#Privacy
Science & Technology | Tech
Change your phone settings so Apple, Google can't track your movements
Most tech companies make it difficult for users to say no to aggressive surveillance practices. But it is helpful to know about the default settings on your smartphone and how to change them.
Science & Technology | Technology
AT&T is cutting off all location-data sharing ties in March
After senators called the practice an invasion of privacy, the mobile carrier is ending the service.
Science & Technology | Tech
6 Times “Opting Out” Doesn’t Actually Stop Data Collection
Telling a company you want out doesn’t necessarily mean it stops collecting, or even sharing, your data.
Science & Technology | Tech
How to download your personal data from Apple
Apple has a new process for requesting all the data the company has on you, and it's very simple. Here's how to do it.
Science & Technology | Tech
Apple launched a new privacy website that lets you find all the data the company has on you
Apple's privacy website relaunch is another step in the company's bid to differentiate its brand as one that avoids dealing in the sale of personal information of its customers.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Here’s how to find out if your Facebook was hacked in the breach | TechCrunch
Are you one of the 30 million users hit by Facebook’s access token breach announced two weeks ago? Here’s how to find out. Facebook breach saw 15M users’ names & contact info accessed, 14M’s bios too Visit this Facebook Help center link while
Science & Technology | Social Media
Facebook, the Company That Keeps Selling and Losing Your Data, Wants to Put a Camera in Your Home
Facebook Portal (and a larger model, Portal Plus) is an in-home smart display designed for video chatting, better known as the worst part of the Jetsons' vision of the future.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Facebook Hacked, 50 Million Users Affected - Motherboard
Facebook "discovered a security issue" that the company said allowed attackers to "take over people's accounts."
Science & Technology | Social Media
Twitter says bug may have exposed some direct messages to third-party developers | TechCrunch
Twitter said that a “bug” sent user’s private direct messages to third-party developers “who were not authorized to receive them.” The social media giant began warning users Friday of the possible exposure with a message in the app. “The issue
Science & Technology | Tech
Dozens of iPhone Apps 'Constantly' Sending Location Data to Data Monetization Firms
Dozens of popular iPhone apps are sharing the location data of millions of mobile devices with third-party data monetization firms, according to a...
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
How to Stop Google From Tracking Your Location
A new report shows that Google still tracks your location even if you thought you opted out.
Politics | Politics
Facebook bug switches 14 million users' default sharing settings to public - TechSpot
Facebook is informing 14 million users that what they assumed were private posts could have been viewable by the public. A bug caused the users' “suggested” sharing option to be set to “public” by default, rather than basing the suggestion&hel
Science & Technology | Social Media
The Simplest Way to Hide Old Facebook and Twitter Posts | Mental Floss
Test your knowledge with amazing and interesting facts, trivia, quizzes, and brain teaser games on MentalFloss.com.
Science & Technology | Technology
What you need to know about your browser's digital fingerprints
Your browser has a fingerprint. It’s not as obvious as the real ones on your fingertips, but it exists nonetheless.
Science & Technology | Tech News
Alexa recorded a woman’s private conversation and sent it to a random contact
A woman claims that her Amazon Echo recorded her voice and sent it to a random contact without her knowledge.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Report: Facebook App Exposed 3 Million More Users' Data
Researchers at the University of Cambridge, via a myPersonality app on Facebook, reportedly used data from 3 million users to power a spin-off company that
Science & Technology | Tech
Apple is removing apps that share your location data without consent
Apple has recently started removing apps from the App Store for violating the Terms of Service — or, more specifically, the rule against sharing location data with third parties without the consent of the app users. According to 9to5Mac, several app dev
Science & Technology | Social Media
This Company Will Give You $100,000 to Build a Better, Alternative Facebook - Motherboard
A startup incubator is giving seven companies $100,000 in seed money to build a privacy-oriented, democratic Facebook alternative.
Science & Technology | Technology
This is how Facebook collects data on you even if you don’t have an account
There’s little you can do about it.
Science & Technology | Technology
Did Facebook share my data with Cambridge Analytica? How to check
Cambridge Analytica harvested personal information from 87 million Facebook users. Here's how to tell if you were affected.
Science & Technology | Tech
This change can make your online browsing faster and more private
There is a small, simple step you can take right now that promises to make your online browsing faster and more private.
Science & Technology | Technology
This new privacy tool would speed up your internet, too
It's no joke how much data your internet service provider can collect about you. A new service from Cloudflare aims to change that.
Science & Technology | Technology
Google Knows Literally Everything About You - Here's How To Delete That Data
Take back control of your information with these easy steps.
Science & Technology | Tech News
No, Facebook, It's Not OK to Track Users' Calls and Texts for Years Because They Let You Share Contacts
Some users who've quit Facebook got a surprise when they looked at their data.
