A lot of people are prone to misplacing items within their home or office. Apple has been working on a product expected to launch sometime in the future for a while known as AirTags to track important items. AirTags were expected to launch in 2020, but that launch never happened, and privacy features meant to go with them were later pulled from iOS. This feature has returned in the iOS 14.5 beta.
Brave, best known for its privacy-minded browser, is getting into the search engine business with the launch of Brave Search. The new Google and Bing alternative is based on Tailcat, and existing privacy search technology Brave recently acquired, and aims to distinguish itself in several ways from the search mainstream.
Google is publicly committing to not using personal tracking once third-party cookies are phased out of Chrome, addressing what's arguably become the most contentious issue among advertisers and the businesses that make their money from showing us ads. The search giant announced last year that it would, over a two year period, be stripping tracking cookie support out of its browser.
LastPass may have been one of the most popular password managers in the market but it instantly became the most notorious for a sudden change in its free offering. That, however, may pale in comparison to the latest news that the app you trust to protect your privacy may be doing shady things behind your back, like tracking your device details. Of course, the situation isn't exactly clear-cut nor simple but it may still be an unsettling one given the context.
WhatsApp's Facebook-friendly privacy changes have caused many users to flock to other secure messaging services. Those services, in turn, have rapidly pushed out changes to improve their features as well as prepare their servers for the sudden influx of new users. For its latest set of updates, Telegram is adding a touch of transience to some of its features, such as public chats as well as invite links, while also making sure that refugees from other messaging platforms will feel at home as well.
They may sound delicious but when it comes to the Web, cookies are almost like poison. Sure, they technically serve an important purpose but, like the real-world treats, they can be abused to harm people. That's why web browser makers are taking up arms against cookie abuse, each in their own way, and Mozilla's latest attempt is to completely confine those cookies in their own jars starting with Firefox 86.
WhatsApp users who don't accept the company's controversial upcoming privacy policy will steadily lose functionality over a few weeks, as the Facebook-owned messaging platform squeezes them into agreeing with the new rules. Announced last month, the new privacy terms met with near-instant backlash, as they appeared to allow WhatsApp to share user data with other Facebook products and services.
Facebook isn't one to back down from a fight or making controversial changes, at least until its hands are forced by laws. Even as it faces inquiries and lawsuits about its alleged monopolistic business practices, it is still pushing through with unpopular actions that practically put its mark on everything it owns. The Oculus Quest's new multi-user support, for example, is still tied to Facebook accounts, and WhatsApp is now resuming the journey to revamp its privacy policy to favor Facebook.
Apple is really going all out on its hard stance on privacy, especially considering the positive reception its upcoming anti-tracking features have had on consumers and advocates at the expense of the likes of Facebook. That, however, isn't the only step it will be taking to ensure its users' safety. Starting iOS 14.5, even Google's Safe Browsing function will use Apple servers as a proxy to avoid any privacy leak at all.
Smartphones have become extensions of ourselves and have become pretty personal devices but it's not exactly unheard of to pass our phones to someone. Sometimes a family member or friend needs to borrow your phone for one reason or another and, with direct physical access, even your most secret incognito tabs are rendered ineffective. Google is now experimenting with a simple yet effective way to keep Chrome's Incognito tabs incognito using iOS Face ID or Touch ID.
Social networking platforms have always been a numbers game, from "engagement" numbers to "friends" numbers. The latter is sometimes used as a bragging right, showing how many followers or friends you have collected. In some cases, it's virtually impossible for you to actually know all of those personally, and, sometimes, those can even be liabilities. Snap, once popular for its strong privacy features, is now rolling out a feature that will remind its users to keep their friends lists regularly in check.
Every new version of Android naturally brings something new but not all of those are things that users will be able to notice or fill. Sometimes, the upgrades seem almost minor and incremental, with the focus on strengthening the underlying layers instead. That may have been the case with Android 11 but, based on early leaks for Android 12, this year's release might bring more visible changes to the table, including some that will make users more aware of how their privacy may be at risk.