Category: dsdefender

According to a lab in London, Researchers have solved “the protein folding” problem. If this is true, it’s a discovery which rivals, the washing machine. Protein structure and shape in the human body (and all other living things for that matter) define the behaviour of viruses and bacteria. DeepMind is a lab owned by Alphabet Inc. and whether they will share their technology is still an open question.

As much as we’re frustrated with Google’s abuse of individual data, in the fight between good and evil, this investment by Alphabet seems to be a positive one.

Data, data, data, from macro to micro. This article in the NYT is well written.

The latest from Apple complaining that Facebook abuses user data and promiscuously tracks its’ users is a bit rich! The PR firms are hard at work and Facebook is… Well, probably the worst, but what’s painful is to see how much better Apple is at managing this issue. Hypocritical without a doubt, they’ve been promoting an App Tracking Transparency feature and calling out Facebook along the way. It’s true the rhetoric is confusing, but Apple’s strategy here is to attack and distract. They’re up to their necks in a PR game of cat and mouse with Epic, why not attack Facebook and shore up their own spin? The news is all over the place, but this article hits a lot of the information.

They’re cutting the App Store fee from 30% to 15% for developers who generate less than $1Million and that’s 95% of us. When? January 1st. My favourite part of this Bloomberg story is Basecamp CTO’s quote from Twitter. “If you’re a developer making $1m, Apple is STILL asking to be paid $150,000, just to process payments on the monopoly computing platform in the US. That’s obscene!” In any case it’s better than nothing and might appease the courts and public opinion for a while. The fact is it’s a monopolistic platform and their problems won’t go away with the bone they’ve just tossed. Here’s a good article from Bloomberg.

Apple has been using this IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) for ‘ever’. As an app developer we see this each time we publish an app. If you want to integrate ads this is the ID that allows 3rd parties to track your usage. It goes without saying that Apple keeps a close eye on it as well. Now Europe is saying Apple is in clear violation of GDPR regulations. The real problem for apple isn’t allowing users to opt-in or not. They can do that easily. The problem is if a user opts-out, they opt-out of tracking for all of the app installations which use this identifier for their ads. And why give away a free app, if you can’t push ads… This Reuters article is decent.

Europe just doesn’t like getting lobbied by big tech. Someone leaked Google’s strategy for countering the EU’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton didn’t like it. No kidding. The tactics would be expected but treating Europe as you might treat a weak state without other options, might be a huge miscalculation. Europe and Google are on a collision course for everything ‘Data’. A few billion dollars is okay, but rules and regulations protecting EU member data is a ‘no go’ for Google. This Reuters article seems about right.

The apps are listening, watching and recording you. Don’t let them. Block their access to your phone’s camera and microphone. Most apps — regardless of their intended function — collect personal data and use it for their own benefit. One of the ways that apps get crafty about collecting that data is by accessing your phone’s camera or microphone. Deny that access, and you’ll be safer.

You would be surprised to know that most apps on your phone have access to your camera and microphone data. This may seem OK for social media apps, where you may post videos or photos directly from your device. However, there are hundreds of apps that access your camera and microphone without having an obvious need. They do it to harvest personal data and improve their tracking.

Listening, Watching, Recording

Have you ever logged onto Facebook and seen an advertisement for something you were just talking about? It’s not just a coincidence. In all likelihood, your microphone is turned on and the app is accessing that data. Listening. As a result, they can target ads based on your own stated needs and wants.

Any app is a potential security risk. The more you have on your phone, the greater the risk. If they’re all listening, watching and recording your behavior, they’re gleaning a whole lot of personal data from you. By keeping a minimal number of apps on your phone and ensuring that none of them has access to your camera and microphone, you can improve your personal cyber security.

How to Block Access to iPhone Mic and Camera

• Go to your iPhone Settings.
• Click on App tab.
• Look at each individual app on your phone.
• Toggle microphone and camera under each app in order to disable these functions.

How to Block Access to Android Mic and Camera

• Go to your Android settings.
• Click on the Apps tab.
• Look at each individual app on your phone.
• Disable camera and microphone permission settings for each individual app.

Disabling these functions on each individual app on your phone seldom impacts the functionality of the app itself. It does boost your privacy and security and undermine—a bit—Big Tech’s tracking efforts. Get in to you phone’s settings, toggle those switches and block access to your phone’s camera and microphone. And then delete the apps you haven’t used in a month. (Who likes zombies?)

Reprinted with permission.

You don’t need to be a privacy fanatic to see the problems with letting a camera-equipped drone fly around your house, feeding video to your phone (and the cloud) as it buzzes from room to room. Amazon is betting you won’t care. You should. It’s a privacy disaster.

In case you haven’t heard, earlier this fall Amazon introduced the Ring Always Home Cam, a small drone that acts as an all-seeing eye as it floats through your home. It’s supposed to be a security device, allowing you check on your home while you’re away. Worried you left a window open? Launch the Ring Cam to find out.

Maybe that’s appealing. But is it worth letting Amazon peer into your living space? Is it worth sacrificing your privacy? Remember, Amazon-owned Ring, which makes those increasingly common video-enabled doorbells, has had plenty of security woes. What happens if (when, really) the camera flying past your bedroom gets hacked? This is a tracking nightmare, a total capitulation to the gods of data collection, and a privacy disaster.

Even if Ring designs an impenetrable encryption system, by using the drone you’re handing a trove of personal information to Ring and, therefore, Amazon. Information about the people who live in your house—your family—and the products that fill it. That’s your information about your life.

You can view the Ring Always Home Cam as its makers would like: A benevolent security device. Or you can see it as a personal data vacuum, inhaling vast amounts of information about you and your family as it roams your home. Security shouldn’t be a matter of perspective.

After the European Union slapped a little $5+ billion fine on Google for blocking rivals on Android devices, Google set up an auction for those rivals to bid on placement as a default search engine on their devices. That seems ‘okay’ or at the least profit generating… But recently DuckDuckGo has requested a trilateral meeting with EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, Google and DuckDuckGo in an attempt to level the playing field even further. For competitors like Ecosia or DuckDuckGo who’s mission is environmental or privacy related, the ability to compete fairly in an auction is arguably limited; though DuckDuckGo won that auction in 8 countries. According to this article on Reuters how much these bids are bringing in hasn’t been disclosed. Surprise.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

There has been so much written about this over the last few days, strangely it’s all the same. It’s self evident that Google has an unfair advantage over the web. Unfair being the key word. From what I can tell in a rush before the election, the DOJ is suing Google for abusing search dominance and advertising dominance. 11 Republican attorney generals joined with the federal government.

This article from the AP is succinct.

It misses the point, but off we go for a few years; as Google uses its’ cash to pacify European regulators and distract us from the even greater privacy issues related to Google.

Photo by Praveen kumar Mathivanan on Unsplash

We’re not usually so into promoting other products or links or advertising, obviously. But I have a good feeling about this guy/girl. The privacy first intention looks good, and the approach seems decent :). Check out his product/site here:

Photo by Merakist on Unsplash