Apple, Google, Microsoft, and WhatsApp signed an open letter criticizing proposals to bypass encryption made by GCHQ officials.
GDPR: Nearly 90,000 Data Breach Notifications in First Year
There were 89,271 data breach notifications in the first year of GDPR being in place, with fines issued totaling €56 million.
Facebook Banned Over 2 billion Fake Accounts in Q1 2019
Facebook banned 2.19 billion fake accounts in the first quarter of 2019 – that is the equivalent of its entire existing userbase.
G Suite Passwords Stored in Plaintext Since 2005
Google has stored passwords to some G Suite enterprise accounts in plaintext, since 2005, the company has admitted.
Facebook Facial Recognition Opt-Out Not Universal
Consumer Reports found that Facebook facial recognition doesn’t seem to be a universal setting, despite Facebook promising otherwise.
Consumer Reports examined the accounts of 31 Facebook users across the U.S. The participants let us record video as they navigated their Facebook settings under our direction. We found the Face Recognition setting missing from eight of the accounts we documented, or just over 25 percent.
I could be a smart a** and recommend deleting your Facebook account as a way to opt out, but that wouldn’t help the people still on Facebook.
New Facebook Live Restrictions After New Zealand Terror Horror
Facebook has announced new restrictions to Facebook Live, including a “one-strike” rule, in response to the New Zealand terror attack.
Major WhatsApp Spyware Vulnerability Revealed
A major WhatsApp vulnerability that allowed hackers to inject spyware via voice calls made on the popular messaging app has been revealed.
Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes Says The Company Should Be Broken up
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes said that the social media giant needs to be broken up.
Activist Groups Launch Campaign to Remove Mark Zuckerberg from Board
Yesterday, two activist groups launched a campaign to remove Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook’s board of directors.
Digital civil rights group Color of Change and Majority Action, a corporate accountability organization, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will be urging Facebook shareholders to withhold their support for nominating Zuckerberg to the board.
The two groups argue that Facebook’s corporate structure gives Zuckerberg “control without adequate checks,” pointing out that he is CEO and holds 57.7 percent of voting rights in the company.
Mark Zuckerberg to Focus on Privacy at F8
Mark Zuckerberg will focus on privacy when he speaks at the F8 developer conference, saying Facebook has a new “privacy focussed” approach.
Hey Mark Zuckerberg? Transparency is Part of Privacy
Facebook has been accused of blocking efforts to study its ad platform. Andrew says that transparency is a big part of privacy.
App Notarization, #DeleteFBSDK – TMO Daily Observations 2019-04-25
John Martellaro and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont to chat about Apple’s app notarization and devs removing the Facebook SDK from apps.
Mark Zuckerberg Sweats as Regulators Hungrily Eye Him Up
After the latest Facebook privacy fiasco which involved Instagram passwords, regulators are looking even more closely at Mark Zuckerberg.
The 11 People Trying to Fight Fake News in the Indian Election
The Indian election is the world’s largest democratic exercise. There is, unsurprisingly, some concern that it could be undermined by fake news. Bloomberg News met Boom Live, an 11-strong team of fact-checkers that make up 1 of the 7 firms working with Facebook’s efforts.
Based on the early tallies, more than 60 percent of India’s 900 million eligible voters are expected to cast ballots between now and May 19, as the center-left Congress Party tries to seize power from the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. As in other elections around the world, paid hacks and party zealots are churning out propaganda on Facebook and the company’s WhatsApp messenger, along with Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and other ubiquitous communication channels. Together with Facebook’s automated filters, Boom’s 11 fact-checkers and its similar-size fellow contractors are the front line of the social network’s shield against this sludge.
Change Your Instagram Password Immediately
In an updated blog post Facebook admitted that it stored Instagram passwords in plaintext, and millions of users are affected.
Facebook Imported 1.5 Million Users' Contacts Lists Without Their Permission
Facebook collected the contact lists of 1.5 million people who joined the social network from May 2016 without their permission.
Another Creepy Facebook Story: Scanning Your Photos For Profit
FastCompany writes:
Facebook has just been awarded a patent for technology that could let the social network scan through your photos, see what products you like, and then send that data to advertisers in the hopes of selling you more of the product.
So every photo a user posts to Facebook may, someday, be used to manipulate that user. But it’s just a patent award, right?
Leaked Facebook Documents Show how Mark Zuckerberg Plays Dirty
Leaked Facebook documents that include emails, chats, presentations, spreadsheets, and meeting summaries show how Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s board and management team played dirty.
Zuckerberg, along with his board and management team, found ways to tap Facebook’s trove of user data — including information about friends, relationships and photos — as leverage over companies it partnered with.
In some cases, Facebook would reward favored companies by giving them access to the data of its users. In other cases, it would deny user-data access to rival companies or apps.
Basically, everything Facebook has said in public, they are doing the exact opposite in private.
The Facebook Advertisers Who Bought Your Data
Have you ever wondered which Facebook advertisers bought your data? A transparency tool gives some insight.
Jumbo Privacy Assistant Can Manage Your Social Media
Jumbo is a privacy assistant that can manage your social media. It can delete your old tweets, manage your Facebook privacy settings, delete your Google search history, and delete your Alexa voice recordings. Jumbo has no servers, so your data doesn’t leave your iPhone. When it comes to deleting tweets, there are several options to choose from, like tweets from the past day, week, month, and year. Due to Twitter’s API limitations, Jumbo can only clean 3,200 tweets at a time. Instagram and Tinder are coming soon to the app, so you can clean your Instagram photos and videos, and delete Tinder matches and messages. Personally, I also hope support for deleting Reddit posts and comments will come in the future. App Store: Free
Digital Legacy, Online Security Measures – TMO Daily Observations 2019-04-09
Host Kelly Guimont chats with Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin about your online data after you die, and plugging weird stuff into your computer.
When I Die I Want You to Delete My Facebook Account
When I die I want you to delete my Facebook account. Don’t parade my digital corpse around in Facebook’s new Tributes feature.
Facebook is rolling out several updates for memorialized accounts, which are profiles that remain active for people who have passed away. A dedicated tributes tab will let friends and family share stories and memories of their loved one, allowing the late person’s timeline to stay as it was before they passed away.
Millions of Facebook Data Records Stored on Amazon Cloud Servers and Leaked
Over 100,000 open databases were found on Amazon Cloud and contained the personal information of millions of Facebook users.
Mark Zuckerberg Ruined the Internet. Now He Pretends to Care About It
Mark Zuckerberg is at it again with another essay. This time he says that the internet needs to be regulated and thinks Congress should focus on four areas first. Roger McNamee gives his thoughts on it.
Mark Zuckerberg’s recent opinion piece in the Washington Post is a monument to insincerity and misdirection. The essay offers proposals to address four important issues – harmful content, election protection, privacy and data protection, and data portability – but each proposal is transparently self-serving.