Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

As Apple releases its transparency report, Google today releases its second Android Security Annual report. The report covers all things Android, from the security of the operating system itself, to the security of Google Play and the apps it provides access to. Of course, Google is keen to highlight everything it does to improve security for its users.

As such, the report shows how the company performs more than 400 million automatic security scans per day on devices with Google Mobile Services. Aided by machine learning, these scans help to home in on what are referred to as Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs). Google points out that just 0.5 percent of scanned devices feature PHAs, and this dropped to 0.15 percent for devices that only installed apps from Google Play.

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Reinvigorated interest in privacy, security and surveillance means that the transparency reports published by tech companies are always greeted with some enthusiasm. How much data are governments around the world asking for from companies? How much user data are companies handing over to the authorities?

Apple's latest transparency report reveals that the iPhone manufacturer has complied with an increased number of requests for data -- including 80 percent of requests in North America, and 97 percent in Latin America. But while the report makes for interesting reading, it also highlights a problem that Microsoft recently sued the Department of Justice over: even if companies want to be transparent about data requests, when it comes to National Security Requests it is not even possible to report the precise number of requests that have been received.

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There's nothing like a good sex scandal to get people talking, and that's certainly what's happened in the case of a celebrity threesome that's currently subject to a superinjunction banning the involved parties from being named. While the identities of the couple cannot be revealed by British newspapers, their names are well-known in other parts of the world, and all over the web.

The British press has played ball, agreeing not to name YMA, his husband PJS and the two others, AB and CD with whom a threesome is supposed to have taken place but it is impossible for law enforcement agencies to control what appears online. Google has been the first port of call for many curious-minded people eager to learn the names of those involved, and the search giant has said that -- despite many requests to do so -- it will not censor search results that could lead people to the names.

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Google is looking to take steps that will enable Chrome users to make more informed decisions about the extensions they install. Specifically, developers will have to provide more information about data collections in the interests of transparency.

In addition, developers will have to produce a privacy policy for their extensions, and must ask for permission before collecting data about users. Google's new User Data Policy introduces these extra requirements in the wake of increased demands from users for more information about what is going on in the background.

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In light of Edward Snowden's surveillance revelations, regular transparency reports from technology companies about the requests they have received from governments about data requests have become very common. But despite the name, transparency reports are not very transparent -- there are great restrictions on what companies like Microsoft are able to report. The company believes this is unconstitutional.

The restrictions are so strict that it is not even possible to precisely report the number of requests for user data that have been received. Instead, this data must be conveyed in bands such as 0-499, 500-999, and so on. Now Microsoft has had enough. There are privacy concerns, of course, but most disturbing is that in half of cases of requests for customer data, Microsoft has been gagged from letting those affected know about the governmental interest. As a result, Microsoft has decided to sue the Department of Justice in a bid to be more transparent.

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PayPal is, in many ways, the primary choice for making online payments. The company is keen to build on this and has launched a new product in the UK to widen its appeal. PayPal Credit is a virtual credit card that can be used online, and as an incentive to sign up, there's a four-month interest-free offer.

As this is an online credit card, applying for it takes a matter of moments, and PayPal is quick to point out that there's no hanging around waiting for a card and PIN to arrive. Apply online and you could be approved for a credit extension to your PayPal account.

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It's only a few weeks since the first developer preview of Android N was released, but now it's time for the second. Google has announced the availability of Android N Developer Preview 2 packed with bug fixes and a raft of new features.

Among the new tools for developers to play with is Vulkan, a new 3D rendering API which Google says provides a big performance boost for certain apps. Other key additions include support for the more human-looking Emoji Unicode 9, and new launcher shortcuts that can be used to quickly jump to specific actions within an app.

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Online abuse is a serious problem. While the likes of Twitter and Facebook are great platforms for trolls to indulge their hobby, it's the good, old-fashioned comments section where you'll find some of the most obvious examples of threats and abuse. The problem is so great that many websites have taken the seemingly drastic step of completely disabling comments on stories, while others do so on an individual basis for articles that could prove controversial.

