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Apple Wants to Store Your ID Digitally. What Could Go Wrong?

Andrew Orr ·

William Gallagher writes how Apple is working on methods to store your ID digitally in Wallet, like credit cards. But I found this part concerning:

This all presumes that we are able to present our ID. There are situations, such as when we’re incapacitated, when we need to be identified yet we cannot personally do anything about that. In this case, Apple proposes that under the right circumstances, our devices could “automatically transmit the user’s identity credential.”

Apple gives the example of a first responder, “such as police officer, firefighter, etc,” who could legitimately possess a device that would automatically request ID like this.

I bet law enforcement would love a Stingray-like device that can automatically harvest IDs when they walk through a protest.

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IRS Investigated for Location Data Usage Without Warrant

Andrew Orr ·

The IRS is being investigated for its use of location data collected from apps without obtaining warrants.

The IRS’ attempts were not successful though, as the people the IRS was looking for weren’t included in the particular Venntel data set, the aide added.

But the IRS still obtained this data without a warrant, and the legal justification for doing so remains unclear. The aide said that the IRS received verbal approval to use the data, but stopped responding to their office’s inquiries.

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More Details on the Mac T2 Security Chip Jailbreak

Andrew Orr ·

Catalin Cimpanu shares more details of the T2 chip jailbreak I wrote about last week.

The attack requires combining two other exploits that were initially designed for jailbreaking iOS devices — namely Checkm8 and Blackbird. This works because of some shared hardware and software features between T2 chips and iPhones and their underlying hardware.

Unfortunately, since this is a hardware-related issue, all T2 chips are to be considered unpatchable. The only way users can deal with the aftermath of an attack is to reinstall BridgeOS, the operating system that runs on T2 chips.

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John McAfee Arrested for Tax Evasion

Andrew Orr ·

John McAfee, founder of the McAfee antivirus company, has been arrested in Spain, facing extradition to the U.S. over tax evasion and fraud.

The DOJ’s charges against McAfee are a bit dry but detail 10 counts against the entrepreneur. McAfee faced 5 counts of tax evasion, which each carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, as well as 5 counts of “willful failure to file a tax return,” each carrying a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison.

And here I thought he was already in prison.

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When Will The Targeted Advertising Bubble Burst?

Andrew Orr ·

A large part of the web is free because of targeted advertising, but former Google employee Tim Hwang argues that it doesn’t even work.

He notes that while “some digital and social media messaging is quite effective,” it’s common for platforms and media agencies to triple (at least) its apparent value by wrongly crediting digital ads for purchases that consumers would have made anyway. Aral calls this “the most widely used shell game in business today.”

Or, as Hwang puts it: “The whole edifice of online advertising is, in short, bunk.”

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Facebook Doesn’t Like Netflix Documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’

Andrew Orr ·

Facebook has published criticism of “The Social Dilemma” a Netflix documentary that reveals how social platforms use algorithms as addiction.

“Rather than offer a nuanced look at technology, it gives a distorted view of how social media platforms work to create a convenient scapegoat for what are difficult and complex societal problems,” Facebook said.

However, one issued raised in the movie is that Facebook’s algorithms learn more specific things about users, like their preferred political party, and shows them news it think they will agree with. That problem doesn’t happen on the services Facebook compares itself to.

Difficult and complex societal problems that you monetize.

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Sci-Fi Authors Comment on Apple TV+ Series ‘Foundation’

Andrew Orr ·

Although “Foundation” won’t appear on Apple TV+ until 2021, science fiction authors Anthony Ha, Abby Goldsmith, and John Kessel talk about the books behind the series from author Isaac Asimov. John Kessel on psychohistory:

[Asimov is] basically saying if you have enough human beings—you have 100 million worlds, all inhabited by human beings—that psychohistory can predict the mass behavior of human beings, without being able to predict any individual human being’s behavior. That’s a cool idea.

I can’t wait until for the Apple TV+ series.

