Facebook addresses controversy over third-party access to private messages
Facebook has been the source of much privacy-related controversy over the years, particularly over the last year or so. The past few days have been no different, with the social networking giant facing questions over the level of access it granted partners to private user data.
Of particular concern to users is the suggestion that Facebook gave the likes of Spotify and Netflix access to users' private messages. Having already gone on the defensive about some of the allegations leveled at it, Facebook is now trying to defend itself about the messaging allegations -- or, as the company puts it "we wanted to provide more facts about our messaging partnerships".
Facebook gave dozens of companies access to user data such as friends lists and private messages
Details have come to light about the deals Facebook struck with the likes of Microsoft, Spotify, Netflix, Apple and Amazon. A report by the New York Times revealed that the social network had given numerous companies access to a plethora of private user data, ranging from the names of friends, to private messages.
Facebook has responded by saying that no access was granted to third parties without user permission, but questions remain about whether users were fully aware of the level of access companies had to their data, or whether they knew they were agreeing to sharing private data.
Following 'unusual activity' from China and Saudi Arabia, Twitter reveals user country codes may have leaked
Twitter has discovered what it describes as "unusual activity" stemming from China and Saudi Arabia. The social networking company says that it noticed a large number of enquiries involving a support API coming from individual IP addresses in the two countries.
The discovery came as Twitter investigated a bug in a support form. The problem, Twitter says, dates back to November 15, and it was fixed the next day, but a security researcher says he reported the issue two years ago. As a result of the bug, Twitter says that the country code of users' phone numbers could have been discovered by malicious actors.
Twitter is bringing back the reverse chronological timeline starting today
For those who like simple chronology, Twitter's insistence on delivering tweets in an algorithm powered order that is seemingly random has long been a source of frustration. Today, the social site launches a new way to switch between reverse chronological order or the algorithm-driven "top tweets" ordering.
To allow for easy switching between the two modes, Twitter is rolling out a new "sparkle" button to its mobile app. The change is being made available to iOS users first, but Android owners will not be far behind.
Facebook Messenger update adds Boomerang looping videos, new Selfie mode and AR stickers
Facebook is borrowing more features from Instagram and will be pushing a Facebook Messenger update to users starting today. The camera-focused update sees the arrival of not only a new selfie mode, but also support for Boomerang looping videos and AR stickers.
The update is heavily inspired by Instagram, to the point that the new Selfie mode that automatically blurs backgrounds is practically identical to Instagram's Portrait mode.
Facebook API bug may have exposed 6.8 million users' private photos
Another week and yet another in a seemingly endless stream of Facebook privacy issues. The social networking giant has found itself apologizing, yet again, for leaking users' private data. This time around, an API bug meant that private photos of millions of users may have been exposed to app developers.
The bug was present for nearly two weeks and it went further than simply giving developers access to photos users had posted to their accounts -- it also exposed photos that had been uploaded but not actually posted.
Tumblr turns family-friendly and bans ALL adult content
Tumblr has announced that it is to introduce a ban on all adult content across the platform in a major reversal of policy. The site has long been home to all manner of explicit content, and this lack of censorship is part of the reason for Tumblr's popularity.
The site says that, as of December 17, "adult content will not be allowed on Tumblr, regardless of how old you are". The announcement was made in the Tumblr Help Center, and it comes as the company aims to appeal to a wider age range.
Instagram's new Close Friends option lets you limit the audience for Stories
Instagram has announced the rollout of Close Friends, a feature that makes it possible to create a list of people with whom you'd like to share Stories. This is very different to the current approach which sees Stories shared with everyone.
The feature has been beta tested for nearly a year and a half and is now ready for primetime. Rolling out to iOS and Androind in the coming days, the new feature will be welcomed by those who had concerns about privacy on Instagram.
Facebook Watch is a disaster... so now it will target an older audience
Facebook's plan for Facebook Watch to be a viable competitor to YouTube seemed a little unlikely -- to say the least -- and it would seem that the pessimists were right. Facebook Watch has proved to be a dud.
A little over a year after launch, the on-demand video service has gained an audience of just 50 million people. This might initially sound like a large number, but YouTube has -- admittedly over a number of years -- amassed over 1.8 billion users. The problem appears to be that younger audiences are simply not interested in Facebook Watch, so Facebook is now switching the focus of the service to an older market.
LinkedIn introduces new privacy controls to protect user data
LinkedIn has quietly launched new privacy settings that block users from exporting the email addresses of their contacts.
This is not something that many LinkedIn users would have even considered to be a problem, but it was previously possible for anyone -- from individuals to marketing firms -- to export the contact details of their connections and use it however they wanted. In what will be seen as a big win for users in general and privacy advocates, you now have to explicitly enable the setting for people to be able to export your email address.
Your Time On Facebook rolls out, revealing how much time you waste in the social network's mobile apps
It is a little while -- over three months, in fact -- since Facebook said that it was planning to launch a tool that would give users some insight into the amount of time they spent using the social network. This tool is now rolling out.
Unimaginatively called Your Time On Facebook, the tool offers a dashboard that gives a very basic overview of how long you spend using Facebook each day. But going beyond this, it can also be used to set daily reminders to help you to cut down your usage. Trying to kick your Facebook habit? Maybe this could help.
Facebook defends the privacy of Portal as the smart devices start shipping
As soon as Facebook announced its smart video calling device -- Portal and Portal+ -- there were concerns about the privacy implications of introducing Facebook hardware with a camera into your home.
The company has already gone to some lengths to try to allay privacy-related fears, clearly pre-empting the concerns people would have. Facebook describes Portal as "private by design", but now it has gone further, using a blog post to stress the privacy and security of the devices, as well as offering reassurances about how data collected through them will -- and won't -- be used.
Twitter removes thousands of accounts that discouraged people from voting in US midterm elections
Twitter has confirmed the removal of thousands of accounts for not only discouraging people from voting in next week's US elections, but also falsely appearing to originate from the Democratic Party.
In all, over 10,000 accounts were deleted in September and October, for targeting key demographics and encouraging them to withhold their vote. While the removals are pretty small-scale, they still serve to demonstrate how Twitter is being used to try to subvert the outcomes of elections.
Now you can edit sent messages in Viber
Viber has rolled out a feature that users have been begging for for some time -- the ability to edit sent messages.
While Viber may not be quite as popular as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, it has millions of users around the world. At long last these users now have the ability to correct typo after sending a message, just as can be done in a handful of other messaging tools.
How your digital footprint can impact both your online reputation and your real life
In the early days of the internet, it was possible to maintain an online presence that was completely separate from your real life. You could be one person on an online message board and another person at your day job or with your family. These days, that kind of distinction is a lot more difficult to achieve.
Your social media identity is inherently linked to your in-person identity, and even anonymous message boards attract users ready to share information about who they really are. The days of online anonymity are in the rearview.
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