Clearly this is less than ideal. In many ways it could be viewed as a form of censorship that curtails freedom of speech, and comments can be a valuable way to help a story to evolve. For many sites, comments are a black and white topic; on or off. Moderation -- again, often seen as a type of censorship -- is often employed, but this does little to stop abuse aimed at writers. The Guardian has conducted research into the abuse dealt out via comments on its site, and the findings make for disturbing reading.

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It's not long since the Reminders feature arrived in Google Calendar on the web, a few months after it debuted in iOS and Android. Now Google is rolling out another new feature that makes it easier to find time to reach your goals -- whether this is indulging in a hobby a few times a week, or just trying to do some regular exercise.

Goals in Google Calendar is not about ticking items off your bucket list, but automating the process of adding reminders to your calendar without having to manually search high and low for the necessary time. Just indicate what you want to do, and how often, and the rest will be taken care of for you. But it gets better...

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Linux apps running in Windows 10? What gives?! As if the arrival of Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10 wasn't enough, people have been quick to investigate the capabilities and limitation of Microsoft's embracing of the Linux command line.

Some commenters on our how-to guide asked what the point is. How about being able to run Linux apps in Windows without having to resort to using a virtual machine? It can be done. Here's how.

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Laws surrounding online surveillance will always prove controversial, and this is certainly true of the UK's proposed Investigatory Powers Bill -- aka the Snooper's Charter. Currently in draft form, the final content and scope of the bill could be set today as the European Court of Justice rules on a challenge brought against the existing Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (Dripa).

The case has the support of many European states, and the outcome of the case will determine the powers of data collection the UK government is able to exercise. It is expected that the case could be one of the deciding factors in the in-out referendum in June when the UK votes on whether to remain part of Europe or to go it alone.

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North Carolina's decision to pass House Bill 2 -- which effectively block measures to protect LGBT people -- means that residents of the state are no longer able to access a popular porn site. Just as Bruce Springsteen decided to show his disgust at the new legislation by cancelling a concert in North Carolina, so xHamster has taken the step of blocking North Carolina porn consumers from accessing the site.

North Carolina's new law prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination rules to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and it is sending ripples of disgust through the equal rights movement. With xHamster's involvement, the fight against the legislation has been taken online, hitting state residents where it hurts in a bid to encourage people to sign a petition against the bill.

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Microsoft has been showing Linux a lot of love recently, and at Build 2016 the company announced that the Bash shell was coming to Windows 10. It’s a feature that will make an appearance in the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update (due for release in July), but it's something that Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring already have access to in Build 14316 right now.

If you have installed this build, you'd be forgiven for not being able to find Bash however hard you look; there are hoops you have to jump through. So if you like the idea of accessing the Linux command line in Windows 10, there are a few steps for you to follow, starting off by enabling Developer Mode.

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The transfer of data between the US and Europe has been something of a privacy and security nightmare. In an attempt to improve privacy protection, the European Commission established the EU-US Privacy Shield "to restore trust in transatlantic data flows" post-Edward Snowden's NSA surveillance revelations, replacing the controversial Safe Harbor arrangement.

Today Microsoft has announced its support for the principles the framework says that companies will have to abide by. More than this, Vice President for EU Government Affairs at Microsoft, John Frank, says the company will comply with Data Protection Authorities advice in disputes, and cooperate with them on data transfer processes.

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The PETYA ransomware is just one of the recent examples of malware that encrypts victims' hard drives until a fee is paid. The advice from the government is not to pay the ransom -- or at least not expect to get a decryption key if you do -- but a password generator has been created that means you can decrypt your hard drive for free.

While TeslaCrypt 4 boasts 'unbreakable encryption', the same cannot be said of PETYA, although the PETYA ransomware does have the irritating habit of overwriting MBRs. This does mean that there is no way to interact with the drive on the infected computer, but with access to a spare machine to read the drive and access to the online tool created by Leostone, you could have your data back in seconds. As the tool's website proudly proclaims, you can "Get your petya encrypted disk back, WITHOUT paying ransom!!!" -- here's what you need to do.

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