Google agreed to a $391.5 million dollar settlement on Monday to end a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of tricking users with location data privacy settings that didn’t actually turn off data collection. The payout, the result of a suit brought by 40 state attorneys general, marks one of the biggest privacy settlements in history. Read more about Google Settles 40 States’ Location Data Suit for only $392 Million[…]
Today we are excited to release Shufflecake, a tool aimed at helping people whose freedom of expression is threatened by repressive authorities or dangerous criminal organizations, in particular: whistleblowers, investigative journalists, and activists for human rights in oppressive regimes. Shufflecake is FLOSS (Free/Libre, Open Source Software). Source code in C is available and released under Read more about Introducing Shufflecake: plausible deniability for multiple hidden filesystems on Linux[…]
Nepali workers hired to pick fruit on British farms say they have been left thousands of pounds in debt after being sent home only weeks after they arrived. The fruit pickers were recruited under the government’s seasonal worker scheme and say they were offered work for six months. But less than two months after arriving, Read more about AG Recruitment hires Seasonal workers, makes them pay a year’s salary on flights, then dumps them after 2 months leaving them hugely in debt[…]
[…] The care minister Helen Whately said stopping relatives from visiting loved ones in care homes as a precaution against the spread of Covid-19 showed “a lack of humanity”. Legislation is being planned to give care home residents and hospital patients the legal right to see guests, according to the Times, prompting fury from the Read more about In England they need a new law forcing care homes to allow visitors for their residents[…]
Many of you are likely to be familiar with WWDC, Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. This is one of those places where you get a bunch of Apple product reveals and news updates that typically result in the press tripping all over themselves to bow at the altar of an iPhone 300 or whatever. The conference Read more about Apple Vanquishes Evil YouTube Account Full Of Old Apple WWDC Videos[…]
More than two dozen Lenovo notebook models are vulnerable to malicious hacks that disable the UEFI secure-boot process and then run unsigned UEFI apps or load bootloaders that permanently backdoor a device, researchers warned on Wednesday. At the same time that researchers from security firm ESET disclosed the vulnerabilities, the notebook maker released security updates Read more about Lenovo driver goof poses security risk for users of 25 notebook models[…]
The Federal Trade Commission issued a statement today that restores the agency’s policy of rigorously enforcing the federal ban on unfair methods of competition. Congress gave the FTC the unique authority to identify and police against these practices, beyond what the other antitrust statutes cover. But in recent years the agency has not always carried Read more about FTC Restores Rigorous Enforcement of Law Banning Unfair Methods of Competition, Might give them some teeth against mono/duopolists[…]
[…] Microsoft has started testing a new search and filtering system for the Task Manager on Windows 11. It will allow Windows users to easily search for a misbehaving app and end its process or quickly create a dump file, enable efficiency mode, and more. “This is the top feature request from our users to Read more about Windows 11’s Task Manager is finally getting a search box to help you find misbehaving apps[…]
UCSF researchers use ISRIB to block the molecular stress response in order to restore cognitive function. ISRIB, a tiny molecule identified by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) researchers can repair the neural and cognitive effects of concussion in mice weeks after the damage, according to a new study. ISRIB blocks the integrated stress response Read more about New Drug Reverses Neural and Cognitive Effects of a Concussion[…]
Hackers who stole customer data from Australia’s largest health insurer Medibank have released a file of pregnancy terminations. It follows Medibank’s refusal to pay a ransom for the data, supported by the Australian government. Medibank urged the public to not seek out the files, which contain the names of policy holders rather than patients. CEO Read more about Medibank: Hackers release abortion data after stealing Australian medical records[…]
A new antitrust class-action lawsuit accuses Apple Inc. and Amazon.com of colluding to raise the price of iPhones and iPads, […] The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington accuses Apple and Amazon of seeking to eliminate third-party Apple resellers on Amazon Marketplace in a scheme to stifle competition, Read more about Antitrust Lawsuit Says Apple and Amazon Colluded to Raise iPhone, iPad Prices[…]
Western security advisers are warning delegates at the COP27 climate summit not to download the host Egyptian government’s official smartphone app, amid fears it could be used to hack their private emails, texts and even voice conversations. […] The potential vulnerability from the Android app, which has been downloaded thousands of times and provides a Read more about Egypt’s COP27 summit app can read your emails and encrypted messages, scan your device, send your location[…]
