Smartphones, tablets, and cameras sold within the European Union could be forced to adopt a single standard charging port by the middle of the decade if the latest plans from the European Commission get the go-ahead. The proposals for a revised Radio Equipment Directive would mean that charging port and fast-charging technology would be “harmonised” Read more about Apple miffed by EU’s ‘strict’ one-size-fits-all charger plan[…]
Aggrieved MacBook owners in two separate lawsuits claim Apple’s latest laptops with its M1 chips have defective screens that break easily and malfunction. The complaints, both filed on Wednesday in a federal district court in San Jose, California, are each seeking class certification in the hope that the law firms involved will get a judicial Read more about Apple’s M1 MacBook screens are stunning – stunningly fragile and defective, that is, lawsuits allege[…]
On the eve of the iPhone 13 launch, we’ve finally been handed a ruling in the lawsuit filed by Epic Games last year. Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, sued Apple last year over claims the company was violating U.S. antitrust law by prohibiting developers from implementing alternative in-app purchase methods. Today, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers Read more about Apple wins some and loses some in big Epic Games lawsuit – judge must have been on acid[…]
Apple on Friday said it intends to delay the introduction of its plan to commandeer customers’ own devices to scan their iCloud-bound photos for illegal child exploitation imagery, a concession to the broad backlash that followed from the initiative. “Previously we announced plans for features intended to help protect children from predators who use communication Read more about Apple stalls CSAM auto-scan on devices after ‘feedback’ from everyone on Earth – will still scan all your pics at some point[…]
Online researchers say they have found flaws in Apple’s new child abuse detection tool that could allow bad actors to target iOS users. However, Apple has denied these claims, arguing that it has intentionally built safeguards against such exploitation. It’s just the latest bump in the road for the rollout of the company’s new features, Read more about Apple’s Not Digging Itself Out of This One: scanning your pictures is dangerous and flawed[…]
Photos that are sent in messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram aren’t scanned by Apple. Still, if you don’t want Apple to do this scanning at all, your only option is to disable iCloud Photos. To do that, open the “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad, go to the “Photos” section, and disable the Read more about How to Stop Apple From Scanning Your iPhone Photos Before iOS 15 Arrives – disable photo backups. No alternative offered, sorry.[…]
[…] an AI on your phone will scan all those you have sent and will send to iPhotos. It will generate fingerprints that purportedly identify pictures, even if highly modified, that will be checked against fingerprints of known CSAM material. Too many of these – there’s a threshold – and Apple’s systems will let Apple Read more about Apple’s iPhone computer vision has the potential to preserve privacy but also break it completely[…]
The Open App Markets Act, which is being spearheaded by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, and Marsha Blackburn, is designed to crack down on some of the scummiest tactics tech players use to rule their respective app ecosystems, while giving users the power to download the apps they want, from the app stores they want, without retaliation. Read more about Apple App Store, Google Play Store Targeted by Open App Markets Act[…]
One day after Apple confirmed plans for new software that will allow it to detect images of child abuse on users’ iCloud photos, Facebook’s head of WhatsApp says he is “concerned” by the plans. In a thread on Twitter, Will Cathcart called it an “Apple built and operated surveillance system that could very easily be Read more about WhatsApp head says Apple’s child safety update is a ‘surveillance system’[…]
[…] Apple told TechCrunch that the detection of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is one of several new features aimed at better protecting the children who use its services from online harm, including filters to block potentially sexually explicit photos sent and received through a child’s iMessage account. Another feature will intervene when a user Read more about Apple confirms it will begin scanning your iCloud Photos[…]
Apple is about to announce a new technology for scanning individual users’ iPhones for banned content. While it will be billed as a tool for detecting child abuse imagery, its potential for misuse is vast based on details entering the public domain. The neural network-based tool will scan individual users’ iDevices for child sexual abuse Read more about Apple is about to start scanning iPhone users’ photos[…]
Law firm Campbell Conroy & O’Neil has warned of a breach from late February which may have exposed data from the company’s lengthy client list of big-name corporations including Apple and IBM. The breach, which was discovered on 27 February 2021 when a ransomware infection blocked access to selected files on the company’s internal systems, Read more about US legal eagles representing Apple, IBM, and more take 5 months to inform clients of ransomware data breach, will only offer support if social security number was in data[…]
