Privacy and security have grown to become very big concerns in today’s highly-connected world. With a considerable part of the world’s population owning a mobile device, it’s likely that these devices are also being used to keep track of our whereabouts, too. There has been quite some buzz about government agencies spying on calls and
This just in: If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy smartphone or tablet, your device might just contain a backdoor that could let attackers remotely control your device or access data stored in it. According to Paul Kocialkowski, a developer for custom ROM Replicant, the backdoor basically involves protocols used by the Radio Interface Layer (RIL)
We earlier reported on Google’s acquisition of Nest for $3.2 billion. Nest, which creates thermostats that automatically adjust temperature based on a user’s proximity, interfaces with devices like smartphones and via the web. Nest also has proximity sensors that can sense whether there is someone about, and will adjust the heat accordingly. Three billion is
Google Play’s app permission system is meant to inform users of how far into our data and device an application will be able to access before we install an app, or before updating an app with revised permissions. But most users are not likely to bother reading the entire thing, which means we may already
Earlier this year, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gave us a peek into how far-reaching the agency’s digital spying activities are. US and foreign citizens alike decried how the NSA’s PRISM program can hone in on supposed enemies of the state and pick up relevant conversations — all in the name of national security, of course.
Digital privacy is perhaps the biggest issue of 2013, and this is likely to extend far beyond the new year. With whistleblowers leaking information that government agencies are spying on our conversations, who would not be paranoid? And if it’s not government, it’s the multitude of service providers that use our personal information — brand
Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet, has said that privacy may actually be “an anomaly.” He says this in the context of an increasingly connected world. We now take things like instant messaging, email and social networking for granted, when only a few decades ago many households relied on public-switch telephone networks
Have you ever lost a mobile phone? Or, worse, have you had a mobile phone stolen from you? I have experienced being pick-pocketed firsthand, although I was able to recover the device later on. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, and I made sure to better secure my devices from that point on. With tracking apps
You don’t have to be German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be concerned about the privacy and security of your phone conversations. If you’re worried that someone might be recording your calls or reading your messages, then you share the sentiments of the 60 percent or so of the American public that has decried the National
A new device called the FortressFone promises to keep your private data from being accessed by unauthorized persons. It is a timely solution to the growing concern caused by recent security-related issues. FortressFone is described as an 256-bit AES encrypted device using professional-grade standards defined by the NSA. It is based on the Samsung Galaxy
DuckDuckGo Search & Stories is now available for downloading free of charge for Android users who want to read interesting articles but are worried about their online privacy. The app promises to offer completely anonymous searches that do not track, filter bubble, save, or reveal the personal information that users provide. The app pulls information
Apple maintained its commitment to customer privacy in a fresh statement regarding the company’s implication in the NSA issue about customer data requests from government agencies. Apple said that it came to know about the government’s PRISM program around the beginning of the month when news organizations questioned them about it. However, the company denied
We first heard word of Verizon and their order to hand over millions of the network user’s call records, but it seems this month that the ‘Verizon order’ is just the start. A new PRISM government scheme is a program that, according to other sources, will allow the NSA and FBI to have access to
Google will not approve facial recognition apps for Google Glass, at least for the moment, until it ensures that strict privacy protections are established. Thus, such facial recognition apps still have hope of getting approved once the Mountain View, California-based technology giant is able to guarantee that they may not be used in privacy abuses.
