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.
Apple takes user privacy very seriously. The company believes that privacy in software, hardware, and services is part of a user’s rights and should be valued as such.
There’s been some amusement as a certain well-known ‘adult entertainment’ site announced the launch of its own VPN service.
Smutty jokes aside, there’s never been a more important time to use a VPN. Less than $100 will now buy a bad guy the equipment they need to carry out a man-in-the-middle attack – where they spoof a public WiFi hotspot and intercept the traffic. Some of these devices are even small enough to be disguised as a power plug, meaning they could be left in a coffee shop happily collecting data to be later used at leisure.
And the loss of net neutrality raises the prospect of ISPs offering a two-speed Internet, or even blocking sites altogether. Most are adamant that they’d never do so, but then they were equally vocal about wanting to end net neutrality, which makes no sense unless they planned to take advantage of the change …
Europe’s tough new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into force today. It provides the strongest protections the world has ever seen for customer and user data.
Even Apple – a company famed for its respect for customer privacy – had to strengthen its safeguards in order to meet the extremely high standards set by GDPR. But while the law only applies to European Union citizens, Apple and some other companies have said that they plan to roll out the same privacy standards worldwide …
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was widely criticized yesterday for failing to answer many of the questions put to him by the European Parliament.
He promised written answers to these, and some have been provided, but more than half of the unanswered questions remain so …
With the European Parliament having passed some extremely tough privacy legislation, and many members being well-versed in the issues as they relate to tech companies, there were high hopes for yesterday’s grilling of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Tough and pertinent questions were indeed asked, far more so than in Congress – but Zuckerberg failed to answer more than 40 of them …
Apple has today launched its new Data and Privacy website, allowing Apple users to download everything that Apple personally associates with your account, from Apple ID info, App Store activity, AppleCare history to data stored in iCloud like photos and documents. This is currently only available for European Union accounts, to comply with GDPR, and will roll out worldwide in the coming months.
There are also simple shortcuts to updating your info, temporarily deactivating your account and options to permanently delete it. Here’s how to do it …
If you enjoyed watching Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg squirming while being asked difficult questions and trying to keep a straight face while being asked stupid ones during his testimony to Congress, you might want to tune in to the sequel today …
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress was the video stream that launched a thousand memes – and now meme creators will get another opportunity. The European Parliament has announced that its meeting with Zuckerberg tomorrow will also be livestreamed …
Facebook has suspended around 200 apps as part of the internal investigation prompted by data misuse by Cambridge Analytica …
Google is making it easier to see the search, browsing and YouTube viewing history it keeps on you, to delete any items you don’t want included, and to stop the company from logging your activity in future …
A large part of the issue with the Cambridge Analytica scandal was that the Facebook data obtained by the company didn’t just come from those who clicked through to the survey, but also their Facebook friends. That, says a WSJ report, is a growing issue.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal—where 270,000 people who downloaded an app led to a data breach for 87 million Facebook users—is the first large-scale example of the importance of maintaining “group privacy,” says Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, head of the computational privacy group at Imperial College London.
In a hypothetical example, Prof. de Montjoye’s group reported that if just 1% of cellphones in London were compromised with malware, an attacker would be able to continuously track the location of more than half the city’s population …
Facebook is actively exploring the possibility of offering a subscription-based option which would remove ads from the feeds of those choosing to pay a monthly or annual fee …
Facebook may have taken a huge PR hit from allowing personal data to be misused by Cambridge Analytica, but the impact on the political consultancy itself appears to have been more significant. The firm says that it has ceased most operations, and is filing for bankruptcy …
Reform Government Surveillance is a coalition of major tech companies that looks to guide legislation for how the government can surveil individuals and access their information. Apple joined RGS back in 2013 and the coalition has recently issued a statement as talks have begun again about US officials pushing for a mandate to make tech companies build backdoors into their devices and services.
WhatsApp has today shared its updated privacy policy and terms of service. Additionally, the messaging service has made a FAQ sheet available for its upcoming data download tool, detailing how it will work.
An audit of Facebook’s privacy protections conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gave the company the all-clear despite the fact that Facebook was already aware of the Cambridge Analytica problem at the time …
Yesterday I finished reading A Higher Loyalty, the book written by former FBI director James Comey.
I did manage to resist the temptation to jump ahead to the juicy bits, and my patience was rewarded: a lot of what he says about his interactions with President Trump and his administration are a lot more meaningful when placed into the context of what comes before. Especially the contrast with his relationship – or lack of it – with the Obama administration.
But it was the brief section dealing with the FBI’s infamous battle with Apple which stood out for me …
The European Union’s new privacy regulations – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – come into force next month, and Facebook has now provided details of how it will comply. This includes asking for permission to use face-recognition.
It reveals that those in Europe will get the earliest and strongest privacy protections, with a weaker version rolling out in the US and elsewhere at a later date …
Part of the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal has been some people questioning Facebook’s entire business model, based on learning as much as possible about users in order to expose them to highly-targeted ads.
The alternative would be a paid subscription – something CEO Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t ruled out – but the costs might be significantly higher than some have suggested …
One of the things Apple touts is its focus on user privacy, and that commitment shows throughout the company’s ecosystem, all the way down to what is visible and not visible on a user’s Lock screen.
While investors may have been satisfied by the testimony given to Congress by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, not everyone was. Two senators – one Democrat, one Republican – plan to introduce a bipartisan bill to protect online privacy …
Mozilla has updated the Firefox for iOS app with four new features. Both iPhone and iPad versions now follow Safari’s lead in automatically blocking website tracking by default. Previously, it was an option you had to switch on …
There were plenty of unanswered questions at the end of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s second day of testimony before Congress.
For many questions, Zuckerberg said he would need to consult with his team to provide answers – at times exhibiting a surprising lack of familiarity with the privacy debate that has sprung up around his company’s activities …
A number of commentators in posts about Zuckerberg’s testimony to Congress have noted that Facebook has made campaign contributions to more than a few of those questioning him …