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House Aide: NSA Has Shut Down Phone Call Record Surveillance | Ars Technica

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 mdbincbi

The most controversial National Security Agency surveillance program, originally exposed by documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, has apparently ended quietly, according to the National Security Advisor to Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. In a discussion recorded for the Lawfare Podcast released on March 2, Luke Murry said that the NSA was no longer collecting call detail records—the metadata associated with phone calls and text messages—and that the Trump administration had not used the program for over six months. Read full story here: House Aide: NSA Has…

Facebook Won’t Let You Opt-Out Of Its Phone Number ‘Look Up’ Setting | TechCrunch

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 mdbincbi

Users are complaining that the phone number Facebook hassled them to use to secure their account with two-factor authentication has also been associated with their user profile — which anyone can use to “look up” your profile. Worse, Facebook doesn’t give you an option to opt-out. The recent hubbub began today after a tweet by Jeremy Burge blew up, criticizing Facebook’s collection and use of phone numbers, which he likened to “a unique ID that is used to link your identity across every platform on the internet.” Read full story…

The Writing Of This AI Is So human That Its Creators Are Scared To Release It | CBC News

February 25, 2019February 25, 2019 mdbincbi

A new text generator driven by artificial intelligence is apparently so good that its creators have decided not to make it publicly available. The tool was created by OpenAI, a non-profit research firm whose backers include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman and which was founded with the mission of “discovering and enacting the path to safe artificial general intelligence.” But now OpenAI is concerned that something these well-intentioned researchers built could easily be misused, fearing that it would be dangerous in the wrong hands. Read full story here: The Writing Of This AI Is So human That Its Creators…

Apple Tells App Developers To Disclose Or Remove Screen Recording Code | TechCrunch

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 mdbincbi

Apple is telling app developers to remove or properly disclose their use of analytics code that allows them to record how a user interacts with their iPhone apps — or face removal from the app store, TechCrunch can confirm. In an email, an Apple spokesperson said: “Protecting user privacy is paramount in the Apple ecosystem. Our App Store Review Guidelines require that apps request explicit user consent and provide a clear visual indication when recording, logging, or otherwise making a record of user activity.” Read full story here: Apple Tells App…

MasterCard Won’t Let Companies Automatically Bill You After Free Trials | Engadget

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019 mdbincbi

We’ve all made the mistake of starting a free trial and forgetting to cancel it before the billing period kicks in. Now, MasterCard will protect against this. The company announced a new policy that will require merchants to get authorization from you before hitting you with recurring charges for subscriptions. It will also require companies to provide you with monthly updates with pricing and clear instructions on how to cancel if you need it. Read full story here: MasterCard Won’t Let Companies Automatically Bill You After Free Trials | Engadget

Microsoft Will Stop Supporting Windows 7 One Year From Today | CNET

January 14, 2019January 14, 2019 mdbincbi

Starting Jan. 14, 2020, exactly one year from Monday, Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7. That means no more updates or security fixes for the operating system. Microsoft will continue to provide security updates for Windows 7 to business customers that pay for support, according to ZDNet, but not individual users. Read full story here: Microsoft Will Stop Supporting Windows 7 One Year From Today | CNET

Gasoline Prices In Most Of Canada Set To Experience ‘Extreme Volatility’ | CTV News

December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 mdbincbi

CALGARY — Plunging world oil prices have delivered a Christmas miracle of lower gasoline prices across most of Canada but a fuel price expert says motorists should fill up now because prices are expected to be volatile in 2019. Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, says gasoline prices are at near-18-month lows because of global oil prices that have tumbled over the past two months on worries of an economic downturn, a U.S.-China trading tiff and concerns that members of the OPEC oil cartel won’t live up to…

iPhone: Apple’s Cut-Price Battery Offer Only Has A Week Left To Run | Digital Trends

December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 mdbincbi

If you’ve been meaning to take advantage of Apple’s deal on a replacement iPhone battery, then you’d better hurry. It only has a week left to run. The Cupertino, California-based company slashed the cost of its iPhone battery replacement service after admitting last year that it deliberately slowed down some of its handsets to stabilize performance as the battery ages. But Apple plans to revise the cost upward at the start of 2019. Read full story here: iPhone: Apple’s Cut-Price Battery Offer Only Has A Week Left To Run |…

Facebook Bug Exposed Up To 6.8M Users’ Unposted Photos To Apps | TechCrunch

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 mdbincbi

Reset the “days since the last Facebook privacy scandal” counter, as Facebook has just revealed a Photo API bug gave app developers too much access to the photos of up to 5.6 million users. The bug allowed apps users had approved to pull their timeline photos to also receive their Facebook Stories, Marketplace photos, and most worryingly, photos they’d uploaded to Facebook but never shared. Facebook says the bug ran for 12 days from September 13th to September 25th. Facebook tells TechCrunch it discovered the breach on September 25th, and…