Privacy is a growing concern in today’s world. Follow along with all our coverage related to privacy, security, what Apple and other companies are doing to keep your information safe, and what steps you can take to keep your information private.
A “massive” Facebook hiring freeze has been announced, which the company says will affect “almost every team across the company.”
Parent company Meta told employees that four factors were behind the decision, and that Apple’s introduction of App Tracking Transparency was the first of these …
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The Spanish prime minister’s iPhone was infected by NSO’s Pegasus spyware, says the government. Defense Minister Margarita Robles’ phone was also hit. This is just the latest in a slew of high-profile Pegasus attacks revealed within the last few weeks.
While it is foreign governments who would most want to target phones belonging to most prime ministers, there’s another obvious suspect in the case of Spain …
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A new study digging into how Amazon uses Alexa voice recordings from its customers has concluded that the company and third parties leverage the audio to deliver targeted ads directly on Echo smart speakers as well as the web. That’s in contrast to Apple not using Siri recordings for ads and sharing voice data being turned off by default on devices like HomePod and iPhone since 2019. However, Amazon contends the new research is based on “inaccurate inferences or speculation.”
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Cellebrite iPhone cracking kit allows the company’s clients to access virtually all of the private data stored on a phone – in some cases, even if the phone is locked.
But the exact capabilities depend on both the model of the iPhone and the version of iOS it is running. We managed to get access to the user documentation for a recent version of the kit to see what it can do …
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We learned last month that Apple was tricked into releasing personal data to hackers, after they posed as law enforcement officials with emergency data requests. A follow-up report reveals that some of this data was used to sexually extort minors.
The latest report also sheds light on how the hackers were able to fool Apple and other tech giants, including Facebook, Google, Snap, Twitter, and Discord …
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A new study funded by Apple and released today aims to show the impact that App Tracking Transparency has had on the mobile advertising industry. The study claims that App Tracking Transparency has not benefited Apple’s own advertising business, and “Apple offers greater privacy options in its own apps than is required under ATT.”
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Last December, Apple launched its Communication Safety in Messages feature for kids in the US with iOS 15.2 that helps protect them from viewing or sharing photos with nudity. Now the opt-in feature that can be set up by parents will be arriving soon in the UK.
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NSO spyware Pegasus targeted US iPhones indirectly, despite the company forbidding customers from infecting phones with American SIMs. Devices belonging to Catalan politicians and others were also infected, with the Spanish government suspected to be responsible.
Additionally, it was discovered that a device connected to the network at 10 Downing Street – the office of British prime minister Boris Johnson – was also infected …
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Apple’s privacy focus is one of the company’s proudest boasts – but engineers and others involved in product development say that it comes at a cost.
Lack of access to usage data means product development teams can’t offer the kind of personalized features they would like to, and some things they want to do are completely impossible because a relatively junior privacy guardian says no …
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As promised, Apple CEO Tim Cook’s privacy speech was the headline address to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, describing the fight for privacy as “one of the most essential battles of our time.”
His speech followed an earlier call by FTC chair Lina Kahn for a federal privacy law, alongside antitrust legislation to make tech giants less powerful …
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Consumers and tech giants alike favor a federal privacy law, rather than the piecemeal approach of individual states passing their own laws – and the chair of the Federal Trade Commission says that now is the time to create one.
She made her remarks at a global summit hosted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, where Apple CEO Tim Cook is also set to speak later today. While the two may agree on privacy issues, they are likely to hold very different views on antitrust action …
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It’s today been reported that Pegasus spyware hacked iPhones belonging to senior European Union officials, including that of the European Justice Commissioner.
NSO denies that its spyware was used, though the company’s past contradictory statements don’t lend the denial too much credibility …
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Apple is dropping out of a privacy trade group that has shifted towards more “industry-friendly data privacy laws.” The news was first reported by Politico and Apple confirmed the decision through a spokesperson. The change comes ahead of Apple CEO Tim Cook headlining a global privacy summit next week.
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Apple offered key AirTag anti-stalking measures when it first launched its tracking devices, and has since offered two rounds of improvements. AirTags unequivocally offer better protection against misuse by stalkers and thieves than any other device on the market – and that’s something we’ve continually stressed.
However, it’s equally undeniable that AirTags have brought a whole new level of awareness to the very existence of small and affordable trackers, and that awareness has increased the risk. So I think it would be beneficial for Apple take additional anti-stalking measures – and here are a few of our ideas …
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An analysis of 150 police reports shows that Apple’s AirTag stalking protections are working around a third of the time.
While AirTags can and have been used by stalkers, examining reports from eight police departments reveals that exactly one-third of the victims were alerted by notifications on their phones …
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The International Association of Privacy Professionals announces that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook will headline its global privacy summit, set to take place next week. Cook’s speech will open the summit, which will be open to all in-person attendees as well as live-streamed via YouTube.
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It’s been revealed that NSO’s Pegasus hacked the iPhone of an award-winning journalist, just weeks after Apple sought an injunction that would bar the company from targeting iPhone users.
NSO’s Pegasus software is so dangerous for two reasons. First, it gives access to almost all the data on the phone, including messages, photos, and location. Second, it works via a zero-click approach …
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A major Wyze Cam security flaw easily allowed hackers to access stored video, and it went unfixed for almost three years after the company was alerted to it, says a new report today.
Additionally, it appears that Wyze Cam v1 – which went on sale back in 2017 – will never be patched, so it will remain vulnerable for as long as it is used …
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Ad-dependent companies like Facebook parent Meta are already upset about App Tracking Transparency, but Apple’s privacy plans may go further than this – and involve a further battle with advertisers that are trying to track users.
The report today is purely speculative but would be consistent with the company’s direction – especially given the whack-a-mole battle against ad tracking …
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A report today says that ‘Russian Google’ Yandex is sending data harvested from millions of iOS app users to Russia – whether or not you use the company’s apps. Laws there could compel the company to make the data available to the Russian government.
Your data can be grabbed from a wide range of third-party apps which use a developer tool created by Yandex. Developers save time and money by using the Yandex API AppMetrica to obtain analytics data for their app, while the company gets user data in return …
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Messaging interoperability encryption challenges are being discussed by security experts, following the European Union’s decision to make cross-platform messaging capabilities a legal requirement.
There was much debate on whether or not to include messaging interoperability in the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the challenges of maintaining end-to-end encryption was one of the key issues …
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A lobbying group whose members include Apple and Google is being accused of pushing for weak privacy legislation in a bid to pre-empt stronger measures by individual states.
As Congress makes little progress toward a federal privacy law, individual states are implementing their own legislation …
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Update 2: The security researcher who discovered the privacy failure reports that Apple has now fixed it.
Expand Expanding CloseAs of iOS 15.4 and watchOS 8.5 the Mail app on the watch no longer leaks the IP address when downloading remote content. Remote content is blocked on the watch even when Mail Privacy Protection is on …
For years, Apple has been vocal about its belief that privacy is a fundamental human right. In 2020, its decision to diminish iPhone ad tracking sparked a debate between executives about just how far the company will go to stop this pursuit.
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