Google

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How to Spot Online Scams Using Google’s New Tool

Andrew Orr ·

Partnering with the Cybercrime Support Network, Google has a new tool called Scam Spotter. It gives you a quiz to help you spot online scams. It simplifies advice from experts into three golden rules:

  • Slow it down: Are they telling you it’s urgent? Take your time and ask questions to avoid being rushed into a bad situation.
  • Spot check: Are they claiming to be from a specific institution? Do your own research to double check the details you’re getting.
  • Stop! Don’t send: Are they asking you to go to the store and get gift cards? If you think a payment feels fishy, it probably is.
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Google Fi Introduces eSIM Support for New iPhone Customers

Andrew Orr ·

First introduced last month, Google Fi is rolling out eSIM support for new iPhone customers.

This capability is tied to version 2.5 of the Google Fi companion app, which rolled out yesterday. The release notes mention how “You can now activate Fi via eSIM on select iPhone devices.”

The official help document still notes how “iOS eSIM activation only works for new users who sign up for Google Fi.”

Find the Google Fi app here.

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You Can Now Lock Google Drive on iOS With Face ID, Touch ID

Andrew Orr ·

Today Google updated Google Drive on iOS with a feature called Privacy Screen. It lets you lock the app with Face ID and Touch ID. Digital Trends notes:

The feature is activated each time you close the Drive app and reopen it and also locks files if you switch between Google Drive and another app, according to a Google spokesperson. You’ll have the option to turn this feature on and adjust its timing in Drive settings.

I personally would like Apple to let us lock every app with Face ID / Touch ID. Apps can clearly do this by themselves, but having it “baked” into the operating system is ideal.

App Store: Google Drive – Free

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Leaks Reveal Google Pay Card as Rival to Apple Card

Andrew Orr ·

Leaked images of a Google Pay Card reveal that Google is busy creating a rival to Apple Card. There will also be an associated virtual card with it.

The Google card and associated checking account will allow users to buy things with a card, mobile phone or online. It connects to a Google app with new features that let users easily monitor purchases, check their balance or lock their account. The card will be co-branded with different bank partners, including CITI and Stanford Federal Credit Union.

I remember getting a card associated with my Google Pay account back in 2015 or so. They released it long before the Apple Card, but like many Google products it eventually got canceled.

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Google Fi Customers Can Use iPhone eSIM

Andrew Orr ·

Google watchers have noticed that Google Fi customers can use the iPhone’s eSIM, although Google says this feature is in the process of rolling out.

A modern Apple device is required — XR, XS, XS Max, and 11 series, while this simplified iOS eSIM activation is currently only available to “new users who sign up for Google Fi.” The just-announced iPhone SE should also support eSIM, according to tech specs for the device.

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Google: “We Don’t Sell Your Data, We Just Monetize It”

Andrew Orr ·

One way to avoid the California Consumer Privacy Act is to claim that you don’t sell data. This is what Google has seemingly done.

Google monetizes what it observes about people in two major ways: It uses data to build individual profiles with demographics and interests, then lets advertisers target groups of people based on those traits. It shares data with advertisers directly and asks them to bid on individual ads.

As I tweeted yesterday, there is no difference between selling “access” to data and selling data “directly.” In both scenarios, people are products for advertisers. Although I’m sure lawsuits have been won and lost on lesser technicalities.

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Google Search Reveals Private WhatsApp Groups

Andrew Orr ·

Google indexes links to WhatsApp group invites that may be private, meaning people can find and join them.

Motherboard used a number of specific Google searches to find invite links to WhatsApp groups. Some of the groups appear to not be overly sensitive or for a particular audience. Many of the links on Google lead to groups for sharing porn.

But others appear to be catered to specific groups. Motherboard entered one WhatsApp group chat that described itself as being for NGOs accredited by the United Nations. After joining, Motherboard was able to see a list of all 48 participants and their phone numbers.

