Facebook simplified and shortened by two-thirds its description of how it uses data, responding to concerns that users didn’t understand its policies. The goal is to get more people to read and comprehend the terms they must agree to in order to use the service.
Earlier, Facebook has taken steps to engage with privacy advocates and educate users on its policies. The changes don’t affect how much data Facebook collects, much of which it uses to target ads at users. It began allowing marketers to advertise to Facebook users who visit or live near a business. Now it would expand to more countries the program that targets ads based on browsing habits; it previously only operated in the U.S.
Read moreIt's hard not to get caught up in the romance of delivery drones, especially when start-ups keep producing spiffy promotional videos set in a fantastical land of airborne courier services. But underneath all this hoopla, progress is certainly being made.
London-based company has begun trials of its autonomous drone delivery service, claiming it is capable of shipping small objects at the touch of a smartphone button. The team has engineered its drones over a number of years at London's TechCity. Their system is aimed at tapping into the ubiquity of smart devices and enable anybody to book their own delivery drone within seconds.
Read moreHackers from China breached the federal weather network recently, forcing cybersecurity teams to seal off data vital to disaster planning, aviation, shipping and scores of other crucial uses, officials said. NOAA did not say its systems were compromised.
Officials also said that the agency did not notify the proper authorities when it learned of the attack. NOAA officials declined to discuss the suspected source of the attack, whether it affected classified data and the delay in notification. Determining the origin of cyberattacks is very difficult and Chinese officials have denied repeated accusations that they intrude in U.S. government computer systems for espionage or other purposes.
Read moreMozilla is starting a new initiative that the company says is designed to incorporate more privacy enhancing features into Firefox and the other Mozilla products. The project involves collaboration and will involve Mozilla running a group of high-speed Tor relays, as well.
Privacy has become a major issue for users across the spectrum, not just the security conscious or paranoid. Nowadays, consumers are seeking out privacy enhancing tools and shunning those that infringe on their expectations of online privacy. Especially the NSA revelations of the last 18 months also have helped make privacy a key concern for enterprises and their customers.
Read moreApple Inc was ordered to face a federal lawsuit of the USA claiming it failed to tell consumers that its messaging system would block them from receiving text messages if they switched to Android-based smartphones from iPhones.
Apple must face plaintiff's claim that the message blocking interfered with her contract with Verizon Wireless for wireless service, which she kept after switching in April to a Samsung Galaxy S5 from an iPhone 4. Plaintiff, who seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, claimed that Apple failed to disclose how its iOS 5 software operating system would obstruct the delivery of messages from other Apple device users if iPhone users switched to non-Apple devices.
Read moreChina will soon have the world's most secure major computer network, making communications between Beijing and Shanghai impenetrable to hackers and giving it a decisive edge in its quiet cyberwar with the United States of America.
A fibre-optic cable between the two cities will transmit quantum encryption keys that can completely secure government, financial and military information from eavesdroppers. Currently, anyone wanting to send a secret message over the internet encrypts their communications so that only someone with the right code at the other end can unlock it. China is building the world’s first long-distance quantum encryption network, a line that will be theoretically unhackable.
Read moreWhen operation first came to light, it looked like a targeted strike against a few high value targets in the Dark Web drug trade. Now the full scope of that international law enforcement crackdown has been revealed, and it’s a scorched-earth purge of the Internet underground.
The European police agency Europol along with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security announced that the operation has now arrested people in as many countries and seized hundreds of Dark Web domains associated with well over a dozen black market websites. Just how law enforcement agents were able to locate the Dark Web sites despite their use of the Tor anonymity software remains a looming mystery.
Read moreComputers housing the world’s most sensitive data are usually isolated from the internet. They’re also not connected to other systems that are internet-connected, and their Bluetooth feature is disabled, too. Sometimes, workers are not even allowed to bring mobile phones within range of the computers.
All of this is done to keep important data out of the hands of remote hackers. But these security measures may be futile in the face of a new technique researchers in Israel have developed for stealthily extracting sensitive data from isolated machines — using radio frequency signals and a mobile phone. The attack recalls a method the NSA has been secretly using for at least six years to siphon data in a similar manner.
Read morePrivacy has never been “an absolute right”, according to the new director of GCHQ, who has used his first public intervention to accuse US technology companies of becoming “the command and control networks of choice” for terrorists.
He said a new generation of freely available technology has helped groups like Islamic State to hide from the security services and accuses major tech firms of being “in denial”, going further than his predecessor in seeking to claim that the leaks of Edward Snowden have aided terror networks. The new director says Isis differs from its predecessors in the security of its communications, presenting an even greater challenge to the security services.
Read moreBillionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk shook up the automotive and aerospace industries with electric cars and cheap rockets. Now, he is focused on satellites that can deliver Internet access across the globe, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Musk is working with Greg Wyler, a satellite-industry veteran and former Google Inc. executive. In talks with industry executives, Musk and Wyler have discussed launching satellites. They are considering building a factory to make satellites. Initial talks have been held with state officials about locating the factory. In addition to Mr. Musk, WorldVu is seeking a satellite industry partner to lend expertise to the project.
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