• Researchers demonstrate quantum encryption where intercepted ciphertext cannot simply be copied
• Flock cameras helped police follow a driver across state lines before searching his car
• Tails patches security vulnerabilities that could have exposed anonymous users

Knowledge

• Tuta examines how Google's Android changes could restrict sideloading and independent apps
• EFF looks at hackers building technology that shifts power back toward its users
• GrapheneOS raises concerns after Revolut blocks users who don't pass Google Play checks
• Proton finds 74% of European businesses fear losing access to critical US tech services

Inspiration: Going On(Line) an offering of media from the web

• Get the book The Politics of Privacy: Autonomy and Power in the Digital Age
• Investigating Flock: America's Mass Surveillance Company
• Check the State of Decentralised Privacy report
• The Digital Independence They Don't Want You To Have by Naomi Brockwell
• Web3 Privacy Now courses in our Academy

Inspiration: Going Off(Line) an offering of IRL events

*(new/changes in **bold**)*

• Aug 14–16 - HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) - New York, USA
• Aug 26–27 - ETH Belgrade - Belgrade, Serbia
• Sep 4-5 - Common S3nse - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Sep 13–15 - ETHTaipei - Taipei, Taiwan
• Sep 15–16 - European Blockchain Convention - Barcelona, Spain
• Sep 19–27 - ETHTokyo - Tokyo, Japan
• Nov 2 - Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress #3 - Mumbai, India