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iPhones Aren’t Safe From Google’s Sensorvault Database

Andrew Orr ·

Google has a database called Sensorvault. It contains location data of users and shares it with law enforcement—if they have a warrant, of course. Apple honors lawful requests as well. But Jennifer Valentino-DeVries wonders whether the database is too broad.

Google would not provide details on Sensorvault, but Aaron Edens, an intelligence analyst with the sheriff’s office in San Mateo County, Calif., who has examined data from hundreds of phones, said most Android devices and some iPhones he had seen had this data available from Google…

“It shows the whole pattern of life,” said Mark Bruley, the deputy police chief in Brooklyn Park, Minn., where investigators have been using the technique since this fall. “That’s the game changer for law enforcement.”

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EU Lawmakers Approve Controversial 'Article 13' Copyright Reforms

Charlotte Henry ·

The EU Parliament voted to approve controversial copyright reforms Monday. The reforms included provisions known as  ‘Article 13. That section makes firms responsible for copyright material on their platform. Article 11, which says aggregators must license content that is more than a “short extract”, was also approved.  AppleInsider reported that the changes will be implemented within 2 years.

Known as Article 13, the most controversial element makes firms put more efforts into policing the content on their services, including properly licensing copyrighted material, or be held liable for illegally shared content. The rules not only apply to firms based in the European Union, as it also will impact practically every company that has an online presence accessible within the EU, including those on other continents. The full rules apply to larger firms, but smaller companies and startups have relatively fewer requirements.

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Bringing Alan Turing Back to Life

Charlotte Henry ·

Ian Mcewan does not like science fiction. However, for his latest work, he imagined a dystopian time in which humans live alongside AI-powered robots. He also brought the acclaimed computer scientist Alan Turing back to life and had him solve one of the major unsolved problems in the field. He told Wired why.

In Machines Like Me, he imagines that the mathematician and codebreaker didn’t die by suicide at age 41 but lived on to crack P versus NP, a major computer science problem that in reality remains unsolved. In the world of the novel, this opens a path toward artificial minds that can learn, think – and fall in love.

Podcast

Migration Is (Not Only) For The Birds – Mac Geek Gab 757

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

Siri, Stringify, Space Lens, and Emergency Bypass don’t all begin with the letter ‘S’, but they have one thing in common: your two favorite geeks discuss them in this week’s episode of Mac Geek Gab. In addition, listen as John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton answer your questions, including some about migrating to a new Mac the right way. The best way. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!

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Backlash Against Cashless Stores

Andrew Orr ·

There is no federal law that requires stores to accept cash, which was something that surprised me. So some stores are going cashless, but some argue this discriminates against poor people who don’t have a bank account and/or a fancy smartphone.

Advocates for cashless bans worry technology is moving too fast for the 6.5% of American households — 8.4 million — that do not have a bank account, according to figures from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Cashless is hard enough, but imagine if you walked into a store only to find out that it only accepts Google Pay. That might bring the reality a bit closer to home.