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DuckDuckGo Survey Shows People Taking Action on Privacy

Andrew Orr ·

A recent survey (n=1,114) by DuckDuckGo found that 79.2% of U.S. adults had taken privacy measures in the past year, like adjusting privacy settings on social media or just using social media less.

43.1% (± 2.9) removed personal information or posts that they didn’t want the network or others to see.

35.0% (± 2.8)made their profile completely private.

34.8% (± 2.8) stopped adding location tags to their posts.

38.2% (± 2.8) changed which data they allow the network to collect and share about them.

I think it’s great to see more people paying attention to their privacy. For most people, privacy is something that you don’t notice often until you start losing it.

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How Motorola Helps Enable Government Surveillance

Andrew Orr ·

Since 2017 Motorola Solutions has invested US$1.7 billion to support or buy companies that build police body cameras, train the cameras with facial recognition, find suspects in videos, and track vehicle movement via license plates.

The company provided a statement that described its plan to add artificial intelligence products, including object detection and “unusual motion detection,” to a package it sells to public safety agencies. The systems can help flag a potential trespasser or the appearance of smoke, the company said. The company emphasized that the new tools are not meant to make automatic policing decisions but to help officers decide how to act.

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Apple Files Amicus Brief in Support of DACA

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy.

Apple has filed many briefs before the Court, but this is the first time that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and Vice President of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien are named too.

In its brief, Apple notes that it employs 443 Dreamers who come from more than 25 different countries spanning four continents. Dreamers at Apple run the gamut of roles within the company, including hardware engineering, software engineering, retail, customer support, and operations across 36 states.

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Ikea Smart Blinds Suffer From Second Delay

Andrew Orr ·

The Ikea smart blinds Fyrtur model have suffered a second delay. The after the first delay they were supposed to be released on October 1. But now the company says “later this year.”

The delay is already obvious to anyone who has been feverishly refreshing the US listing, hoping their local Ikea suddenly shows in-store availability. The blinds are on sale elsewhere. In the UK, for example, the Fyrtur blackout blinds are available for home delivery. Moreover, they’re also selling the less expensive, and more translucent, Kadrilj model that won’t be on sale in the US.