Facebook forced to stop using WhatsApp data to deliver targeted ads to users
Threatened with legal action if it failed to do so, Facebook has agreed to stop harvesting data from WhatsApp users and using that data to deliver targeted ads. The move comes weeks after the UK's Information Commissioner announced an investigation into the actions of the social network.
Facebook had already been blocked from doing this in Germany, and now the same restrictions are in place in the UK. With so much public interest in privacy, it is likely that other countries will follow suit in clamping down on Facebook's data collecting activities.
Mozilla pulls Battery Status API from Firefox over privacy concerns
It was supposed to be a feature that allowed more efficient versions of websites to be delivered to people running out of battery power.
But the Battery Status API built into Firefox was also found to be problematic from a privacy point of view after it was discovered that visitors' battery levels could be used to track them online. In response to this the API is being pulled from Firefox.
Admiral Insurance to use algorithms to set insurance prices based on customers' Facebook posts
Facebook, it is said -- much like Big Brother -- is watching you. Privacy groups have long warned about the potential for information shared on the social network to be misused, and now an insurance company is planning to make use of the status updates customers post to determine the type of drivers they are.
The controversial move finds Admiral Insurance using an algorithm to analyze the posts of new drivers in a bid to determine the type of people they are. By linking 'likes', writing style and other factors, Admiral believes the system -- called firstcarquote -- can be used to accurately assess how safe a driver someone is.
Samsung's Note7 exchange booths: Could users' old data be exposed?
When it comes to the exploding batteries on Galaxy Note7 models, Samsung has been lauded for its crisis management approach and how it’s accepted responsibility for the problem. Now setting up exchange booths at airports around the world so users can exchange their Galaxy Note7 phones is yet another example of its exceptional crisis management approach.
But while it’s commendable how swiftly Samsung is taking action to replace the faulty handsets, the company has left one crucial component out of this plan. That is, erasing the data from those Galaxy Note7 devices that are turned in at its exchange booths at airports around the world. There’s no mention of whether the data is being securely and permanently erased from the Galaxy Note7 phones that are taken back at the exchange booths -- and if it’s being done so before they’re handed off to Samsung’s chosen recyclers.
How to disable new tab article suggestions in Chrome 54 for Android
If you've updated Chrome on your Android smartphone to version 54, you may have noticed an annoyance. When you open a new tab, Google has now decided to spam users with "article suggestions". These -- you will be pleased to hear -- can be banished.
There's more than one reason that you might want to get rid of these suggestions, not least of which is that the feature involves Google keeping an eye on the sites you visit to come up with the suggestions. But the feature also replaces the far more useful bookmarks, and this is going to be enough to tip many users over the edge. Here's how to disable article suggestions.
Google's updated privacy policy means personally identifiable ad tracking is now go, go, go!
That Google encroaches on user privacy is not a startling revelation by any stretch of the imagination. But a recent change to the company's Privacy Policy means that information from DoubleClick ads can now be used to identify individuals and track them online.
The changes to the policy have not been hidden -- the details and alterations are visible in an archived copy of the document -- but it has not been advertised either. The implications of the change are huge. Since purchasing DoubleClick back in 2007, Google kept identifiable user data separate from anonymized ad tracking. This is no longer the case.
Amnesty International ranks message apps according to privacy -- Facebook wins!
Despite a desire to be more connected than ever before, people are simultaneously more concerned than ever about their security and privacy. This is certainly true when it comes to messaging tools, and the privacy features offered by a particular app or service can be what sways your decision to use it one way or the other.
Justice group Amnesty International has spent some time analyzing the privacy and encryption found in a number of popular messaging tools and compiled results in a ranked list. The findings make for interesting reading, not least because Facebook is ranked the most highly.
Social logins -- the convenience and the risks
Increasingly people are suffering from password fatigue, so when signing up to websites it's very tempting to use existing social media accounts.
However, according to a survey from customer identity and access management specialist Janrain, 93 percent of people are concerned about how their account data and activity are being shared and used.
Companies are losing confidence in Yahoo
Yahoo users have started to lose faith in the company following the theft of millions of account details and the revelation of collusion with the NSA and FBI. But it is not just users who are becoming disillusioned and looking to move elsewhere -- Yahoo's partners are also concerned.
One such company is StartPage, described as "the world's most private search engine". Concerned by privacy violations, it is ditching Yahoo search results from its metasearch tool Ixquick.eu. The parting of ways will take place by the end of the month, and StartPage CEO Robert Beens believes more companies will follow suit.
How large can GDPR fines get in UK?
When GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into force in 2018, businesses not adhering to cybersecurity best practices risk either €20 million in fines or four percent of their annual global turnover, whichever is bigger.
The media has been buzzing about this a lot lately, but how much is four percent really, at least among UK organizations? According to PCI Security Standards Council -- that could be up to £122 billion. Here’s how PCI SSC came to that conclusion.
Lost for words? Facebook Messenger suggests conversation topics at the cost of privacy
Facebook is keen for people to keep talking. Recently the company has been pushing its Messenger app as a way for people to stay connected in a variety of ways, but it has also noticed a problem -- people don’t always have something to talk about.
But Facebook (of course!) has a solution. To help those who struggle with small talk, an experiment is underway whereby Facebook Messenger will suggest possible topics for conversation. These are, obviously, not just random suggestions, but topics based on the activities of the participants -- opening up the usual privacy concerns that tend to be associated with Facebook.
MI5, MI6 and GCHQ secretly and illegally collected data about British citizens for over a decade
The surveillance activities of the NSA in the US, along with MI5, MI6 and GCHQ in the UK, have been known about for some time now, largely thanks to Edward Snowden. Now the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled that for more than a decade, huge amounts of data were collected without adequate oversight, breaking privacy laws.
The tribunal also said that some instances of data collection failed to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Privacy International, the group who brought the complaint against the spy agencies, said that this is a "highly significant judgment".
Google's latest transparency report reveals the futility of transparency reports -- and increased data requests
As has become the norm for big tech companies these days, Google has just published its latest transparency report. The report reveals -- in very, very broad strokes -- the number of requests for user data the company has received from the US government.
In a groundbreaking revelation (and -- please -- note the sarcasm) the lifting of a gag restriction by the FBI means Google is now able to report about the number of National Security Letters it received in Q2 2015. Sort of. "We have updated the range of NSLs received in that period [...] from 0-499 to 1-499." Or, to paraphrase: "there definitely weren't none".
Few businesses are prepared for GDPR
The GDPR is drawing ever closer, but organizations which will be directly affected by it still don't know how to approach the new regulation, a new study by Dell shows. Ever since it was unveiled that the General Data Protection Regulation will come into effect in May 2018, surveys have been done to see if companies are preparing themselves for it, and if they will be ready to comply with it in time.
Never have these reports shown positive or encouraging results, and the new one by Dell is no different. Still, organizations aren't even close to being prepared. More than 80 percent say they know close to nothing about GDPR. Less than a third are ready for GDPR today. Almost 70 percent of IT and business professionals say they are not, and that they don't know if their companies are ready.
Snowden-endorsed Signal gains Facebook-style disappearing messages
Facebook's recently rolled-out Secret Conversations heralded the arrival of not only end-to-end encryption for users, but also disappearing messages. Not to be outdone, Edward Snowden's favorite messaging service, Signal, has followed suit.
The company behind the app, Open Whisper Systems, points out that the feature is not really designed to further improve security and privacy; rather it is a way "to keep your message history tidy".
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