Science & Technology | Technology
How to use Facebook while giving it the minimum amount of personal data
The Cambridge Analytica revelations illustrate why we can’t trust Facebook to police its own platform
Science & Technology | Social Media
Why Facebook Owes You More Than This | WIRED
You give Facebook all of your data in exchange for using their service—an exchange that seems increasingly out of whack.
Science & Technology | Apps I Like
Secure messaging app Signal is the most important app of 2017
Pull out your smartphone and scroll through your list of recently downloaded apps. What do you see — Snapchat, HQ Trivia, or maybe some random face-filtering nonsense? Is Signal in there? If not, you've messed up in a major way.
Science & Technology | Tech
What Amazon Echo and Google Home Do With Your Voice Data—And How to Delete It | WIRED
Like the idea of Amazon Echo and Google Home, but feel uneasy about all that recording? Here's what they listen to—and how to delete it.
Science & Technology | Tech
Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets | Technology | The Guardian
What can we learn about ourselves from the things we ask online?
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
Naked sunbathing and other naughty things you should never, ever do on a ship's balcony
Catching some rays in your birthday suit may seem like a good idea, but it's not. You're not exactly hidden from view. And there are other things that will land you on the bad passenger list.
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
How to See What the Internet Knows About You (And How to Stop It)
Welcome to second edition of the Smarter Living newsletter.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Snapchat’s newest feature is also its biggest privacy threat - The Verge
Earlier this week, Snapchat introduced Snap Map, an opt-in function that allows you to share your location with your friends on a map. Snapchat’s introduction video to Snap Map, seen above, focuses...
Science & Technology | Technology
Google to stop scanning users' Gmail inboxes to send ads - Business Insider
Google will use data other than your email messages — like your search history — to figure out which ads to show you.
Science & Technology | Technology
There’s an Invisible Tracking Code Embedded in the Documents You Print | Mental Floss
Test your knowledge with amazing and interesting facts, trivia, quizzes, and brain teaser games on MentalFloss.com.
Science & Technology | Science & Technology
The Russian App That Has Destroyed Privacy Forever
See a pretty girl or guy on the street? Snap a pic, and you can find out who they are. What could go wrong?
Politics | Politics
Top Obama Adviser Sought Names of Trump Associates in Intel - Bloomberg View
Investigators saw a pattern behind requests from Susan Rice.
News | That's News to Me
Quest Diagnostics says 34,000 customer accounts hacked
Medical laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc. says a hack of an internet application on its network has exposed the personal health information of about 34,000 people.
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
A 10-Digit Key Code to Your Private Life: Your Cellphone Number
A mobile number can be even more valuable than a Social Security number, since it’s tied to so many databases and connected to a device you carry with you.
Advice & Self-Help | Spiritual Awareness
It's Officially Cool to Be Completely Apathetic About Pokémon Go
The life cycle of a trend usually goes something like this: manic obsession, backlash, backlash to the backlash, slow death. With the Pokémon Go craze, it seems that the “manic obsession” phase has just about run its course, which is lovely because t
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
Police look for victim in body-shaming photo taken by Playboy model at L.A. gym
Los Angeles police are seeking to identify a woman who they said was illegally photographed by Playboy model Dani Mathers inside a locker room shower at an LA Fitness gym to move forward with their investigation.
News | Interesting Links
How to see everything Google knows about you - Business Insider
Even if you consider yourself a privacy buff, it's worth taking a look at your settings to make sure that you're comfortable with what you are sharing.
Science & Technology | Tech
How to see everything Google knows about you
You can access a lot of the information Google is collecting on you.
Science & Technology | Social Media
How to see who’s tracking you on Facebook (aside from Facebook)
Being tracked on the internet is something that’s only to be expected, since advertising is still the biggest online moneymaker out there. Google and Facebook are two of the biggest companies that make money by being able to tell advertisers what we li
Business & Finance | Advertising/Marketing
How to find out everything Google knows about you
Here's how to find out what Google knows about you and is sharing with advertisers, and how to get Google to stop.
Science & Technology | Technology
Apparently there's ANOTHER hidden message inbox on Facebook
We're about to share with you something that will change your life, probably (and suck up any free time you have). There is a whole vault of unseen Faceboo
News | That's News to Me
Justice Department cracks iPhone; withdraws legal action - Yahoo News
From Yahoo News: The FBI said Monday it successfully used a mysterious technique without Apple Inc.'s help to hack into the iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in California, effectively ending a pitched court battle ...
Family & Parenting | Kids
California Student Data Release: Court Changes Course | Patch
Pleasanton, CA - Parents worried about the release of sensitive records sent an avalanche of objection letters to the court.
Science & Technology | Technology
This company hacked an iPhone with Play-Doh
If you’re protecting your smartphone with your fingerprint, beware strangers bearing Play-Doh.
