WhatsApp for iOS added over the weekend the ability to lock and hide your chats instantly with your face or fingerprint. The Facebook-owned messaging app now lets you add a layer of biometric security using Apple’s Face ID (if you have any iPhone X model) or Touch ID, which was introduced with 2013. You can …
Read More »
An embarrassing bug that compromised the privacy of FaceTime calls on iOS and Mac has surprised many Apple users. The problem occurred when you tried to place a call, but before the call connected, you could hear the audio of the person on the other end. Apple took over a week to respond to the flaw, which has prompted an investigation from the …
Read More »
Activists seeking greater transparency for online political ads say they’ve been struggling to monitor ads on Facebook after changes by the company. Tools created by WhoTargetsMe and ProPublica, groups based in Britain and the US, respectively, have been limited by the social networks’ crackdown on third-party plug-ins, The Guardian reported over the weekend. The browser extensions have allowed the groups …
Read More »
A German antitrust watchdog will order Facebook to stop gathering some user data, according to a report. The Federal Cartel Office, known locally as the Bundeskartellamt, is mainly concerned about the data sharing with apps and sites outside Facebook — including Twitter and the Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday. The group’s been investigating Facebook …
Read More »
Rokit, a new Android phone contender, has blasted into CES 2019 with five phones and a bundle of wide-ranging services that it hopes will pull attention to its startup brand. The surprisingly cheap prices span $35 for the entry-level Rokit One to $275 for the Rokit Pro IO 3D, a phone that includes a no-glasses-required 3D screen, international Wi-Fi calling …
Read More »
Facebook isn’t the same social network it used to be. A decade ago, status updates had to include the word “is.” Catching up with friends meant writing on their Facebook digital walls. Today’s social media couldn’t be more different. Users are sharing moments of their lives in vertical videos and photos that vanish in 24 hours through a feature called “Stories.” …
Read More »
Facebook may be getting into the cryptocurrency game. The social network is reportedly developing a digital currency that will let users transfer money on its WhatsApp messaging service, according to a report Friday from Bloomberg. The effort will focus first on the remittances market in India, according to Bloomberg. Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Now playing: Watch this: …
Read More »
Facebook-owned WhatsApp is being criticized for failing to curb the spread of child pornography on the messaging app. A report by two Israeli online safety groups, Netivei Reshet and Screensaverz, concluded that it was easy to find WhatsApp groups in which people shared images and videos of children being sexually abused. Some third-party apps that provide links to join WhatsApp …
Read More »
Several months after “pausing investment” in the service, Google is officially shutting down Allo, its messaging rival to the likes of Apple iMessage, Facebook Chat and WhatsApp. The search giant said in a blog post Wednesday that the app will work through March. Until then, users will be able to export their existing conversation history. “We’ve learned a lot from …
Read More »
Facebook isn’t just a social network for posting vacation photos or cat videos. It’s a multibillion dollar ad business. On Wednesday, internal Facebook emails and documents released by UK lawmakers provided a rare glimpse into the methods the social network explored to make money from the user data it’s collected over the years from all of our activity on it. …
Read More »