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Not Wanting Surveillance Competition, Facebook Tells Clearview AI to Back Off

Andrew Orr ·

Last month, we got word that a company called Clearview AI helped law enforcement with its facial recognition technology. Now, Facebook and Google, which also use facial recognition, told Clearview AI to stop scraping images from each one’s website.

Ton-That argued that his firm’s work is protected by the First Amendment and also that Clearview doesn’t do anything Google doesn’t.

“The way we have built our system is to only take publicly available information and index it that way,” he said.

Ton-That added, “Google can pull in information from all different websites… So if it’s public and it’s out there and could be inside Google search engine, it can be inside ours as well.”

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Google’s iPhone Security App Keeps You in its Ecosystem

Andrew Orr ·

Google updated its Smart Lock app on iOS to let iPhones be used for two-factor authentication. But it will only work inside Chrome. Now your only choices for Google two-factor authentication are this Smart Lock app, or a phone number (an insecure method). You can also use a physical security key but not an app like Authy.

After installing the update, users are asked to select a Google account to set up their phone’s built-in security key. According to a Google cryptographer, the feature makes use of Apple’s Secure Enclave hardware, which securely stores ‌Touch ID‌, Face ID, and other cryptographic data on iOS devices.

Update. So I made a mistake and you can use an app like Authy, but you first have to surrender your phone number to Google. Which I’m obviously loathe to do so I use a disposable number.

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Google’s Project Understood Aims to Help People With Down Syndrome Use Voice Technology

Andrew Orr ·

Google started an initiative called Project Understood. It’s partnering with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society to ask people with Down syndrome help train its voice recognition algorithms to understand them better.

“Out of the box, Google’s speech recognizer would not recognize every third word for a person with Down syndrome, and that makes the technology not very usable,” Google engineer Jimmy Tobin said in a video introducing the project. Google is aiming to collect 500 “donations” of voice recordings from people with Down syndrome, and is already more than halfway toward its goal.

A worthy project.

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Google Wants COPPA to Change so it can Keep Collecting Kids’ Data

Andrew Orr ·

The Federal Trade Commission is considering a revamp of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Google wants to help them change the rules, and asked the agency to eliminate rules that categorizes anyone watching kids content online as actual kids.

In September, Google agreed to pay US$170 million to the FTC to resolve claims that YouTube violated COPPA by serving targeted advertisements to children under 13…After the FTC settlement, YouTube told creators that they would have to identify when videos are aimed at children under 13. When that happens, YouTube now turns off ads that rely on web browsing behavior and other targeting data, which earn more for YouTube and creators.

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Why Teaching Privacy to Your Kids is Important

Andrew Orr ·

Siobhan O’Flynn writes about all the ways that companies like Google collect data from kids in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. It starts when schools increasingly turn to Google services in education.

Alphabet Inc. dominates child-directed and child-featured content online through YouTube Kids and has now colonized online educational spaces through Google Docs, G-Suite, Chromebooks and the associated Gmail accounts for children that are required for use. This means that Google’s access to children’s data spans entertainment (YouTube and YouTube Kids), search and purchase histories (via associated parental accounts), and educational sectors.

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What Google Stadia Means for the Future

Andrew Orr ·

Alex Cranz reviewed Google Stadia, a game service where games are streamed to you instead of you loading them onto your device.

With Stadia, you can slip into a game typically found on a PC or console using almost any device. It makes you wonder why we’ve tethered ourselves to hardware for so long when the internet can give us all of that power at a considerably lower cost (and smaller energy bill). The problem is that Stadia rarely works perfectly. Instead, it offers us a glimmer of the future before crashing back down into the muddy present.

”It makes you wonder why.” Here’s why we’re still tethering ourselves: Because arguably you own physical copies of media like games, books, and movies. The “future” that Mr. Cranz’s headline alludes to is the Ideal Corporate World in which no one owns anything because it’s all a subscription.