Tag Archives: privacy

Amazon announced a heap of devices last month, including five new Echo smart speakers, more Ring smart home security, new Alexa commands and a “smart ring” it’s calling Echo Loop. But the new Echo Frames smart glasses ($180) with always-on Alexa voice control are what’s drawing the most attention from gadget lovers and privacy advocates alike. Echo …

Facebook has repeatedly pushed back against calls to split up Instagram and WhatsApp from the social media giant, arguing it won’t solve its woes around privacy, election meddling and other issues.  It turns out even one of its competitors, Snapchat, isn’t sure if a break-up is a good idea. Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of Snapchat’s parent company Snap, …

Sometimes developers of religious apps take the edict to be “fishers of men” too far, and sometimes the faithful put their faith in the wrong apps. As public focus on the security of apps on the Google Play Store intensifies following years of data leaks, adware infections, security scandals and malware contagions, little coverage has been devoted to one of …

Google on Wednesday announced enhancements to some of its products that give you more control over how long your activity history is saved, including adding the ability to use your voice to manage your Google Assistant data. The updates come amid growing public scrutiny of various tech giants’ use and handling of your personal data. The update to Google Assistant …

If you’re an athlete, sponsor, journalist or volunteer at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, you’ll be using a facial recognition system from Japanese electronics giant NEC and chipmaker Intel to get where you need to be. Intel is collaborating with NEC to provide “a large-scale face recognition system for the Olympics,” said Ricardo Echevarria, general manager of Intel’s Olympics program. …

Google’s plans to use a new internet protocol has raised concerns among congressional antitrust investigators who worry it could give the company an unfair competitive advantage, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Investigators want to know whether Google will use any data collected through the new protocol for commercial purposes. Investigators for the House Judiciary Committee asked Google in a …

Facebook and its messaging tool WhatsApp will have to give UK police access to users’ encrypted messages under an upcoming treaty with the US, says a Saturday report by Bloomberg, which cites a confidential source. The treaty, which covers other US-based social media platforms as well, would require the sharing in regard to investigations of serious crimes, such as terrorism …

At its Alexa event on Wednesday, Amazon announced a new low-bandwidth network called Amazon Sidewalk that could extend the range at which you can control your devices beyond what Bluetooth and Wi-Fi currently allow.  Amazon Sidewalk taps the 900MHz band of the radio spectrum — typically used for amateur radio — to extend the distance at which you can control your smart …

With Tuesday’s release of Apple’s iPadOS — a dedicated operating system for the iPad, offering the tablets a suite of new features — Apple not only helps position the iPad as a laptop competitor, but ups the ante on data security during a time of escalating mobile malware threats. The new operating system, first announced at the company’s Worldwide Developers …

Google will make changes to its Assistant and be more transparent in the future regarding its review of voice recordings. This move follows a backlash after the company confirmed in July that contractors were listening to users’ recorded audio to help improve the voice-activated virtual assistant’s capabilities. The company laid out changes coming to Assistant in a blog post Monday and clarified …