Near the end of the Epic v. Apple trial, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers had some pointed questions for Tim Cook on the state of Apple’s relationship with its developers. Citing an internal survey of developers, she noted that 39 percent of them indicated they were unhappy with the App Store’s distribution. What incentive, then, she Read more about Apple’s developer problems are much bigger than Epic and ‘Fortnite’[…]
Google and Apple Inc. face a sweeping probe into the “duopoly” power of their mobile ecosystems, in the U.K. antitrust watchdog’s latest attack on Silicon Valley. The increasingly tech-focused Competition and Markets Authority opened a 12-month market study into broad aspects of the iOS and Android systems, saying it feared the companies’ dominance is stifling Read more about Android, Apple Mobile Ecosystems Face UK Antitrust Probe Amid Competition Fears[…]
Lawmakers in the House have introduced five new bills that would place significant limits on major tech companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon.The proposed legislation is part of a broader effort to step up antitrust enforcement against tech giants.The bills would place new limits on the companies’ ability to acquire new business and change Read more about House introduces five antitrust bills targeting Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon[…]
Apple didn’t know the Department of Justice was requesting metadata of Democratic lawmakers when it complied with a subpoena during a Trump-era leak investigation, CNBC reports. And it wasn’t the only tech giant tapped in these probes: Microsoft confirmed Friday it received a similar subpoena for a congressional staffer’s personal email account. Both companies were under Read more about Apple and Microsoft Say They Had No Idea Trump-Era DOJ Requested Data on Political Rivals[…]
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has long argued it needs to control app distribution on iPhones, otherwise the App Store would turn into “a flea market.” But among the 1.8 million apps on the App Store, scams are hiding in plain sight. Customers for several VPN apps, which allegedly protect users’ data, complained in Apple Read more about Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams[…]
Apple has paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to an unnamed Oregon college student after one of its outsourced repair facilities posted explicit pictures and videos of her to her Facebook page. According to legal documents obtained by The Telegraph, the incident occurred in 2016 at a Pegatron-owned repair centre in Sacramento, California. The student had mailed Read more about Apple settles with student after authorized repair workers leaked her naked pics to her Facebook page. Apple blocks Right to repair for danger by unauthorised parties. Hmm.[…]
Russia said it had fined Apple $12 million for alleged [Note: why the use of this word? If the fine has been issued, then a Russian court has established guilt and there is no allleging about it!] abuse of its dominance in the mobile applications market, in the latest dispute between Moscow and a Western Read more about Russia fines Apple $12m for app market abuse[…]
Epic Games is using its lawsuit against Apple to accuse the iPhone maker of being particularly greedy. As The Verge reports, expert witness Eric Barns testified that Apple supposedly had an App Store operating margin of 77.8 percent in 2019, itself a hike from 74.9 percent in 2018. He also rejected Apple witness’ claims that Read more about Epic witness claims Apple’s App Store profit reaches 78%. Apple disagrees as their overall profit is “only” 42.5%[…]
the European Union has charged Apple with allegedly “abus[ing] its dominant position” in the music streaming market. The charges stem from an initial complaint filed by Spotify in 2019. At the time, Spotify accused Apple of having “an unfair advantage at every turn” by imposing a series of obstacles that favored its own services at Read more about EU Charges Apple With Antitrust Violations in Spotify Case[…]
A study describes the data transmitted to backend servers by the Google/Apple based contact tracing (GAEN) apps in use in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark and finds that the health authority client apps are generally well-behaved from a privacy point of view, although the Irish, Polish, Danish, and Latvian apps could be improved in Read more about Study finds GAEN Google Apple contact tracing apps allow user + contact location tracking. NL stops use of tracking app.[…]
Apple has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that its media services terms and conditions, which permit the company to terminate an Apple ID, are “unlawful” and “unconscionable.” The complaint, filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, goes after an Apple services clause that states a user with Read more about Man sues Apple for terminating Apple ID with $24K worth of content and no reason[…]
Apple’s AirDrop feature is a convenient way to share files between the company’s devices, but security researchers from Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Germany are warning that you might be sharing way more than just a file. According to the researchers, it’s possible for strangers to discover the phone number and email of any nearby AirDrop Read more about Apple AirDrop Security Flaw Exposes iPhone Numbers, Emails: Researchers[…]
Australian security firm Azimuth has been identified as the experts who managed to crack a mass shooter’s iPhone that was at the center of an encryption standoff between the FBI and Apple. Until this week it had largely been assumed that Israeli outfit Cellebrite was hired to forcibly unlock an encrypted iPhone 5C used by Read more about Aussie biz Azimuth cracked San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, ending Apple-FBI privacy standoff in 2015[…]