U.S. has officially followed Britain’s mass surveillance changes and has passed the previously suggested Rule 41, once again introduced in congress back in September, 2016. This rule allows the Federal Bureau of Infvestigation to have an advanced procedures at their disposal allowing them to request warrants to hack computers of the mere suspicion they have committed a crime. The difference is that previously a request had to be issued from a judge of the same jurisdiction and with the new rule this action will be eliminated.
The rule was first suggested in 2014 by a committee which deals with criminal rules for the Judicial Conference in the U.S. In April, this rule was approved by the United States Supreme Court.
Many Against It
Attempts by senators Ron Wyden and Rand Paul were made to stop the law and also delay with several months but these attempts have now failed.
There were also other organizations who opposed the suggested changes of Rule 41:
- The team behind Tor Project.
- A lot of security researchers.
- Privacy International.
- Electronic Frontier Foundation or the EFF.
- The American Civil Liberties Union also known as ACLU.
The primary concern which according to those organizations will be addressed in the future is the amount of power given to the government agencies, because not only FBI will be able to access any given device they deem to belong to a criminal, but other agencies as well. Many feel concerned that some of those negative consequences may be that the one being hacked may lose important information due to malfunction of the malware that has hacked his device. Not only this, but if this device is an important device in an organization, like an important department in a city, it may malfunction an render communication within this department.
Furthermore, malware researchers are also in strong belief that Rule 41 will give indirect power to cyber-criminals as well, meaning that if malware created by the government is reverse engineered after being obtained by cyber-criminals, they may modify it in their own variant and begin using it to infect users for different purposes, like political agendas as well as financial gain interests. Clear example for this pattern of taking government technology is the usage of the military-grade encryption algorithms which were initially utilized to encrypt and secure top secret files for the NSA. Cyber-crooks now use those to encrypt user files and extort them for money via ransomware viruses. Similar to this, the new hacking tools used by the government can be restructured and used by crooks on unsuspecting victims.
Not only this, but also issues concerning this very low is that it also is in breach with some key human rights, concerning privacy, primarily regarding searching through the private data of unsuspecting citizens without their consent.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove User Privacy from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of User Privacy from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove User Privacy from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase User Privacy from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall User Privacy from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove User Privacy from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate User Privacy from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove User Privacy from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove User Privacy
Step 2: Uninstall User Privacy and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.Step 3: Clean any registries, created by User Privacy on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by User Privacy there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of User Privacy from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall User Privacy and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove User Privacy via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove malware from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts, programs and malware, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove User Privacy from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase User Privacy from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall User Privacy from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove User Privacy from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the User Privacy will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate User Privacy from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
