| Cult of Mac

Judge blocks government from pushing social media censorship

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Social Media
A federal judge blocked federal government contact with social media sites.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

A federal judge in Louisiana issued a broad injunction Tuesday limiting federal government contact with social media sites over what the Biden administration may see as disinformation spreading out of control.

The ruling is one of many upcoming that frame a fight over the constitutionality of curbing social media’s influence in light of the First Amendment’s right to freedom of expression.

Meta squeezes in VR headset tease ahead of WWDC23

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Meta Quest 3 is
Meta Quest 3 is "coming this fall."
Photo: Meta
WWDC23

That’s some interesting timing on Meta’s press release Thursday for a VR headset not expected to come out until at least late September. Mark Zuckerberg and company wedged in a tease for Meta Quest 3 just four days ahead of WWDC23, when Apple is expected to unveil its much-anticipated AR/VR headset.

The Meta press materials even appropriated “we can’t wait,” one of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s trademark phrases.

Get your fair share of Facebook’s $725 million privacy payout

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You owe me, like, a dollar!
That’s a Futurama reference.
Image: Flying Logos/Wikimedia Commons/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

If you lived in the United States in the last 15 years and you used Facebook, you can fill out a brief form and claim your part of a $725 million privacy settlement. This marks the end of a class-action lawsuit wherein the company admitted that U.K. data mining company Cambridge Analytica accessed Facebook users’ data without their consent.

You have until Friday, August 25, to file a claim. It only takes a few minutes. How much you get depends on how many people take the payment — it could be as low as $1.50 if every person in the United States fills it out.

Making a claim also stops you from pursuing a separate claim against Meta, Facebook’s parent company. However, if you take no action, you won’t get anything as a result of the Facebook data scandal.

How to download YouTube videos to MP3 or MP4 with YT Saver Video Downloader

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YT Saver can help you download videos from YouTube and other sites.
YT Saver makes it quick and easy to download videos from YouTube and other popular sites.
Image: YT Saver

This post on how to download YouTube videos is brought to you by YT Saver.

When you love to download videos, audio and playlists from YouTube and other popular websites, it helps to have a solid video downloader that can handle browsing, downloading, converting and securing content all in one place.

YT Saver Video Downloader does the trick, whether you use Mac or Windows. We’ll focus on Mac and show you how the video downloader and converter works.

Apple once proposed team-up on for-pay version of Facebook without ads

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Apple proposed for-pay version of Facebook without ads
Apple suggested Facebook create a for-pay version, with Apple getting a cut of the subscription revenue.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple tried to talk Facebook into creating a version of its social network without adverts, according to a new report. Users would pay a subscription fee and would not be tracked for advertising purposes.

Obviously, it didn’t happen.

Why you should never use the browser in Facebook and Instagram

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Why you should never use the browser in Facebook and Instagram
You can always count on Meta apps to suck up as much users data as possible.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The web browser that Meta built into the iPhone Facebook and Instagram applications can collect far more information about users than they probably realize. It can “track every single interaction with external websites,” according to a developer.

But users don’t have to stay in this sketchy browser. Leaving it is easy – here’s how.

Improved iPhone privacy protections could cost Facebook $20.9 billion and counting

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Facebook vs. iPhone App Tracking Transparency
Turns out the answer to this question was “do not track” 80% of the time.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

A tweak to iOS privacy settings made in 2021 has already cost Facebook $8.1 billion, and the social-networking company’s losses will increase by another $12.8 billion in 2022, according to an industry report.

Forcing applications to ask permission before tracking their users’ online activity hurt other companies, too. But nowhere near as much as Facebook.

Facebook is still whining about Apple’s ‘harmful’ privacy features

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By running anti-Apple ads in major newspapers, Facebook's taking its battle with Apple to the next level.
Facebook is expected to lose $10 billion to Apple's changes this year alone.
Photo: Thought Catalog/Unsplash CC

Facebook parent company Meta is still bemoaning App Tracking Transparency, the “harmful” feature Apple introduced last year in iOS 14.5 to bolster the privacy of iPhone and iPad users.

The change is “making it harder and more expensive” for businesses to reach their customers, Meta said as advertisers reportedly slash their spending on Facebook and Instagram and turn to rivals like Amazon and Google instead.

Facebook warns it will lose $10 billion to iOS privacy protections in 2022

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Facebook loses to iOS privacy protections
How disappointing.
Photo: Dawid Sokołowski/Unsplash

Facebook parent company Meta has warned investors that it will lose around $10 billion in 2022 as a result of Apple’s bolstered privacy protections.

The company has been whinging about the improvements, which include App Tracking Transparency, since they were introduced in iOS 14. Its shares dipped more than 20% on Wednesday after it reported its latest disappointing earnings.