Not one to be left out of a potential privacy scandal, a report on Tuesday reveals Facebook hired outside contractors to listen to and transcribe recorded Messenger voice chats, though the company said it recently put a halt to the program.
Apple and Google are still allowing a number of potentially unsafe free VPN apps to be downloaded from respective app stores, despite warnings that many of the apps pose a privacy risk to consumers, primarily from the apps questionable ownership by Chinese organizations.
Apple pioneered the concept of making its products accessible to users with disabilities back in the 1980s. It has made environmentally sound manufacturing and supplier responsibility a key aspect of its global operations. It has taken a public stand for inclusion and diversity and has made privacy and security primary features of its products. Why haven't other tech giants offered more than a meek "me too" in these areas?
Concern has been raised over Amazon's Ring video doorbell and its links to law enforcement, with the assorted tools and partnerships between the retailer and the police considered to be eroding privacy for customers, their neighbors, and anyone who comes into contact with the surveillance devices, with law enforcement officials having relatively easy access to camera footage.
This week on the AppleInsider Podcast, Brian Roemmele joins us to talk about Apple listening to some Siri recordings and why they don't need to. William is back to talk Apple Earnings reports and why selling fewer iPhones doesn't spell doom.
Apple has temporarily suspended its Siri quality control program after a Guardian expose last week claimed private contractors are privy to "highly sensitive recordings," revelations that immediately raised the brows of privacy advocates.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to adopt an expanded set of rules that will enable the agency to more vigorously pursue international robocallers and bad actors sending spoofed text messages.
Apple is continuing to expand its 'Privacy. That's iPhone' campaign into more territories, with more billboards in the series spotted in Hamburg and Berlin in Germany promoting the iPhone and iOS' data security credentials.
A bipartisan act designed to combat unwanted robocalls in the U.S. passed the House of Representatives in a decisive 429-3 vote on Wednesday, pushing the legislation one step closer to ratification.
The Federal Trade Commission confirmed on Wednesday it has agreed to a settlement by Facebook for violating consumer privacy in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with the social network paying a $5 billion penalty and agreeing to new restrictions.
Clearing some of its legal plate, Google this week reached settlements for three different lawsuits, most notably a 2010 class action over illegal Wi-Fi data scooped up by Street View vehicles.
FaceApp has added new age-based filters to their app, bringing it back into the public eye and back on to users' phones. However, if you want to keep your photos as your own, you probably shouldn't use the app.
Apple's calls for stronger privacy legislation aren't backed up by action, privacy advocates and U.S. Lawmakers suggest, claiming the iPhone maker isn't doing enough to help produce better privacy laws, and in some cases is lobbying against some efforts.
Progress is being made in the field of facial recognition by the use of multiple photograph databases consisting of subjects who were not aware of their misuse, a report claims, but while many companies and researchers are collecting and sharing the images and resulting data, Apple is not one of the sources.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reportedly approved a $5 billion settlement with Facebook to resolve the latter's privacy violations in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Some five months after Apple struck parental control app OurPact from the App Store over user privacy concerns, the company reinstated the title this week without comment.
Some voice snippets uploaded by Google Assistant are being reviewed by human contractors, as with Amazon Alexa, and can potentially include sensitive conversations, reports say.
"Sign in with Apple," launching alongside this fall's iOS 13, will make it harder for advertisers and other parties to track people — but data collection is possible, a report indicated on Thursday.
Apple on Tuesday published its transparency report for the six-month period ending in December 2018, revealing for the first time government requests to remove apps from the App Store and redacted national security letters dating back to 2016.
Apple on Monday unloaded a burst of short "message" ads on YouTube, continuing its ongoing focus on user privacy and security.
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Mikey Campbell
Malcolm Owen
Daniel Eran Dilger
Victor Marks
Roger Fingas
Amber Neely
