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Tech NewsThe New Google Pay Makes Tracking Your Money a Breeze—But There’s a Catch
Google has just completely redesigned its Google Pay app in a bid to make managing your money easier than ever by giving you a bird’s eye view of your financials and spending habits. But it also wants to do this by becoming a banking middleman and turning your transaction history into a kind of Hangouts … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsOh God, the Worst Passwords of 2020 Are Here and They’re Horrifying
We’re still doing this, huh? It’s that time again. Each year’s end brings list after list of the worst data security sins and a ranking of password no-nos, and it appears that many of us have learned nothing from the security shortcomings of our past. According to a list of the 200 worst passwords of … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsCommerceSoon You Can Ask Alexa to Forget Everything You Ever Said
Privacy is the big thing that gives people the heebie-jeebies when it comes to digital assistants like Alexa. But at Amazon’s devices and services event today, the company announced it was expanding privacy settings with regard to voice recordings. Later this year, you’ll be able to say, “Alexa, delete everything I’ve said.” According to Amazon, … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsHow to Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts Without Deleting Them
There are many reasons to avoid wanting a social media digital paper trail of your entire life. Maybe there are posts there you think your new employer won’t like, or that your new partner’s parents won’t like, or even ones that you don’t believe in anymore. But wiping the slate clean and starting again is … Continued
By David Nield -
ScienceHealthResearchers Created an App That Monitors Your Mental Health by Tracking Your Data
Even though I appreciate that it’s for a good cause, this app still sounds like something out of Minority Report. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada have developed a smartphone app that tracks a person’s mental health based on how they use their phone, CBC reports. The hope is that by keeping tabs on patients … Continued
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Tech NewsEU Warns Google Buying Fitbit Presents a Major Privacy Risk
It wasn’t too long ago that Google announced it had plunked down $2.1 billion to acquire Fitbit. While the news was welcomed by some, many others raised the question of what would happen with all that health data Fitbit had collected. You can count the European Data Protection Board among the latter. At its 18th … Continued
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Tech NewsKidKraft Playset Connects With Alexa for Baby’s First Self-Surveillance
Amazon’s privacy woes are no secret. There are a million and one reasons that privacy-minded consumers should be wary of Amazon’s smart gadgets and those of its subsidiaries. If a parent knows to think twice before buying a veritable Amazon surveillance device for themselves, why the hell would they buy one for their kid? But … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityHow a New Proposed Data Protection Agency In the U.S. Might Work
It’s no secret that the U.S. trails behind plenty of other countries when it comes to data protection legislation. Today, Senator Kristen Gillibrand has published a bill proposal that would create an independent Data Protection Agency that would act as a regulator tasked with protecting consumer data. Here’s how Gillibrand proposes the agency would work. … Continued
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Tech NewsGoogle Under Investigation by Ireland’s Data Protection Authority Over Location Tracking
Ireland’s data protection commission has announced a new probe into Google’s handling of location data, specifically the “the legality of Google’s processing of location data and the transparency surrounding that processing.” The Data Protection Commission said Tuesday in a statement that it will probe whether Google violated rules governing how companies process location data as … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityMicrosoft Discloses It Left Over 250 Million Customer Support Records Exposed on Servers
Microsoft inadvertently left hundreds of millions of customer service and support requests exposed on several servers without password protection from Dec. 5 to Dec. 31, 2019, the company’s Security Response Center wrote on a blog post on Wednesday. Bob Diachenko of Security Discovery, the researcher who originally spotted the issue, told ZDNet that Microsoft left … Continued
By Tom McKay -
io9HBO Invited Us to a Westworld Dinner Party, Where We Were the Ones Roasted
“Ms. Cranz, would you prefer a tequila or vodka shot? Don’t worry. We know the difference.” With one question a Westworld “robot” had roasted me to a cinder and brought into relief everything cool and terrifying about HBO’s Westworld “activation” at CES. What was the significance of that question? Two months earlier I had mistakenly … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsTech PolicyThe Chaos of California’s New Privacy Law Has Already Begun
California is becoming a monument to how much businesses surveil and abuse its residents, as apps and stores are scrambling to put up “Do Not Sell My Info” notices in compliance with the state’s hefty data privacy law. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, which goes into effect on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, businesses operating … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityIt’s Time to Nervously Mock the 50 Worst Passwords of the Year
In spite of everything—the leaks, the breaches, the myriad privacy risks—a large majority of people are still using “password” and “123456” as their password. Folks, it’s long past time to stop taking security shortcuts. Security services firm SplashData has released its ninth annual Worst Passwords of the Year list, which assesses more than 5 million … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsApple Seems to Be Tracking iPhone 11 When Location Services Are Disabled, Report Finds [Updated]
Update 12/5/19: Apple has finally explained that this is part of an on-device process used for regulatory compliance and it promised a new tool to toggle the feature off in the future. You can read a full explanation of what’s going on right here. Original story below. Apple talks a very, very big privacy game, … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook Takes a Step Into Data Portability With Tool That Sends Photos to Google
If that horde of photos you’ve uploaded over the years is the only reason you haven’t deleted Facebook, good news. Today, Facebook announced it’s launching a photo transfer tool that will let users port photos directly to Google Photos. In a blog, Facebook described the move as one geared toward enhancing data portability. The transferred … Continued
