The world was starting to develop a healthy skepticism for tech companies and their claims of making data privacy a priority. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal seemed to get our attention and we began to understand how easy it is for groups to track our digital lives.
Then COVID-19 spread with bullet speed across the world and now surveillance of our movements to track the virus is sounding to many like a good idea.
The Department of Justice has ordered Apple and Google to turn over names, phone numbers and IP addresses for users of a gun scope app that allows gun owners to calibrate scopes and capture video.
Data privacy activists say the government’s ask would set a “dangerous precedent,” giving officials access to data on thousands of innocent people.
The clash of tech titans Apple and Facebook continued Monday when Mark Zuckerberg’s newest executive team hire called Apple an “exclusive club” serving only “aspirant consumers with the means to buy high-value hardware and services.”
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s new head of global affairs, didn’t mention Apple by name when he spoke to a group in Berlin today. He didn’t have to.
Online life is full of threats to our privacy and data, so there’s no reason to surf without a VPN. Not sure where to start with VPNs, or daunted by the cost? We’ve got a deal for you.
Everyone who uses Google services, whether on iPhone or Android, will soon be able to have some of the data being collected about them automatically erased after a span of time.
It’s already possible to order Google to erase everything it stores about your search history, but this new feature will allow for on-going deletion.
A judge sentenced a former high school teacher to 34 months in prison Friday after the man pleaded guilty to his role in the “Celebgate” hack of iCloud and other accounts.
Of those convicted for the high-profile hack, Christopher Brannan, 31, received the harshest sentence for breaching accounts. The attack led to the circulation of nude photos and videos of model Kate Upton, actress Jennifer Lawrence and others.
Apple will comply with a Russian law that could force them to decrypt data on Russian customers at the government’s request.
The law took effect last year and requires the tech giant to store data on servers in Russia for up to six months. Apple acquiesced to a similar law last year in China, a smartphone market in which it has invested heavily.
Apple’s sudden shutdown of Facebook’s internal apps for iOS created enough chaos this week that some working for the social network company were openly talking about quitting, according to reports.
The Facebook employee apps show shuttle schedules, campus maps, and company calendars. Apple disabled all of them Wednesday after it learned Facebook ran a research app where iOS users could be rewarded for their data, a sideloaded app that violates Apple’s developer rules.
When it comes to personal data, you can’t be too safe. So when you have the chance to easily boost your security, you should take it. That makes this VPN a great data security tool that shouldn’t be missed. It is already discounted, but Cult of Mac readers get an extra 15 percent off when they use the code DATAPRIVACY15 at checkout.
The New York Times investigative reporter Nick Confessore has covered data privacy long enough to make the iPhone his smartphone of choice.
His take on data-hungry Android phones is damning enough to make anybody switch to an iPhone. He also offers other tips for keeping your data as safe as possible these days. Unfortunately, that’s not very safe at all, according to Confessore.
