Essay: websites can track your device even after you clear cookies

A widely shared essay shows how a website can recognize a device by measuring things like its graphics chip, processor, screen, fonts and language settings. You don't have to approve anything, and the result stays the same after you clear cookies or switch on a VPN. The author argues that Google stepped back from its promise to end third-party cookies and now allows device fingerprinting in its ad products. The essay says Brave adds small random noise to these readings, while Tor and Mullvad Browser make every user look the same.

Microsoft says unpatched Windows PCs will stop getting updates in 2027

Microsoft is replacing the security certificates Windows uses to check that it is talking to the real Windows Update servers. The current certificates expire on May 17 and June 19, 2027. The new ones arrive through the normal monthly updates. Windows 11 25H2 and later need no action. Windows 11 24H2 needs the September 2025 update or newer. Other supported Windows 10 and 11 versions need the July 2026 update or later.

The team behind the Deno JavaScript runtime is joining Cloudflare

Cloudflare says the Deno team is joining the company. Deno's open-source server software, celld, will be merged with Cloudflare's own open-source runtime, workerd. Deno creator Ryan Dahl says the aim is to make it easy to run Cloudflare-style apps across many machines on your own hardware. Cloudflare's Kenton Varda rejects the idea that the company uses its platform design to lock customers in.

LineageOS 24, a free Android alternative for older phones, moves to Android 17

LineageOS has released version 24, based on Android 17, earlier than usual. It includes security patches up to October 2026 and a new photo editor called Canvas. A new tool lets you install the system from a web browser, so you don't need separate desktop software. The project turns 10 on December 24, 2026.

Finland orders Google to pause work on two data centres over environmental checks

Finland's Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) told Google to suspend work at two data-centre sites, in Muhos and Kajaani, by 23 October at the latest. The work can resume once the required environmental impact assessments are done. The Guardian reports that the company working for Google cleared 330 hectares of forest in Muhos before the assessment was finished. The sites are part of a €13bn project in northern Finland. Google said it had "fallen short of our own high standards" and will follow the regulator's guidance.

Nitter, an alternative way to view X posts, has no lawyer after X's legal threats

The developer of Nitter, a privacy-friendly front end for reading X, says X Corp. sent cease-and-desist letters on August 24 and September 8, 2026. The letters demand that Nitter sites and the project's code be taken down for good. The developer says the promised legal help fell through and is now asking for money and lawyers.

Activision reportedly takes down AI-built Call of Duty games that ran in the browser

Developer Luckey Faraday says Activision sent a copyright takedown notice for his unofficial browser versions of Call of Duty games, and that all of them are now offline. He made them with the help of AI coding agents. The notice has not been made public and Activision has not commented.

Everything else