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Persona CEO Exposes Code Amid Surveillance Controversy

2/21/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Persona CEO Rick Song released email correspondence with security researchers amid surveillance allegations.
Researchers from vmfunc found 53 megabytes of unprotected Persona code on a government-authorized server.
The code includes 269 verification checks and allows filing Suspicious Activity Reports with U.S. and Canadian authorities.
Concerns about data misuse arise as the system can analyze selfies and link to government databases.

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Story summary

Persona CEO Rick Song released email correspondence with security researchers amid surveillance allegations.
Researchers from vmfunc found 53 megabytes of unprotected Persona code on a government-authorized server.
The code includes 269 verification checks and allows filing Suspicious Activity Reports with U.S. and Canadian authorities.
Concerns about data misuse arise as the system can analyze selfies and link to government databases.