Washington Post: “Amazon is the first app many of us think about to buy things online. But is it actually a good place to go shopping? When you search for a product on Amazon, you may not realize that most of what you see at first is advertising. Amazon is betraying your trust in its… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Search Engines
Tax filing websites have been sending users’ financial information to Facebook
The Verge co-published with The Markup: “Major tax filing services such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer have been quietly transmitting sensitive financial information to Facebook when Americans file their taxes online, The Markup has learned. The data, sent through widely used code called the Meta Pixel, includes not only information like names and email… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 19, 2022
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 19, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading
App Tracking Protection Beta is Now Available to All Android Users
Via DuckDuckGo: App Tracking Protection is now open for all Android users. It’s a beta feature in DuckDuckGo for Android that helps block 3rd-party trackers in your apps, even when you’re not using them. New since the waitlist beta launch: you can see what personal data trackers are typically trying to collect before we block… Continue Reading
Google rolls out new features across Maps, Search and Shopping
TechCrunch: “Google announced today that it’s introducing a slew of new Maps, Search and Shopping features. The company revealed a majority of the new features during its Search On event in September and is now starting to roll them out to users. Starting today, users will be able to use Search to find their favorite… Continue Reading
The Best Firefox Extensions Everyone Should Use
Lifehacker: “If you use Firefox, you can make it a better browser by installing add-ons. Yes, that’s what Mozilla calls them—they’re talking about what everyone else knows as “extensions.” Whatever you call them, there are good ones out there that can help you do everything from improving your privacy to getting around restrictions you’ll encounter… Continue Reading
AP Exclusive: Google tracks your movements, like it or not
“Google agreed to pay $391.5M to settle a lawsuit with 40 U.S. states over allegations that the tech giant was tracking user location data even when users had opted out. A 2018 Associated Press (AP) investigation found that the tracking issue affected as many as two billion people using Google Android devices and hundreds of millions… Continue Reading
The Myth of Online Privacy: Risks, Dangers, and Solutions
MakeUseOf: “Privacy these days means something completely different than it did even a decade ago. And the only things we have to blame for this are the internet and ourselves. In the age of the internet, we’re only as “private” as the tools we use allow us to be, which isn’t much. While you rejoice… Continue Reading
The Man Behind Mastodon Built It for This Moment
Wired: “Eugen Rochko looks exhausted. The 29-year-old German programmer is the founder of Mastodon, a distributed alternative to Twitter that has exploded in popularity in recent weeks as Elon Musk’s ownership of the platform has rained chaos on its users. Rochko began developing Mastodon shortly after leaving university in 2016. He was a fan of… Continue Reading
Mysterious company with government ties plays key internet role
Washington Post: “An offshore company that is trusted by the major web browsers and other tech companies to vouch for the legitimacy of websites has connections to contractors for U.S. intelligence agencies and law enforcement, according to security researchers, documents and interviews. Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, nonprofit Firefox and others allow the company, TrustCor Systems,… Continue Reading
Mastadon – Democratizing Social Media
“Mastodon’s popularity is soaring, and it’s all due to the chaotic actions of one man. As people explore what else is on offer for social media, Mastodon has emerged as a viable open-source alternative, with no ads. Reuters has an explainer, as does CNN, New York Times, and the Guardian.” [via Metafilter] NOTE: Follow beSpacific… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 5, 2022
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 5, 2022: “Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading
