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.
Facebook has long allowed you to download an archive of all the data the social network has on you, and HackerNoon’s Georges Abi-Heila decided to find out exactly what company knows about its users …
If you’ve ever received a phishing email attempting to capture your Apple ID login – like the recent App Store subscription ones – there’s a good reason for that: they can be sold on the dark web for $15.39 each.
That’s the most valuable login on the market for anything outside of the financial services sector, according to research conducted by top10vpn.com …
Updated with Facebook comment at the end
Facebook caused a lot of raised eyebrows when it incorporated the Onavo Protect iOS VPN app into its own app in a feature it called Protect.
Facebook billed it as protecting user data, but in practice it does the opposite, allowing Facebook to collect and analyze your data. A new analysis of the Onavo Protect code by security researcher Will Strafach raises more questions …
What’s the cost of viewing a new movie in theaters every day with MoviePass? $10 per month and access where you go after the movies. That’s according to MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe who has been publicly pitching his business as a data mining service to anyone skeptical about its business model, but the privacy implementations likely won’t make customers feel great about using the service.
Starting today, Apple will be moving the iCloud data of Chinese customers to a server run by GCBD, a company owned by the provincial government …
The European Union wants to be able to force US tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft to hand over electronic evidence across borders when investigating serious crimes. The proposed law would apply to any company that does business within Europe, no matter where its data centers are based.
Tech firms argue that such cross-border arrangements would ‘undermine consumer trust in cloud services’ …
Over the weekend, Facebook announced that it will be bringing a refreshed privacy center to make it easier for users to find and customize settings. The post also goes over some tips for keeping your data safe along with the company’s privacy principles which tout accountability and constant improvement.
Uber’s head of security communications has today announced that the company is removing access from its iOS app that may have allowed the company to record a user’s display unknowingly. Security researchers had noticed that Uber was given access to these private APIs by Apple, an unprecedented move from the security focused company.
Apple has long stressed its strong commitment to user privacy, and we mentioned in passing a couple of days ago that it had refreshed its privacy page with a new look and updated information.
The company is clearly keen to draw attention to the updated page, with both Tim Cook and Phil Schiller tweeting links to it …
Researchers at three universities have accused Apple of taking an ‘immense risk’ with the security of user data thanks to what they say is a poor implementation of differential privacy.
Differential privacy is a method of allowing Apple and other companies to analyse user data in a way intended to be completely anonymous. Enough noise is injected into the data that it is supposed to be impossible to match any of that data to a specific individual.
However, security researchers have for the second time questioned how well Apple’s implementation works in practice …
An international cybersecurity awareness survey found that 65% of U.S. tech sector workers now use a virtual private network (VPN) on either work devices, personal ones or both …
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Popular messaging app Telegram received an update over the weekend that adds a couple of new sticker features, and provides an easy way to ensure you don’t miss any replies or mentions in group chats …
Uber attracted a great deal of criticism last year when it started tracking the location of customers even after their rides had ended. While the tracking was said to last for only five minutes, some riders reported that it appeared to be tracking them for days or even weeks after their rides.
The company offered an explanation for this the following day, but many were still unhappy that they were forced to choose between never allowing the app to track their location (which would make it next to impossible to use) or allowing it at all times. Uber says that it is now fixing the problem …
Apple has joined with Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon and others in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that 4th Amendment protections apply to cellphone location data. This would mean that location data could not be accessed without a warrant or court order.
The issue is before the Supreme Court as a result of a 2011 conviction …
A couple of days after Apple started pulling VPN apps from the App Store in China to comply with government restrictions on their use, Russia looks to be next in line to clamp down on the use of virtual private networks …
An Apple software engineer recently revealed that Apple is now rolling out its use of differential privacy to cover both web browsing and health data, as it now uses the technique to process millions of pieces of daily information from device users.
Differential privacy has so far flown largely under the radar, so we thought it would be a good time to look at what it does and how it works – and to ask how comfortable you feel about its wider use by Apple …
Facebook is testing a new feature designed to protect profile photos from being downloaded. The aim is to make women in particular feel more comfortable about uploading their photo to the service.
While the battle between the FBI and Apple over backdoor access to iPhones ended without a legal ruling, it seems the European Union takes Apple’s side. The European Parliament has proposed legislation which would safeguard data privacy and specifically outlaw the creation of backdoors for law enforcement agencies.
The proposed legislation would also provide a legal right to use end-to-end encryption, preventing individual EU countries from banning its use …
A new report out of China details the arrest of some 20 employees working as Apple distributors who illegally sold customer data as part of a $7 million operation. The arrested employees reportedly worked in “direct marketing and outsourcing” roles for the company in the Zhejiang province.
Twitter has introduced a new privacy policy, with some significant changes taking effect next month.
First, it is no longer respecting Do Not Track, which allowed web users to opt out of cross-site tracking on websites that honor the setting. Do Not Track is supported by most major browsers, including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer …
Antitrust regulators in Europe have fined Facebook €110 ($122M) for misleading them over its acquisition of the secure messaging service WhatsApp.
The European Commission said that the fine would have been more than twice as high but for Facebook’s acknowledgement of wrong-doing and cooperation with the investigation …
Uber has announced that an update to the app rolling out over the next few weeks will make it easier for customers to delete their accounts. Previously, deleting the app did not remove your account from Uber servers, leaving your data in place …
Just a few days after Congress reversed internet privacy rules enacted during the Obama administration, Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon have all made statements claiming they will not sell personal web browsing histories.
Well, it’s official. Both the Senate and the House voted to overturn privacy rules created by the FCC, and your ISP will now be free to sell your Internet browsing history and location data to advertisers.
Internet service providers will have a few expenses to set off against this revenue stream – like the cost of donations to the politicians who voted to allow it.
But if you want to opt out, there’s still one way you can do so: use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) …
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