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Privacy Advocates Call on Tim Cook to to Implement iOS 14 Privacy Features

Andrew Orr ·

Ranking Digital Rights, along with seven other organizations, sent a letter [PDF] to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging the company to implement iOS 14 privacy features that are delayed until 2021.

Apple has the opportunity to reinforce its position as an industry leader on protecting the privacy of its users by empowering them to control who can track their online behavior. At the same time, this change can and should enable the company to become more transparent about how it enforces its terms against apps that violate its policies. By delaying the introduction of crucial privacy measures, the company is slowing the momentum it created.

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Apple Wants to Store Your ID Digitally. What Could Go Wrong?

Andrew Orr ·

William Gallagher writes how Apple is working on methods to store your ID digitally in Wallet, like credit cards. But I found this part concerning:

This all presumes that we are able to present our ID. There are situations, such as when we’re incapacitated, when we need to be identified yet we cannot personally do anything about that. In this case, Apple proposes that under the right circumstances, our devices could “automatically transmit the user’s identity credential.”

Apple gives the example of a first responder, “such as police officer, firefighter, etc,” who could legitimately possess a device that would automatically request ID like this.

I bet law enforcement would love a Stingray-like device that can automatically harvest IDs when they walk through a protest.

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Apple Podcasts Available on Amazon Echo and Fire TV Devices in Germany

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple Podcasts is now available on Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices in Germany like they are in the U.S, AppleInsider reported. The service can be set as the default via a skill. I very much hope this comes to other European countries, including the UK! At the moment, in these other countries, you can access podcasts on an Alexa device via TuneIn.

Amazon Echo devices need to have an Alexa skill installed to access the library. This is the same setup as it is in the United States. Once set up, users can ask Alexa to play a podcast, and then also have more specific controls such as pausing, or skipping back and forth through episodes. In the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, users need to first add a skill called Apple Podcasts.

Cool Stuff Found

App Store Connect 1.5 Update Brings New Icon, TestFlight

Andrew Orr ·

The App Store Connect 1.5 update brings a new icon that uses design language from macOS Big Sur. It also lets developers set up internal TestFlight beta testing and more. Release Notes: Add up to 100 members of your team to test beta builds of your app; edit test details for beta builds, view build activity and status, and expire builds; answer required export compliance questions; remove internal testers.

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A Birthday Present From Instagram - New Anti-Bullying Features

Charlotte Henry ·

Tuesday was Instagram’s 10-year birthday. To mark the occasion, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform announced new anti-bullying features on its official blog.

In the last few days, we started testing a new feature that automatically hides comments similar to others that have been reported. We know from research that, while people don’t want to be exposed to negative comments, they want more transparency into the types of comments that are hidden. You can tap “View Hidden Comments” to see the comments. Comments that violate our Community Guidelines will continue to be automatically removed. We’re also expanding comment warning to include an additional warning when people repeatedly attempt to post potentially offensive comments. Since launching comment warning, we saw that reminding people of the consequences of bullying on Instagram and providing real-time feedback as they are writing the comment is the most effective way to shift behavior. These new warnings let people take a moment to step back and reflect on their words and lay out the potential consequences should they proceed. We just started testing this feature in select languages.

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IRS Investigated for Location Data Usage Without Warrant

Andrew Orr ·

The IRS is being investigated for its use of location data collected from apps without obtaining warrants.

The IRS’ attempts were not successful though, as the people the IRS was looking for weren’t included in the particular Venntel data set, the aide added.

But the IRS still obtained this data without a warrant, and the legal justification for doing so remains unclear. The aide said that the IRS received verbal approval to use the data, but stopped responding to their office’s inquiries.

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HomePod Mini, But Not Second Generation, on Way

Charlotte Henry ·

Rumors picked up on by Cult of Mac indicate that a HomePod mini could be on the way at Apple’s October 13 event, a topic discussed on Tuesday’s Daily Observations podcast. However, the same source suggests we may have to wait a bit longer for the second generation of the full-size version.

L0vetodream made the claim Tuesday on Twitter after Apple issued invites to its October 13 “Hi, Speed” event. Apple likely will unveil its final new hardware products of the year at that time… Given that Apple hasn’t updated the HomePod since 2017, it seems to be on Cupertino’s back burner. Perhaps that’s because a lot of smart speaker functionality, outside playing music, can be done on other Apple devices. But many people could be keen to buy a cheaper HomePod. Apple could find success, essentially following the model laid out by the iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE. HomePod SE, anyone?

Cool Stuff Found

MacBook Pro SuitCase from Twelve South

Charlotte Henry ·

Accessories-maker Twelve South has released a SuitCase for the MacBook. This rather stylish case has a thermoformed hardshell case covered by a quilted, textile exterior and a leather handle. It has room for paperwork and cables, so you can just have one bag if all you need is your laptop. The SuitCase fits a 13-inch MacBook Pro or Air ($69.99) and a 16-inch Pro ($79.99).