privacy

Today the folks at Apple released a mobility data trends tool to the public for free to aid in citizen care for COVID-19. Our current global pandemic requires that companies like Apple step forward and offer their tech power to assist the world in avoiding sickness and death. Mobility data revealed by Apple today is not attached to any specific user account, and is based instead on user requests for Apple Maps data for directions.

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Like the mythical hydra, the COVID-19 coronavirus has so many aspects to it, from the symptoms you need to take note of to the social distancing and hand hygiene you need to practice. One of the trickiest factors to consider is the people you come in contact with, which will be critical in trying to stop the virus from spreading further. Apple and Google have teamed up to help make contact-tracing easier but they now have to also assure users, governments, and privacy advocates that their tool won't be used to violate people's privacy in the name of flattening the curve.

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Detecting COVID-19 was the aim in a new dog-focused study done in the UK in April 2020. Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LHTSM) believe they've got a real shot at training dogs to detect the illness in humans. This project's outline suggests they're aiming to have these dogs deployed in as little as two months, here in the year 2020.

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Each one of your Netflix profiles may include a password now with the latest round of updates. This newest set of updates is aimed primarily at families, specifically for parents hoping to lock kids out of adult-themed content included in non-kids accounts. But there are a few features here that'll be useful to anyone that uses Netflix.

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Zoom may have introduced new security tools to avoid "Zoombombing" interrupting video calls, but concerns about the unexpectedly popular service have led to at least one city implementing a ban. Last Thursday, Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan admitted that the company had been overwhelmed with exponential growth in daily users, as coronavirus quarantined and self-isolating people turned to video calling to keep in contact.

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Video chats and video conferencing are the hot things in today's locked down world. Services old and new have risen to the challenge of connecting people even when they can't meet face to face physically. Not all of those products, however, can be considered foolproof and trustworthy, no matter how popular they are. In fact, one that has become the most popular is now also the most notorious as the direct and indirect results of Zoom's lax security continue to pile up.

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Apple quietly added a new privacy feature to the latest iPad Pro, borrowing a MacBook security feature to help prevent eavesdropping on its 2020 tablets. With the launch of the 2018 MacBook range and the introduction of the Apple T2 security chip, closing the lid of the notebooks automatically disconnects the hardware microphones.

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The folks at Estimote created a set of devices and software that'll allow a business owner to keep track of their workers remotely. With a "contact tracing dashboard" and Bluetooth devices (worn by each employee), a business owner can keep track of the location and relative health of their workforce. Each wearable device scans for other wearable devices in the area and "registers close interactions."

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Almost exactly two years ago, Cloudflare announced what many thought was an April Fools joke. It challenged carriers, ISP providers, and even Google by launching its own public DNS service with claims to being privacy-focused yet also fast. Last year it expanded that to mobile devices with WARP. For this year's "No Joke" announcement, Cloudflare is expanding its coverage not just for routing and locating Internet addresses but also keeping families safe by blocking unwanted and unwelcome content from their home networks.

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The video chat app Zoom isn't private by default. You've got to do a few things before your Zoom meeting is secure. You'll need to make sure you're not downloading a malicious bit of software. You need to make sure you're not sharing your room name. You've got to tap a few buttons and follow a few rules - and it CAN BE relatively easy to make certain you're entirely safe from negative elements like "zoombombing" or "zoom-bombing".

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The creators of Call of Duty: Warzone took the ban hammer to the masses this week, crushing tens of thousands of cheaters. The team at Infinity Ward revealed that, since launch on March 10, 2020, they've had to ban over FIFTY THOUSAND PLAYERS from the game. What's more - they've not revealed the specific ways in which they've detected these cheaters, making it more difficult for said cheaters to find their way back to the game. That's normal, but the amount of players banned is certainly not.

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It shouldn't really be a surprise these days that Internet services accumulate a wealth of data from each and every user, especially those that offer said services for free. More often than not, this data collection activity is explained as a way to improve the user experience, mostly by personalizing what users see to match what they might be interested in. All of this is, of course, invisible to the user, which has been the subject of much debate and legislation. Complying with those laws, Facebook and Instagram are updating their data download tools to include not just your direct data but the information it uses to infer what users like.

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