The Markup

A photo illustration of a woman wearing a virtual reality headset amidst surveillance imagery on the U.S.–Mexico border.

Hello World

A Virtual Reality Tour of Surveillance Tech at the Border

A conversation with Dave Maass of the Electronic Frontier Foundation

February 24, 2024 08:00 ET

Photograph of Senator Ron Wyden speaking

Privacy

What Happens to Your Sensitive Data When a Data Broker Goes Bankrupt?

Data on sensitive locations, such as abortion clinics, could be sold off, raising alarms

February 23, 2024 10:15 ET

Illustration of three video game console characters in a character select screen: a Nintendo Switch, an Xbox controller and a Playstation controller, with the words “Choose your Fighter!” above them

Privacy

Use Our Game Safety Buddy to Protect Your Kids and Yourself on Gaming Consoles

Our tool and advice can help you navigate the overwhelming number of settings on today’s game platforms.

February 13, 2024 08:00 ET

Illustration of an askew bingo card with 47 of the company logos that The Markup reported on; various chips labeled “House,” “FTC,” and “SENATE” are placed on a few bingo squares

Impact

How Abortion Ruling Spurred Federal Action Against the Location Data Industry

Nearly a quarter of the 47 location data companies we identified in 2021 have faced Congressional scrutiny or regulatory enforcement actions

January 26, 2024 08:00 ET

Privacy

Each Facebook User is Monitored by Thousands of Companies

A new study looks at who is sending information about your online activity to Facebook

January 17, 2024 08:00 ET

Digital illustration of several location pins on a map crossed out with “X’s”

Privacy

Federal Trade Commission Sanctions Location Data Broker X-Mode

The company is prohibited from selling sensitive location data and is ordered to put consumer privacy protections in place

January 11, 2024 17:41 ET

Digital illustration of Monique holding an oversize smartphone and chat bubbles in her arms

LevelUp

Without a Trace: How to Keep Your Phone Off the Grid

We answer the questions readers asked in response to our guide to anonymizing your phone

December 13, 2023 08:00 ET

Digital illustration of a living room, where the furniture and objects are being sucked pixel by pixel into a television displaying a bright white screen

Privacy

Your Smart TV Knows What You’re Watching

Here’s how to turn off “automated content recognition,” the Shazam-like software on smart TVs that tracks what you’re watching

December 12, 2023 08:00 ET

A person holding a credit card as they visit Kroger's website

Privacy

Kroger Sued for Sharing Sensitive Health Data With Meta

Two proposed federal class action lawsuits, filed in the wake of a Markup investigation, accuse the grocer of disclosing private data through its online store and pharmacy

November 27, 2023 09:51 ET

Digital illustration of a phone displaying a privacy policy, with various parts of it highlighted and annotated with numbers. Behind the phone are 6 vignettes that are numbered. The first vignette shows a car with a dashed line pointing to a location symbol. The second vignette shows a series of spheres on a conveyer belt passing through a machine; they end up as cubes. The third vignette is a bunch of browser windows with little fuzzballs interspersed among them. The fourth vignette shows two hands about to shake, and dollar signs are behind them. The fifth vignette shows a room, with eyes peering in the back of the room. The sixth vignette shows a black tentacle creature chasing a blue cursor character.

The BreakdownPrivacy

How to Quickly Get to the Important Truth Inside Any Privacy Policy

An investigative data journalist and a former tech lawyer teach you how to spot tricks and hidden disclosures within these interminable documents—and even how to claw back some privacy

August 3, 2023 08:00 ET