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This Developer Made Over $100k Selling Custom App Icons

Andrew Orr ·

Developer “Traf” wrote a blog post saying he made over US$100,000 in six days selling custom app icons that can be used on iOS 14.

As soon as I noticed the hype, I put together some icons in my own style, downloaded some widgets, and tried it all out. I thought it looked cool, so I shared a screenshot of it on Twitter. Right away, people started asking about the icons in the screenshot. So I quickly packaged them, uploaded them to Gumroad, and embedded them on a Notion site using Super. All of this took about two hours.

It’s cool to see all of the customization people are doing on iOS 14, but I wonder if this developer could get into legal trouble by making money off of companies’ icons.

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Senators Agree to Subpoena Top Tech Execs to Discuss Section 230

Charlotte Henry ·

U.S. Senators agreed to subpoena the CEOs of Twitter, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook on Thursday, Reuters reported. It is part of the lawmakers’ investigation into Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

The panel’s top Democrat Maria Cantwell, who opposed the move last week, saying she was against using “the committee’s serious subpoena power for a partisan effort 40 days before an election,” changed her mind and voted to approve the move. “I actually can’t wait to ask Mr. Zuckerberg further questions,” Cantwell said. “I welcome the debate about 230.” The committee, chaired by Republican Senator Roger Wicker, had originally asked the executives to come on Oct. 1 on a voluntary basis and was ready to issue subpoenas last week. On Thursday, he said Section 230’s “sweeping liability protections” are stifling diversity of political discourse on the internet. “After extending an invite to these executives, I regret that they have again declined to participate and answer questions about issues that are so visible and urgent to the American people,” Wicker said.

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Here’s How to Replace the iOS 13 Favorites Widget on iOS 14

Andrew Orr ·

We all know how much I like shortcuts, and Juli Clover came up with a clever way to replace the iOS 13 Favorites widget that was removed in iOS 14.

Why the Favorites widget was removed is a mystery and it could be a simple oversight with Apple planning to reintroduce it later, but for now, those who relied on the widget can recreate its functionality with Shortcuts. It takes some effort, but it may be worth the time investment if you often relied on your Favorites.

As my image above suggests, it’s only the widget that was removed. You can still add favorites in the Phone and Contacts apps.

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Apple, Epic Games, And The Row Over Sign In With Apple

Charlotte Henry ·

The battle between Apple and Epic Games is heating up. Reporting from John Gruber at Daring Fireball shed an interesting light on one element of the row regarding Sign In With Apple (SIWA). Epic claimed it had been told that Fortnite players would access to the service on September 11, 2020.

Worth noting: Apple publicly stated that it was not doing anything to stop SIWA from working for Epic… I spent a few hours back on September 9 digging into this SIWA story, and multiple sources at Apple told me Epic’s claims were simply false. There was never a September 11 deadline for their SIWA support to stop working, and in fact, Apple’s SIWA team performed work to make sure SIWA continued working for Fortnite users despite the fact that Epic Games’s developer account had been revoked. There was no “extension” because Apple was never going to revoke Epic’s SIWA access.

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Apple’s T2 Security Chip Jailbroken by Checkra1n

Andrew Orr ·

The latest update of checkra1n adds support for bridgeOS, which runs on the T-series of chips. These are responsible for the Touch Bar, managing encrypted data in its Secure Element, and controlling Mac camera access.

The ability to exploit the T2 processor could also allow you to bypass the anti-repair mechanism built into the Touch Bar. Further, it may allow hackers to get rid of the password or unlock MDM-locked systems.

As far as the OS goes, we could also add secure boot certificates like Microsoft’s secure boot signing or a self-signed Linux certificate.

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Cloudflare Web Analytics is a Private Alternative to Google Analytics

Andrew Orr ·

Cloudflare announced on Tuesday the introduction of Cloudflare Web Analytics as a  free, private analytics service competing with Google Analytics.

