Spotlight suggestions in Apple’s Yosemite operating system. Apple Responding to concerns that Apple was automatically collecting user location and search query data through its latest Mac operating system, the company issued a statement Monday clarifying its customer data collection policies. Not long after OS X 10.10 Yosemite was released, customers began expressing privacy concerns about …
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Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt earlier this year. Christian Marquardt/Getty Images Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has responded to recent controversy by asserting that, “as long as we’re on the right side of producing value for citizens of the world we’re on the right side of history.” Even with controversy over privacy and taxation fresh in mind, Schmidt believes that …
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Approximately 1,600 AT&T customers were affected by the data breach. AT&T/CNET AT&T has fallen victim to a data breach after an employee allegedly broke the company’s privacy policy, AT&T confirmed to CNET. AT&T has started to send out letters to Vermont-based customers informing them of the data breach, a letter posted to the Vermont government’s website indicates. The letter claims …
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Graphics from the ComputerCop site promoting their ties to local law enforcement. ComputerCop The heavily distributed kid-monitoring software ComputerCop, which many police departments around the US gave to families for free, is doing far more harm than good, a new report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation alleges. An eight-month investigation by the group — a nonprofit that focuses on civil …
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The Blackphone is a mid-tier Android-powered smartphone in terms of hardware, but it comes with nine services designed to protect your privacy. Seth Rosenblatt/CNET It might seem like security roulette to test the Blackphone at a conference full of hackers, but what better place to gauge the Android-based smartphone’s claims of being extra safe? After three days of toting the …
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The Xiaomi Mi 4 Aloysius Low/CNET Xiaomi, a popular Chinese smartphone maker, apologized to customers and made key changes to its cloud-based messaging service, the company’s vice president announced Sunday. In a lengthy post to Google+, Xiaomi Vice President Hugo Barra responded to a report published last week from security firm F-Secure that claimed Xiaomi’s Cloud Messaging platform was collecting …
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Josh Miller/CNET The messaging service Snapchat, now a robust application for sharing both photos and videos, is built on the ephemeral nature of communication on its platform: Snap a picture or shoot a video, set a time limit for viewing, and send it off to a contact. When the time limit’s up, says Snapchat, the message disappears for good. Except …
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A few weeks ago, Facebook introduced the ability to sync photos taken on your iPhones, iPads, and Android phones to your Facebook account automatically. Jason Cipriani describes how to enable the feature in “Getting started with Facebook photo sync on Android, iPhone.” Your smartphone or tablet might prompt you to activate the service, which uploads via Wi-Fi or the cell …
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As Google’s Android operating system gains momentum in the smartphone market, some long-time Apple iPhone fans are considering a switch to Android. But should these former iPhone fans worry that Android alternatives won’t be as secure? With cyberattacks and malicious apps targeting Android smartphones increasing in frequency, some former Apple devotees are nervous about making the switch. In this edition …
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Related stories Opt out of Facebook tracking Remove your name from Facebook ads Change your default Timeline to Most Recent on Facebook How to change your Facebook vanity URL Facebook offers a gateway for sharing your thoughts, memories, and pictures with friends and family. Unfortunately, spammers are hard at work trying to take advantage of all that information, sending messages …
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