Dashboard Design Patterns This page lists design patterns for dashboard design collected to support the design and creative exploration of dashboard design. We run a dedicated workshop in March 2022 to help you applying and discussing design patterns in your work. What are Dashboards? Dashboards offer a curated lens through which people view large and Read more about Dashboard Design Patterns[…]
For all of Apple’s talk about how private your iPhone is, the company vacuums up a lot of data about you. iPhones do have a privacy setting that is supposed to turn off that tracking. According to a new report by independent researchers, though, Apple collects extremely detailed information on you with its own apps Read more about Apple Apps Track You Even With Privacy Protections on – and they hoover a LOT[…]
In France, solar just got a huge boost from new legislation approved through the Senate this week that requires all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – be covered by solar panels. The new provisions are part of French president Emmanuel Macron’s large-scale plan to heavily invest Read more about In France, all large parking lots now have to be covered by solar panels[…]
Despite VR having been hyped up for the last couple of years, not very much has happened in the past two years. The hardware has not really refreshed, but this year at least one new exciting entry has come in and another is promised. Search results of reviews usually have the same group of suspects Read more about State of Gaming VR for PC in 2022 – and other things the sites don’t tell you[…]
A team of researchers with members from Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and Universidad Andres Bello has found evidence of a large extragalactic assembly hiding behind one part of the Milky Way galaxy. The group has published a paper describing their findings on the arXiv preprint server while Read more about Huge extragalactic structure found hiding behind the Milky Way[…]
[…] In 2018, a blockbuster report detailed the actions of CBP agent Jeffrey Rambo. Rambo apparently took it upon himself to track down whistleblowers and leakers. To do this, he cozied up to a journalist and leveraged the wealth of data on travelers collected by federal agencies in hopes of sniffing out sources. A few Read more about Senator Wyden Asks State Dept. To Explain Why It’s Handing Out ‘Unfettered’ Access To Americans’ Passport Data[…]
To convert heat into electricity, easily accessible materials from harmless raw materials open up new perspectives in the development of safe and inexpensive so-called “thermoelectric materials.” […] The novel synthetic material is composed of copper, manganese, germanium, and sulfur, and it is produced in a rather simple process […] The powders are simply mechanically alloyed Read more about Team creates crystals that generate electricity from heat[…]
Tesla has initiated a voluntary recall of more than 40,000 Model S and Model X vehicles thanks to a bad firmware update that could cause the cars to lose power steering “due to forces from external road dynamics,” also known as bumps. According to a recall report [PDF] filed with the US National Highway Traffic Read more about 40k Tesla cars recalled over patch that broke power steering[…]
A Dutch foundation is planning to take legal action against social media platform Twitter for illegally collecting and trading in personal details gathered via free apps such as Duolingo and Wordfeud as well as dating apps and weather forecaster Buienradar. Twitter owned advertising platform MoPub between 2013 and January 2022 and that is where the Read more about Dutch foundation launches mass privacy claim against Twitter – DutchNews.nl[…]
LG is working to bring the flexibility of OLEDs to smaller devices, and today revealed the world’s first 12-inch panel that’s both flexible and stretchable, like a giant piece of rubber band, improving its ability to survive wear and tear. Image: LG The 12-inch panel can display full-color RGB images (LG doesn’t specify exactly how Read more about LG’s Stretchable bendable scrunchable Screen Promises a Future of Shatter-Proof Tech[…]
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that Greece would ban the sale of spyware, after his government was accused in a news report of targeting dozens of prominent politicians, journalists and businessmen for surveillance, and the judicial authorities began an investigation. From a report: The announcement is the latest chapter in a scandal that erupted Read more about Greece To Ban Sale of Spyware After Government Is Accused of Surveillance of opposition party leader[…]
A former Apple employee has pled guilty to defrauding the company out of over $17 million. Dhirendra Prasad, who spent most of his decade at Apple working as a buyer in the Global Service Supply Chain department, admitted to “taking kickbacks, inflating invoices, stealing parts and causing Apple to pay for items and services never Read more about Former Apple employee admits to defrauding the company out of $17 million[…]
[…] Dr. Jiang, an assistant professor in the UBC faculty of forestry and the Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Functional Biomaterials, started developing a “biofoam” many years ago both to find new uses for wood waste and reduce pollution from packaging foam. “Styrofoam waste fills up to 30 percent of global landfills and can take Read more about Environmentally friendly ‘biofoam’ could address plastic pollution crisis[…]