Science & Technology | Technology
Apple Unlocked iPhones for the Feds 70 Times Before - The Daily Beast
A 2015 court case shows the tech giant was willing to play ball with the government before—and is only stopping now because it might ‘tarnish the Apple brand.’
Science & Technology | Technology
NSA chief: ‘Paris would not have happened’ without encrypted apps
National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers warns that encryption is making it “much more difficult” for the agency to intercept the communications of terrorist groups like the Islamic State, citing November’s Paris attacks as a case where
Family & Parenting | Kids
10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News
In a massive data release, California public-school records on about 10 million students -- including their Social Security numbers -- are about to be handed over to attorneys for a group suing the state, with both parties blaming the other for the impend
Science & Technology | Privacy and Security
Lenovo protects your Security with '12345678' as Hard-Coded Password
Lenovo's file-sharing app SHAREit uses hard-coded Wi-Fi Hotspot password to protect files for Hackers.
Science & Technology | Privacy and Security
Oscar-Winning Documentarian Laura Poitras Is Emerging—Carefully—Into the Spotlight
With a new solo art exhibition about mass surveillance, and a film about Julian Assange in the works, filmmaker and journalist Laura Poitras is emerging, ever so carefully, into the spotlight.
Science & Technology | Tech
How to listen to (and delete) everything you've ever said to Google | Technology | The Guardian
Whether you’re asking directions or drunkenly swearing, Google never forgets, recording everything you’ve ever said to it. Do you dare listen back?
Science & Technology | Social Media
Don't believe that privacy hoax all over your Facebook feed
Sound the alarms: Facebook is about to start charging a monthly fee to keep your data private! It's all over your News Feed, so it must be true!
Miscellaneous | Interesting Links
'Just Room Enough Island' Is Exactly That | Mental Floss
Here's one way to ensure you never have to deal with obnoxious neighbors: Build a summer home on an island big enough for your house and your house only. That's exactly what the Sizeland family did when they purchased this tiny speck of land, part of the Thousand Island chain, in the 1950s.
Science & Technology | Technology
Facebook Gives Users More Control Over Their News Feeds
Facebook announced a set of features that will give users more control over what they want to see in their news feed. In essence, you get to reprogram the social network’s algorithm.
Science & Technology | Tech
Facebook Is Probably Tracking All Those Rainbow Profile Pictures
Friday’s Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage was a historic moment for civil rights in America, and for the first time ever, Facebook released a tool that encouraged people express solidarity with a rainbow profile picture. Naturally, Faceboo
Science & Technology | Social Media
Facebook tracks all visitors, breaching EU law: report
Exclusive: Social network even sets a new cookie to track untracked EU users who have explicitly opted out of tracking
Science & Technology | Tech
How To Discover Everything Facebook Knows About You
And how to make Facebook stop tracking your activit There's an unwritten agreement every user makes with Facebook when they sign up for the service. Facebook is free and fun to use, but it will track your activity and content to help its advertisers.
Science & Technology | Tech
Man who owns a smart TV says he’s ‘afraid’ of using it after reading its privacy policy
Just like with other electronic devices that used to be “dumb,” TVs have become increasingly smart lately, but that doesn’t mean that’s necessarily a good thing, especially when it comes to user privacy.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Twitter gives away Tweets, so why does Facebook's apology ring hollow?
It's fine for one social network to give away your data in the name of research, while another's ongoing experiments seem distasteful.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Facebook advanced privacy settings: how to go invisible | BGR
Those Facebook users looking to make their social networking experience more private without ditching Zuckerberg’s empire in favor of something else should know there’s a way to do this, at least according to Business Insider.
Science & Technology | Tech
Apple Won't Decrypt Your iPhone, Even if the Government Requests It
Apple made public its updated Privacy Policy, accompanied with an open letter from Tim Cook.
News | The News
U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data - The Washington Post
Unsealed documents detail firm’s unsuccessful bid to keep personal information away from feds.
Science & Technology | Tech
Change This iPhone Setting To Stop Closed Apps From Tracking Your Location
If you don't want apps to know where you and your smartphone are when you're not using them, you should change this iPhone setting.
Science & Technology | Social Media
Reddit Users Get Remorse Over Nude Pictures, Try Donating to Charity
Redditors attempt to redeem themselves after sharing leaked celebrity photos.
Science & Technology | Tech
Private Browsing Settings Aren't as Private as You Think
Whether you're secretly searching for a gift for someone who uses your computer, planning a surprise event or just looking at websites you'd prefer to keep to yourself, there are plenty of reasons to want to keep your web history in the shadows.
Science & Technology | Technology
How to Delete Yourself from the Internet
We are relaying more personal data than ever to trackers, hackers and marketers with and without our consent. Are we sharing too much?
