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Tag: privacy

Rich Mogull 11 comments

How Apple Intelligence Sets a New Bar for AI Security, Privacy, and Safety

Apple Intelligence, backed by the company’s Private Cloud Compute service, takes a new approach to generative AI which prioritizes user security, privacy, and safety. Cloud computing expert and TidBITS security editor Rich Mogull explains how this works, starting with the chips in our iPhones.

Adam Engst 24 comments

Examining Apple Intelligence

Apple devoted a large part of its WWDC keynote to Apple Intelligence, a collection of new AI-driven features that it plans to introduce throughout the next year in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 Sequoia. 

Glenn Fleishman 16 comments

Find Hidden Cameras While Traveling

Airbnb’s policy change to ban all indoor cameras at listed properties highlights the scourge of tiny cameras used for snooping. Here’s how to discover if you’re being watched in a rental, hotel, or elsewhere.

Adam Engst 6 comments

Apple’s Wi-Fi-based Positioning System Reveals Access Point Locations

University of Maryland security researchers used a clever approach to querying Apple’s location API to determine the locations of more than two billion Wi-Fi access points worldwide. You can opt out.

Adam Engst 7 comments

Slack AI Privacy Principles Generate Confusion and Consternation

After a section of a Slack document laying out its privacy principles surrounding AI was taken out of context on social media, controversy ensued. Adam Engst attempts to calm the waters, with help from ChatGPT.

Glenn Fleishman 7 comments

Google Raises Privacy Bar with Its Crowdsourced Tracking Service

Google’s new Find My Device network works nearly identically to Apple’s Find My network with a few exceptions: Google’s design offers more anti-stalking and privacy features than Apple.

Adam Engst 27 comments

How to Turn Off Smart TV Automatic Content Recognition

If you have purchased a smart TV recently, beware that it probably shares everything that appears onscreen with its makers. Here are instructions for turning off this privacy-abusing technology for three major smart TV platforms.

Adam Engst 30 comments

Push Back on NameDrop Privacy Insinuations

If friends or relatives are asking or telling you about how NameDrop is a privacy risk based on Facebook posts from police departments, set them straight by explaining how it's completely safe.

Adam Engst 25 comments

Mozilla Says Modern Cars Are Data Collection Nightmares on Wheels

Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included team has determined that carmakers are universally terrible regarding privacy—they collect vast amounts, share or sell it with third parties, give drivers little or no control, and don't even protect what they collect very well.

Adam Engst No comments

macOS 13.5.1 Ventura Fixes Missing Location Services Permissions

With macOS 13.5.1, Apple has restored location permissions to the Location Services screen of System Settings. Check your settings after updating.

Glenn Fleishman 2 comments

AirTag in the News: NYPD Recommends, Apple and Google Propose Industry Tracking Standard

In response to a surge of car thefts, the New York Police Department recommends the city’s car owners install an AirTag to help with stolen vehicle recovery. Meanwhile, Apple and Google have partnered on a new industry standard to provide consistent anti-tracking protection for devices that can track object locations persistently.

Adam Engst 75 comments

How a Passcode Thief Can Lock You Out of Your iCloud Account, Possibly Permanently

A follow-up to the Wall Street Journal’s investigation into Apple’s problematic iPhone security design reveals that victims are being locked out of their iCloud accounts.

Adam Engst 5 comments

Helping ckbk Remove Ad Tracking

It pays to speak up. After being introduced to the ckbk cookbook service, Adam Engst expressed his disappointment in the app asking to track and was rewarded a few weeks later with an update that resolved the issue.

Adam Engst 45 comments

How a Thief with Your iPhone Passcode Can Ruin Your Digital Life

The Wall Street Journal reports on a spate of attacks in which iPhone thieves obtain your passcode and then change your Apple ID password, disable Find My, make purchases with Apple Pay, and more. Some attacks are as simple as the miscreants surreptitiously watching you enter your passcode; others involve violence. Read on to learn how to protect yourself.

Adam Engst 20 comments

Eufy Home Security Cameras Caught Uploading Footage to the Cloud

For Anker's Eufy brand, secure design apparently takes a back seat to empty privacy promises. The Verge confirmed the finding by security consultants that Eufy cameras can stream encryption-free video through the cloud, all in violation of the company's claims.