Privacy is a growing concern in today’s world. Follow along with all our coverage related to privacy, security, what Apple and other companies are doing to keep your information safe, and what steps you can take to keep your information private.
A security researcher at Johns Hopkins University who led an examination into the robustness of smartphone encryption systems says he was shocked by the Android and iOS vulnerabilities they discovered.
He said that iOS in particular has extremely secure encryption capabilities, but these are not in use much of the time …
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TikTok privacy protections for teenage users are being significantly enhanced, as the company belatedly responds to concerns that have been expressed ever since the app took off in the US.
The strongest protections apply to accounts held by those in the 13-15 year old range …
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Facebook has offered tools to download your information and understand what details the platform has about your for a while now. But now amid more privacy pressure than ever, the company is launching a redesigned “Access Your Information” tool for iOS and Android to make it easier to view and download all these details.
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Apple has shared a pair of new privacy advertisements on one of its YouTube channels today. The new privacy ads focus on Face ID and Apple Pay, while Apple has also shared a new video highlighting the iPhone’s sustainability initiatives.
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We learned last week that WhatsApp data sharing with Facebook would become a condition of use for users outside of Europe. This was the final element in a two-stage U-turn by the company, which has now prompted a new antitrust investigation in Turkey …
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There has been much debate over the years about whether Apple should bring iMessage and FaceTime to Android.
I made the FaceTime case earlier in the year, arguing that the pandemic was the perfect time to do it. Apple didn’t heed that call, but I think there is now an equally compelling argument in favor of allowing iMessage on both Android and Windows …
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Facebook continues to panic about upcoming privacy changes in iOS 14. The company has sent a new email to businesses today informing them that it has no choice but to comply with the iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency feature. Otherwise, Apple could remove Facebook from the App Store completely.
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WhatsApp will shortly start to share your data with Facebook as a condition of use of the app. This completes a U-turn which began when Facebook first acquired the app back in 2014.
At the time, WhatsApp assured users that their data would remain private, and not be shared with Facebook …
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Apple officially rolled out its new App Privacy labels on the App Store last month, requiring developers to provide detailed privacy information about what data is collected from users. Interestingly, Fast Company has spotted that Google has not updated any of its iOS applications since the new App Privacy details became mandatory.
Update: Google says it will add these privacy labels as soon as this week.
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Apple’s new app privacy labels went live in the App Store last month, giving users the chance to see what data is collected by each. We then explained how to view them.
All apps are required to show what data is used to track you, and what data is linked to your identity. Looking at that more comprehensive category reveals some stark differences between four popular messaging apps…
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Apple is planning a major new privacy feature for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, and it will require that companies request permission before tracking users across other apps and websites. While Apple has not provided details on when this feature will debut, it appears that the early groundwork is starting to roll out.
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Facebook has been criticizing Apple after being forced to offer an option to disable user tracking on its iOS app. However, even Facebook employees don’t seem to agree with the company they work for as some of them have said that Facebook campaigns against Apple are “bordered on hypocrisy.”
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Business Insider has an interesting look at the battle for web privacy — and how Apple is effectively keeping Google’s data-grabbing ambitions in check across the web as a whole.
New web standards are agreed by the World Wide Web Consortium, also known as the W3C. In theory, each member organization gets one vote, but the site’s Shona Ghosh argues that the reality is somewhat different…
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A suspected state-sponsored attack saw dozens of iPhones hacked by exploiting an iMessage vulnerability that remained unpatched for around a year. The attack was a so-called zero-click one because it didn’t require the victims to take any action: the hack was enabled simply by receiving a text message.
The victims of the attack were Al Jazeera journalists, and is believed to have been carried out on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates governments, using spyware developed by Israeli company NSO Group. It is suspected that these journalists are a ‘minuscule’ fraction of the iPhones hacked using this method …
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Facebook has spent the last week publicly criticizing Apple’s plans to add new privacy features to iOS 14 in early 2021. While Facebook has slammed Apple’s planned changes, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has now come out on Apple’s side, saying Facebook’s criticisms are “laughable.”
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Apple continues its focus on privacy and security with some new resources on how to protect your devices, accounts, and personal safety. Let’s look at the recommended steps to check who can access your iPhone, other Apple devices, and Apple accounts.
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Apple has published a new support guide this week that offers users an in-depth guide at managing their data and information on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. The new document is entitled “Device and Data Access when Personal Safety is At Risk.”
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Apple has rolled out its new iOS app privacy labels (the nutrition label equivalent for apps) for both first-party and third-party apps. Read along for how to check iOS app privacy details for apps in the App Store as well as those that come preloaded on iPhone and iPad to fully understand how your information is being used.
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The Apple versus Facebook battle escalated quickly this week! The two companies had been on opposite sides for some time when it came to ad-tracking, but Facebook dramatically upped the ante when it ran full-page newspaper ads attacking Apple – with more reportedly planned.
It’s a battle Facebook almost certainly cannot win. The risk to Apple, however, is that it is very possible both companies could lose …
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Facebook and Apple started a sort of battle today due to the new App Store privacy guidelines that were announced earlier this year and are now being required for all developers. After running a full-page ad in US newspapers today, Facebook is now planning another similar ad for tomorrow that says Apple wants to “stop the internet from being free.”
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After a barrage of criticism from Facebook today, Apple is yet again doubling down on its forthcoming App Tracking Transparency feature. The feature will launch to users in 2021, and Apple says it “does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users.”
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The ad industry is accusing Apple of lack of clarity about the anti ad-tracking rules due to come into force next year.
There are various proposals for workarounds, but commenters say that it’s not clear which of them will be permitted by the Cupertino company …
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We’ve seen Facebook attack Apple repeatedly of late, but the company is today really upping the ante by running full-page ads in at least three US newspapers.
The ads claim that Facebook is standing up to the iPhone maker on behalf of small businesses …
Update: Facebook has published a blog post with more details. It also says it will back Epic Games in its ongoing legal battle over the App Store.
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Secure chat app Signal now lets you make encrypted group video calls in its iOS and Android apps. As with Apple’s FaceTime, end-to-end encryption is used …
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