As Facebook tries to recover its damaged reputation following controversies over how it handles users' personal data, it seems the social media giant still has a few other privacy issues to work on. It was discovered this week that the company had accidentally emailed analytic reports intended for developers to outside testers.
Fresh out of VidCon, YouTube has announced new features specifically for its content creators, not the least of which is the ability to play pre-recorded videos during livestreams. YouTube calls these "Premieres," presenting them as a way to offer existing content as live content for ushering in a planned livestreaming event.
A surprise Supreme Court ruling could make your next online shopping spree more expensive, after deciding that states can impose sales tax on internet purchases made from out-of-state retailers. The issue had been pushed to the fore by South Dakota, which had argued that its recent law insisting on applying tax even to purchases made online beyond the state's borders should be upheld.
Facebook has launched a new monthly subscription fee feature for Facebook Groups, the company announced today. The new feature enables Groups administrators to add a monthly cost to the group, though Facebook says this is a pilot project at this time. Only a small number of Facebook Groups currently have access to the feature, but you may see a charge showing up on your own favorite Groups in the future.
While ZTE is fighting for survival in the US, fellow Chinese company Huawei is also struggling in Australia. While the consequences of losing this battle is less likely to make Huawei fold, it is still a slippery slope that could see Huawei’s foothold in more markets around the world. Just like in the US, Australia’s rivaling political parties seem to be in agreement that allowing Huawei to participate in building the country’s 5G infrastructure would be tantamount to giving China backdoor access to it.
The US Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning over a new type of malware out of North Korea. The DHS worked with the FBI to unearth and reveal the existence of a malware variant it says is known as "TYPEFRAME." Analysts with the two government agencies analyzed a total of 11 samples of the trojan, including infected Windows files.
Back in 2008, Comcast deployed a "congestion management system" that throttled Xfinity Internet customers who used too much data. That system, despite its massive unpopularity, had been live for the past decade, the keywords here being "had been." The company revealed earlier this week that it has deactivated that throttling system.
Back at the beginning of February, Instagram announced that it would begin notifying users when other people snapped a screenshot of the Stories they shared. Snapchat, which has been a continuous source of inspiration for Instagram, has done something similar for years, so it wasn't really surprising to see Instagram follow suit in this instance. What is surprising is what's happening today, as Instagram has confirmed that it's scrapping these notifications instead of rolling them out to everyone.
Google is making it easier to see just what conclusions its ads have come to about you, revamping Google Ad Settings to make it clearer to check - and adjust - the demographic data it uses to personalize the adverts you're shown. The move comes as tailored advertising becomes both more topical and more controversial, as internet users realize just how much information they're giving away about themselves.
Google has updated its Search product to help users get all the info they need on colleges and universities. This is a sort of prequel to the job search platform Google introduced last year; you need to get a proper education before you can find a good job, and that's where this new feature comes in.
Twitter, if you couldn't already tell, not only wants to be a place to keep in touch with your friends, but also a platform you can use to keep up with news and other matters that are important to you. We've seen Twitter roll out a number of features over the years to achieve these goals, including Moments and the Explore tab. Today, however, Twitter has detailed plans for a fairly massive expansion of this new initiative, and a number of improvements to existing features are coming along with it.
Encrypted messaging apps may have gained traction over the past few years, but even if you use Signal your conversations may not be as secure as you think. As the indictment of former Senate Intel panel security director James A. Wolfe this week shows, overlooking a few key settings can make your messages all too easily accessed.