Vine V2

Vine successor V2 is postponed for an 'indefinite amount of time'

It is now over a year since Vine closed down, and fans have been holding out for a follow-up to the video service. Co-founder Dom Hofmann previously said that work was underway on a successor called V2, but this has now been put on hold.

Blaming "financial and legal hurdles", Hoffmann now says that the project has been postponed "for an indefinite amount of time". He says that he had hoped to bring V2 to life as a personal project, but the realization that more money will be needed means that investors need to be brought onboard.

Online travel booking

Most popular travel sites have unsafe password practices

A new study of password and account security on 55 of the world's most popular travel-related sites reveals that 89 percent leave their users' accounts potentially exposed to hackers due to unsafe password practices.

The research by password management company Dashlane tested each website on five critical password and account security criteria. A site received a point for each criterion it met, for a maximum score of 5/5. Any score below 4/5 was considered failing and not meeting the minimum threshold for good password security.

By Ian Barker -
Wikipedia page

Wikipedia now offers link previews -- but you can disable them

When you decide to look up anything on Wikipedia, you run the very serious risk of falling down a rabbit hole that will take you many hours to find your way back out of. To help avoid the problem of going off on too much of a tangent, the site recently introduced a new link preview feature.

It's a simple idea which means that it is possible to preview a page before you visit it, simply by hovering over the link. But it's not to everyone's taste. If you've noticed the new feature and want to kill it, you'll be pleased to hear that you can.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
instagram-mobile-logo

Instagram launches Data Download tool so you can grab the contents of your account

A couple of weeks ago, Instagram said that it was working on a tool that would enable users to download everything from their accounts. Now the tool has been launched ahead of the roll out of GDPR in Europe.

There has been no fanfare for the data download tool, but it's available for everyone to use. It gives people the opportunity to download "photos, comments, profile information and more" which is ideal for anyone looking to either backup their data, or who is thinking about moving to a rival service.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Facebook censorship

Facebook publishes its internal Community Standards guidelines and introduces appeals process

Facebook faces lots of criticisms and questions, and while much of this is focused on privacy and security, there are also lots of queries about what is permitted on the platform. To help users to understand what's allowed and what's not, the company has published its Community Standards for everyone to read.

As well as making it clear exactly what sort of content is likely to attract the attention of censors, Facebook is also introducing a new appeals process, giving people the ability to fight back if their content is removed.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Bank card security

Online banking security improves but only a third are free of critical vulnerabilities

The percentage of critical vulnerabilities in online banking systems is falling, but two thirds still contain at least one critical vulnerability according to a new report.

Enterprise security specialist Positive Technologies has released its Financial Application Vulnerabilities Report, drawn from audits performed by the company.

By Ian Barker -
Facebook on three smartphones

Facebook reveals new privacy controls for users around the world

Facebook has been hit with renewed criticism of its privacy policies in recent weeks in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Having promised to give users more control over their privacy settings -- and after already introducing some tools to this end -- the social network has now revealed how it will comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and bring new "privacy protection" to users around the world.

With the impending arrival of GDPR, it had previously been thought that European Facebook users would have greater privacy controls than those in other parts of the world. But the company then revealed that GDPR-style privacy controls would actually be made available to everyone. Today, Facebook makes good on that promise, starting the rollout of new privacy settings in Europe and then around the globe.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Weibo homepage

Weibo reverses homosexuality policy in China: 'We're no longer targeting gay content'

Following a huge backlash over the weekend, Weibo -- the Chinese equivalent of Twitter -- has announced a reversal of a policy that would have seen gay content banned from the platform.

Originally announced on Friday, the "clean-up" operation was due to last three months, and covered violence and pornography as well as homosexual content. Now, however, Weibo has felt the pressure of public outcry and backed down saying: "We're no longer targeting gay content".

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Square Microsoft logo

Microsoft launches Defending Democracy Program to protect against hacking and misinformation

Concern about Russian interference in both the US presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum highlighted the importance the internet now plays in political campaigns. But as well as being a powerful tool, it's also something that is open to abuse and manipulation.

This is something Microsoft recognizes, and the company is launching a new Defending Democracy Program with the express aim of safeguarding the electoral processes.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Chinese flag with rainbow flag

Weibo bans gay content as part of 'clean-up'

Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo has begun the process of removing gay content from its platform in order to comply with new laws. Violent and pornographic content is also subject to blocking or removal, and a lot of fan fiction has fallen victim.

Weibo -- comparable to Twitter -- has 392 million active monthly users, and a three-month campaign is now underway to help create what the company describes as a "clean and harmonious community environment" in accordance with China's "laws and regulations such as the Cyber Security Law".

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Google logo

Google loses big 'right to be forgotten' case -- and it could set an important precedent

A businessman with an historic criminal conviction has won his case against Google in a "right to be forgotten" lawsuit seeking to remove information about his conviction from search results.

The case, heard today in London, could set a precedent and lead to a series of similar cases from other people with spent convictions. The anonymous businessman -- known only as NT2 -- has a conviction for conspiracy to intercept communications from more than a decade ago and spent six months in prison for the crime.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Firefox tracking protection

Privacy: Firefox for iOS now has tracking protection by default and new options for iPad users

Mozilla has launched a new version of Firefox for iOS, and the big news is that it now has Tracking Protection turned on by default.

It comes shortly after the feature was added to the desktop version of the web browser, and protection is enabled by default in both regular and private browsing modes. This release also sees the arrival of some great new features in the iPad version, including tab re-ordering, and drag and drop support for links.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Reddit logo

Racism is not against Reddit rules, says CEO

Reddit has no rules banning open racism or the use of racist slurs. This is not conjecture, or a summation after trawling through the site's terms and condition, but comes straight from the chief executive, Steve Huffman.

High-profile websites have a careful line to tread when it comes to balancing the idea of freedom of speech with policing unsavoring content on their platform; content that can easily spill over into abuse. The likes of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have frequently taken a harder line, but Reddit is host to a number of openly racist communities.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Glowing Gmail icon

Google is ready to roll out Gmail redesign, adding new features like Smart Reply and snooze

Google has emailed G Suite administrators, notifying them that a "fresh, clean look" is coming to Gmail in a redesign.

Due to roll out to the Early Adopter Program "in the coming weeks", the update affects the look of the web version of Gmail. In addition to the new look, the update also brings some new features including the snoozing of emails, and a Smart Reply function.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Lit up keyboard

In trying to clean up the dark web, Amber Rudd wants to throw money at the unpoliceable

The UK government is no stranger to confused attempts to try to control the internet. After voicing a desire to "combat" end-to-end encryption -- despite not understanding it -- and unveiling an AI system to counter terrorist content online, Home Secretary Amber Rudd now has the dark web as her next target.

Rudd has pledged to spend £9 million (around $12.7 million) to "clean up the dark web" and cut down on cybercrime. It's a move that has been criticized for not only being politically motivated, but also being misguided and hugely underfunded.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
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