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Tag: privacy

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 54 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 47 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.

Glenn Fleishman 77 comments

Tune Find My for Travel Tracking to Avoid Annoying AirTag and Apple Device Alerts

Apple’s AirTag and other Find My trackers—along with Find My-tracked Apple devices—may be too aggressive about telling you where they are—or aren’t. They can be useful for tracking luggage and other valuables while traveling, particularly with others, but you will likely need to tune your settings to reduce notifications.

Adam Engst 14 comments

Instagram and Facebook Could Track Everything You Do in Their In-App Browsers

Meta’s Instagram and Facebook iOS apps open external links in an in-app browser instead of Safari, enabling them to inject custom JavaScript code into every website you visit using the in-app browser.

Adam Engst 30 comments

How to Securely Erase a Mac’s SSD or Hard Drive

If you need to get rid of a Mac or external drive, how do you ensure that no one can access the data on it? Adam Engst runs through the various methods you can employ, one or more of which should address your situation.

Adam Engst 62 comments

Survey Results: Which iOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey Features Do You Actually Use?

The results are in and wow, do people not use a lot of Apple’s features. In fact, only 4 of 20 features garnered more votes from those who used the feature than those who didn’t. Some of the usage patterns are no surprise—SharePlay, really?—but others caught us off guard.

Adam Engst 88 comments

Facebook Change Ensures Tracking by Preventing URL Stripping

If you use Brave or Firefox to protect your privacy from the social media sausage machine, note that Facebook has just changed its URL scheme to prevent privacy tools from stripping URL tracking parameters.

Josh Centers 12 comments

Apple Improves the AirTag “Unwanted Tracking” Sound

Apple has released an AirTag firmware update that makes it easier to hear the alert sound from an unwanted AirTag.

Josh Centers No comments

A New York Times Reporter Tracked Her Husband’s Every Move. Here’s What She Learned

New York Times privacy reporter Kashmir Hill used an AirTag, a Tile, and a GPS device to track her husband’s every move (with his consent). It’s a fascinating story of how well the different products worked and how creepy it felt.

Adam Engst No comments

Apple Explains How It Will Address AirTag Privacy Issues

Media reports of AirTags being abused by criminals have stirred controversy. Apple has published a brief but detailed plan on how it is addressing privacy concerns.

Josh Centers No comments

FBI Purchased Now-Banned NSO Group Spyware

An extensive New York Times investigation has revealed that the FBI bought the controversial Pegasus spyware in 2019 but never used it.

Glenn Fleishman 4 comments

New Apple Guide Offers Personal Safety Advice

Apple has consolidated advice shared across many of its support documents and user manuals into one relatively concise guide. While welcome, it has room to improve.