For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Apple on Tuesday said it’s making mobility data from Apple Maps available to provide insights to governments and health officials around the world trying to slow the spread of COVID-19. “While protecting your privacy, we are sharing aggregated …
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Apple, Google to terminate COVID
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. COVID-19 tracking technology being rolled out by Apple and Google has an expiration date, the tech giants say. The companies say Bluetooth interoperability they’re developing for Android and iOS devices won’t be used after the public health crisis caused by the respiratory disease …
Read More »Apple and Google building coronavirus tracking tech for iOS and Android, coming in May
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites. Two of the tech industry’s biggest players are working together to fight the coronavirus, announcing a new set of tools that could come to a majority of smartphones around the world. The new technology, outlined in white papers published by Apple and Google …
Read More »Longtime Mozilla leader Mitchell Baker is now CEO
On Wednesday, Mozilla chair and longtime leader Mitchell Baker was named permanent CEO of the company that makes the Firefox web browser. Mitchell became interim CEO of Mozilla in December 2019 after former CEO Chris Beard resigned. The company conducted an external candidate search over the last eight months, and concluded the Mitchell is the right leader for Mozilla at …
Read More »Coronavirus app could trace your contacts without sacrificing your privacy
Some of the biggest names in encryption are developing a smartphone app they hope will tamp down the coronavirus pandemic without trampling privacy. Private Automated Contact Tracing, or PACT, is designed to let people figure out if they’ve been near others who’ve caught COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. If you’ve tested positive, you can use the …
Read More »SpaceX reportedly bans use of Zoom videoconferencing app by employees
SpaceX has prohibited employees from using the videoconferencing app Zoom, citing “significant privacy and security concerns,” Reuters reported Wednesday. As the novel coronavirus causing a surge in work- and learn-from-home activity, Zoom has quickly become the video meeting app of choice. An email sent to employees on Saturday said that all access to Zoom had been disabled. “We understand that many …
Read More »Europe develops coronavirus tracking app meant to also preserve privacy
Researchers and scientists across Europe are collaborating to develop apps that can track the spread of the coronavirus without violating the EU’s stringent privacy regulations. The Pan-European Privacy Preserving Proximity Tracing initiative (PEPP-PT) announced on Wednesday that it was releasing code for an app that it believes will allow for contact tracing while still abiding by the General Data Protection …
Read More »Ensure your privacy around smart speakers with a $39 Paranoid auto
Do you trust your smart speaker? You probably have an Alexa device in the kitchen or a Google Home in the bedroom, and there’s ample evidence that your privacy has not always been a top priority. To be sure, there are ways to protect yourself, like manually setting your speaker’s microphone to mute when it’s not in use. But that’s inconvenient. …
Read More »Apple updates Safari on iOS and Mac to block third
Annoyed at how much data companies gather from your web browsing? Apple’s giving Safari on iOS and MacOS an update to help. Announced Tuesday by Apple WebKit engineer John Wilander in a blog post on the WebKit site, the move fully blocks third-party cookies, bringing the latest version of Safari in-line with other browsers like Tor. (WebKit is the browser …
Read More »$5 monthly Firefox subscription gets you ad
Firefox users in the US will be able to read news on many websites with no ads for $5 a month — or just $2.50 a month in a promotion for the first six months — through a deal with startup Scroll. Mozilla announced the Scroll partnership Tuesday. It’ll be available through Mozilla’s Firefox test pilot program, which lets people …
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