Tag Archives: privacy

At Apple WWDC, iPhone and Mac take a step closer to unification

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. At Apple’s WWDC 2019, it’s like Marvel and DC Comics characters crossing over into the same movie. Or the Yankees and Red Sox sharing the same dugout. You can hear the exasperated voice of Seinfeld’s George Costanza: “Worlds are colliding!” …

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Apple privacy push takes on all the creepy ways you’re tracked online

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference. At WWDC 2019 on Monday, Apple upped the ante on privacy again. “We believe privacy is a fundamental human right and we engineer it into everything that we do,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said at the annual developer’s …

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BlackBerry Messenger is dead: Use these apps instead

It’s official: BlackBerry Messenger is no more. The beloved messaging platform was officially shut down on May 31, following an announcement earlier this year. BBM was one of the first messaging apps to use read receipts and typing indicators, but it long held up security as a key selling point.  While you may be feeling nostalgic about the demise of BBM, …

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Don’t let your smartphone track you

Dear Maggie, I’m freaked out by reports about how my smartphone can be used to track my every move. Is there anything I can do to maintain my privacy? Thanks, Paranoid Dear Paranoid, Unfortunately, your concerns are rooted in reality. Smartphones have become a human “electronic tag” that we constantly carry with us. Precise locations, dates, times, durations and what …

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Google holds firm on Chrome changes that may break ad blockers

When it comes to concerns over new ad-blocking limits planned for Chrome, Google has budged but so far hasn’t moved very far. The company is responding to criticism of proposed changes to its Chrome web browser that may cripple ad-blocking tools. Though Google revealed it’s lifting some limits and plans an exemption for enterprise users, it doesn’t look like the search …

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Apple sued by iTunes customers over alleged data misuse

A lawsuit filed by three iTunes customers claims Apple is sending personal user data to third parties to boost its revenues.  It is alleged that Apple is selling, renting or disclosing full names, addresses, genres of music and specific titles of songs purchased on the iTunes Store app on iPhones without consent or notification. According to documents filed with the United …

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Apple has a secret facility for stress

Apple’s emphasis on protecting its customers’ privacy includes putting the processors and components used in its iPhones through  a battery of extreme tests to ensure they’re not vulnerable to attack. The tests, conducted at a secret facility near Apple’s new Apple Park campus, even subjects chips to extreme swings in temperature, The Independent learned during a recent interview with Craig …

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Europe’s GDPR has accomplished a lot in its infancy

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, which celebrates its first birthday Saturday, has managed to do a lot as a tyke. The GDPR changed the rules for companies that collect, store or process information on residents of the EU, requiring more openness about what data they have and who they share it with. The law is hailed as the global standard …

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Samsung deepfake AI could fabricate a video of you from a single profile pic

Imagine someone creating a deepfake video of you simply by stealing your Facebook profile pic. The bad guys don’t have their hands on that tech yet, but Samsung has figured out how to make it happen.   Software for creating deepfakes — fabricated clips that make people appear to do or say things they never did — usually requires big data sets …

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Apple pushes privacy for ads, e

Apple has built new browser technology designed to let advertisers figure out when their ads successfully convinced you to buy something — but without tracking you across the internet and harvesting personal details to do so. The plan, called Privacy Preserving Ad Click Attribution and detailed Wednesday, is now built into Apple’s test browser for developers, Safari Technology Preview 82. …

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