Facebook-owned WhatsApp has a controversial new privacy policy that says it will share your data with Facebook companies.
Andrew Orr
Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.
Articles by Andrew Orr
Stop Instagram for Kids, Say 44 Attorneys General
Forty-four attorneys general wrote a letter in protest of Facebook’s plans to create Instagram for Kids.
Apple Hires Stella Low From Cisco for Corporate Communications
Apple has hired Cisco’s Stella Low to be its new Vice President of worldwide corporate communications.
Court Finds NSA Collects Innocent Americans’ Data Anyway
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) found that the NSA doesn’t follow the law and collections the data of innocent Americans. This is according to a recently declassified document [PDF] from November 2020.
From where we sit, it seems clear that the FISC continues to suffer from a massive case of national security constitutional-itis. That is the affliction (not really, we made it up) where ordinarily careful judges sworn to defend the Constitution effectively ignore the flagrant Fourth Amendment violations that occur when the NSA, FBI, (and to a lesser extent, the CIA, and NCTC) misuse the justification of national security to spy on Americans en mass.
128 Million Apple Users Unknowingly Downloaded Malware in 2015
Emails published in the Epic v Apple trial on Friday revealed that 128 million users downloaded malware from the App Store in 2015.
Over 29,000 Databases Expose 19 Petabytes of Data
Many companies aren’t properly securing their databases, like the one I wrote about this morning. But we have some numbers. CyberNews quotes “29,000 unprotected databases worldwide exposing 19 petabytes (19,000 terabytes, 19,000,000 gigabytes, etc) of data.
To conduct this investigation, we used a specialized search engine to scan for open databases of three of the most popular database types: Hadoop, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch. While performing the search, we made sure that the open databases we found required no authentication whatsoever and were open for anyone to access, as opposed to those that had default credentials enabled.
Many Top VPN Apps Have Inaccurate Privacy Labels
An analysis of 49 VPN apps in the App Store shows that many of them have inaccurate privacy labels, and others didn’t have a label at all.
Report Shows Only 4% of iOS 14.5 Users Opt Into Ad Tracking
A new report from Flurry Analytics shows that approximately 4% of iPhone users running iOS 14.5 have opted into app tracking.
Finnish Mental Health Startup Vastaamo Leaked Patient Data
Vastaamo ran the largest network of private mental-health providers in Finland. William Ralston tells the story on WIRED, and how hackers used the data to threaten patients.
A security flaw in the company’s IT systems had exposed its entire patient database to the open internet—not just email addresses and social security numbers, but the actual written notes that therapists had taken. A group of hackers, or one masquerading as many, had gotten hold of the data.
What an incompetent company. No anonymization of patient records, no encryption of data. In other words, unfortunately common. Two developers hired at Vastaamo were even arrested in a previous security breach.
This Person Turned an AirTag Into a Slim Card
YouTuber Andrew Ngai made a video where he deconstructed an AirTag and turned it into a slim, wallet-friendly card.
iOS 14.5 Adds Beats Headphones Into the ‘Find My’ App
Apple expanded its Find My app in iOS 14.5 to include support for third-party accessories, but also added first-party products like Beats.
Encrypted Storage App ‘Boxcryptor’ Integrates Better With Files App
Boxcryptor received a major update for iOS and iPadOS that eliminates its own file browser. Instead, you’ll browse through your encrypted files completely within Apple’s Files app. Robert Freudenreich explains the decision: “By taking a ‘Files app first’ approach, we enable the best user experience for working with encrypted files in Apple’s Files app.” The integration with the Files app has been in place since iOS 11. But by eliminating the additional Boxcryptor-owned file browser, the Files app now becomes the exclusive file manager. For users, this primarily means an even simpler workflow.
Starlink Internet Speeds May Not Be Created Equal
Starlink, a satellite internet initiative from Elon Musk, has fast internet speeds in some areas while being slow in others.
IBM Creates World-First 2nm Computer Chip
IBM has created a 2-nanometer chip using a prototype manufacturing process. It’s likely we won’t see these chips in the market until late 2024, however.
Chip makers routinely talk about their 10nm, 7nm, and 5nm nodes, in their efforts to pack more and more transistors on a piece of silicon. However, the nanometer nomenclature is often just marketing speak […] based on the company’s slides, there actually isn’t a component on the chip at a 2nm size. Instead, the announcement is more about a generational improvement from IBM’s earlier 5nm process, which debuted in 2017.
“The chips must be insulated from human thought, as an errant memory of grandma from 1970 can cause quantum effects in the chip.“
PopSockets Has Special Gifts for iPhone Moms
Accessory maker PopSockets has some products ready for Mother’s Day 2021. First, a gift guide shares various examples of its iPhone attachment in different designs. Other products include a bicycle mount, car vent mount, and others. Second, the company has a tool to design a custom PopSocket for your mom. The gift guide products and custom PopSockets range in price from US$10 – US$64.95.
Adobe Launches New Fonts Recommendations Feature
On Tuesday Adobe launched a new feature called Adobe Fonts Recommendations. It helps users receive the right fonts for their projects.
Poll Shows 63% of Americans Don’t Trust Their ISPs
Mozilla is releasing results from a survey conducted with YouGov, showing that 63% of them don’t trust their ISPs (n=1305).
63 percent of consumers do not trust ISPs to look out for their best interests, and 72 percent want control of what they see online without meddling or interference from ISPs, according to the findings released today from a new survey we conducted with YouGov.
Twitter to Warn Mobile Users to Review Replies With Potentially Abusive Language
On Wednesday Twitter announced that it will roll out a feature for English-language users on iOS and Android about their tweets.
Superhuman Email Rolls Out Support for Zoom, Google Meet
Email app Superhuman is rolling out support for Zoom and Google Meet integrations into its calendar. The integration was one of the most highly requested features from Superhuman users. With the new integration, users will be able to add Zoom or Google Meet links to the calendar events they create in Superhuman. Like the rest of the calendar experience – you’ll be able to do so with the keyboard only. Superhuman mail is a US$30/month subscription.
Luna Display’s Target Display Mode Feature Adds Ethernet, Thunderbolt
M1 iMacs don’t support Apple’s Target Display Mode, but Luna Display has a workaround with Mac-to-Mac Mode.
Developers Have a New Area to Place App Store Ads
Apple announced on Tuesday that developers have a new area to place App Store ads for their apps.
Camera+ 2 Adds AI-Powered Monuments Mode
Monuments Mode is a new camera mode for Camera+ 2 to help photographers take great photos. The team says: “The basic idea was: what if we grab a bunch of high-resolution video frames from the camera feed, perfectly align them on top of each other, and then somehow select the best parts without the moving distractions.” The mode is designed to remove objects in motion that get in the way of a minimal shot, like taking a photo of a building with people walking by. App Store Link
App ‘Winnie’ Helps Connect Parents to Available Childcare Providers
On Tuesday Apple shared the story of Winnie, an app that helps connect parents to childcare providers with openings.
Winnie is the brainchild of Chief Executive Officer Sara Mauskopf, 36, and Chief Product Officer Anne Halsall, 37, who met while working at the same startup six years ago. Both were mothers with young children, and knew how challenging it could be to find quality childcare.
Steve Jobs Once Called Facebook This Crappy Name
A series of emails revealed in the Epic v Apple case showed how Steve Jobs had humorously referred to Facebook at one point.