Cloudflare does not track where visitors are going online, and can help web owners get clear and accurate information about how their sites are performing without the need to profile users. Cloudflare already processes the requests for sites on its network and can collect analytics at the edge without adding third-party analytics scripts to a website.

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Deliveries 9 From JuneCloud Arrives September 30

Andrew Orr ·

Deliveries 9 from JuneCloud arrives Wednesday, September 30 for Apple devices. It will be a subscription-based app that costs US$0.99/month or US$4.99/year.

If you previously purchased the app, you’ll get a complimentary subscription for up to 18 months from the date you purchased it. If you bought the app more than 18 months ago, your complimentary subscription will end February 1, 2021. You’ll continue to have access to most features of the app even after your complimentary subscription ends.

On their support page it looks like the app will be useless without a subscription. If you want to add new deliveries and sync with iCloud then you’ll have to pay up.

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Apple Looking to Expand Siri Languages

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple hiring Siri Annotation Analysts, as it apparently prepares to expand the use of its voice assistant, MacRumors. The countries covered include Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, amongst others.

Apple’s office in Cork, Ireland is hiring people fluent in Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Croatian, Greek, Flemish, Romanian, and as ThinkApple points out, Polish. Apple is also hiring people fluent in Indonesian and Vietnamese out of a Singapore office. As described in job listings, Annotation Analysts that work for Apple listen to and transcribe snippets of ‌Siri‌ conversations to evaluate ‌Siri‌’s responses… These kinds of ‌Siri‌ evaluations were previously done by third-party contracting companies but Apple brought the work in-house following a mid-2019 uproar over the way Apple used ‌Siri‌ recordings for evaluation with little notice to customers.

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Plot Twist: Apple Also Has to Follow Google Play Store Rules

Andrew Orr ·

Google has updated its Play Store rules, saying that developers have to use Google Play’s billing system. From Daring Fireball:

Most reports are mentioning Spotify and Netflix here, but unless I’m missing something this policy change (or as Google claim, “clarification”) will also apply to Apple Music — the Android version of which charges users who sign up directly. The fact that Apple forces all subscription streaming services to use Apple’s in-app payments on iOS but doesn’t use Google’s on Android for Apple Music has been a source of much heckling.

I’m on the side of Apple in the Epic v Apple case, but if Apple has to follow Google’s similar rules for developers when it hadn’t already, simultaneously enforcing similar rules on its own side for developers, is hilarious to me. I hope that made sense.

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Can iOS 14 Widgets Steal Your Keyboard Info?

Andrew Orr ·

After claims that iOS 14 widgets are up to no good, can they access your keyboard and act as keyloggers? First, as the developer of Widgetsmith says:

Leaving for a moment that I don’t think that is technically possible for a widget to read the keyboard. Widgetsmith was built from the ground up with complete privacy in mind and collects essentially no data about its users.

After using the app I wrote about this morning, Sticky Widgets, I’d say yes they can access your keyboard, because if not then Sticky Widgets would be unusable and you couldn’t type anything into them. Can they access the keyboard without user consent? Most likely not, as the quote continues: “Widgets use SwiftUI views to display their content. WidgetKit renders the views on your behalf in a separate process. As a result, your widget extension is not continually active, even if the widget is onscreen.”

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Windows XP Had a Very Mac-like Unused Theme

Charlotte Henry ·

I remember when Windows 7 came out, there were lots of raised eyebrows and jokes that it looked rather a lot like Mac OS X. (“I’m a Mac… and Windows 7 was my idea.”) Of course, the rivalry and accusations of copying from both sides had begun long before that. The Verge reported that a leak of Windows XP code revealed some very Apple-like features in one theme. (Image credit: The Verge.)

A recent Windows XP source code leak has revealed Microsoft’s early work on the operating system and some unreleased themes the company created during its early XP development back in 2000. One is labeled “Candy” and includes a design that closely resembles Apple’s Aqua interface that was first introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo in 2000. Although the theme is incomplete, the Windows XP Start button and various buttons and UI elements are clearly themed to match Apple’s Aqua. Microsoft never released its Aqua theme for Windows XP, and we understand it was used in early source code for the OS. Windows developers appear to have used the theme as a placeholder to build the theme engine for Windows XP.

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iOS 14 vs Android, App Library, Widgets, and Default Apps

Andrew Orr ·

Writer Nicole Lee is happy with iOS 14 features that are similar to Android, like widgets, default apps, and App Library. And she wants more of that.

But for me, the real star of iOS 14 is not quite so obvious (It’s so low-key that Apple didn’t mention it at its WWDC keynote). It’s the fact that, at long last, iOS now lets you pick your own default email and browser apps. This one feature, more than any other, is what I feel is a key factor in preventing me from switching to Android. That’s because, as an iOS user, it is not Android that I find attractive — it’s Google.

I’m trying to wrap my head around this argument. I don’t want to be one of those people who say, “If you’re not happy with iOS, then switch to Android.” But it doesn’t make sense to me that setting default apps would stop her from switching, considering Android had that all along. She goes on to say that she hasn’t bothered with iOS 14 widgets and that Android widgets don’t appeal to her. Okay, don’t use them?? Just like you’re not using iOS 14 widgets?? There’s more I have to say but this is running up against the length limitation of our Linked Teasers. Go read.

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Would You Like a Flying Security Drone From Amazon?

Andrew Orr ·

On Thursday, Amazon’s Ring surveillance company revealed a security drone that flies around your house taking photos of everything, because what could go wrong in 2020?

The company’s promotional video highlighting the camera showed a burglar breaking into a home and getting spooked as the drone flew straight at him — “Oh, no!” he exclaimed — while the homeowner watched the encounter on his phone. “Oh, yes,” the ad proclaimed.

I know what you’re thinking. Yes, it’s a real product and not a parody from The Onion.

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Amazon’s Luna Streaming Game Service Works on iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon’s newly-launched Luna streaming game service works on iOS…as a progressive web application. It’s not the same as a native app but it lets Amazon get around certain App Store rules.

Amazon said that Luna can support for gaming at a 4K resolution and 60 frames per second in “select titles.” It brought this up in relation to its Ubisoft gaming channel. This feature works like Amazon’s Prime Video channels. For example, I subscribe to PBS Kids for $5 per month on Prime Video to ensure I have plenty of content for my kids that goes beyond what the free PBS Kids app provides.

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‘Blacklight’ Tool Reveals Website Trackers

Andrew Orr ·

A tool called Blacklight has been making waves in the news recently. When you enter a website address into the page it scans it to reveal user-tracking technology.

Blacklight works by visiting each website with a headless browser, running custom software built by The Markup. This software monitors which scripts on that website are potentially surveilling the user by performing seven different tests, each investigating a specific, known method of surveillance.

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Twitter Tests Voice DMs After Debuting Voice Tweets

Andrew Orr ·

After rolling out voice tweets this summer, Twitter is now testing voice DMs. RIght now it’s being tested in Brazil.

Similar to voice tweets, voice messages have a bare-bones, simple interface: there’s just a play / pause button, and the sender’s avatar pulsates as the message plays. The product team designed an “in-line recording experience to make it easier to send these messages as part of the natural conversation flow,” so that’s one difference from the current audio tweets interface.

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Microsoft Still Interested in Bringing Xbox Game Pass to App Store

Andrew Orr ·

During an interview with CNBC, Microsoft Xbox lead Phil Spencer says the company remains committed to bringing Xbox Game Pass to the App Store.

With Apple changing the App Store policies, the Xbox Game Pass will be able to exist as a catalog app, which means that each game that will be available through the Game Pass will have to go through its indivudla [sic] review on the App Store. This is not really viable for a number of reasons, simply because Microsoft is talking about how it would still force a “bad experience” on the users.