If you have to “agree” to allow this access,
would lawyers be inviting a third party into any exchange of data
with a client? (Just one scenario that leaps to mind.)
Your phone
isn’t listening to you, researchers say, but it may be watching
everything you do
You’ve seen the YouTube
videos. It’s a shaky-cam iPhone shot with
a wide-eyed someone giggling under their breath “cat food,”
or some other miscellaneous thing they allegedly never talk about or
search for near or on their device. The climax of this plot line
hits in the following hours or days after they’ve muttered said
random phrase, and they’re suddenly served an ad on Facebook of the
exact same thing they said before. Preposterous! It’s
the classic “your phone is listening to everything you say,”
conspiracy theory that so many people have willingly started to
believe. But, according to researchers from Northeastern University,
reported
by Gizmodo’s Kashmir Hill, this isn’t the case at
all. After a yearlong study, they found no evidence that your apps
are listening to you, but they did find out that they may be watching
everything that you do.
A group of computer science
academics ran an experiment that tested over 17,000 of the most
popular Android apps in order to determine if any of them recorded
audio from the phone’s microphone.
… Using an automated program as a method of
interacting with the apps on the devices, all of the traffic created
was analyzed and the researchers determined that no audio files were
sent to any third-party domains.
… But, the researchers
did notice something else funky, according to Gizmodo.
Several apps had taken video recordings and screenshots of what
people were doing. These screenshots were then sent off to
third-party domains.
Free, encrypted speech has a few flaws beyond
yelling fire in a crowded theater?
India asks
WhatsApp to curb spread of false messages
India has asked Facebook Inc-owned WhatsApp
messenger to take steps to prevent the circulation of false texts and
provocative content that have led to a series of lynchings and mob
beatings across the country in the past few months.
… “The government has also conveyed in no
uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this
menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide
activities,” it added.
This is going to require a bit of tweaking…
Facebook’s
Political Rule Blocks Ads for Bush’s Beans, Singers Named Clinton
Under rules for the
new archive that strives for transparency in politics, all sorts of
organizations with names linked to presidents are finding their
promotions blocked.
Impossible requirements?
… Among the issues raised by the bill is a
vague requirement in Article
13 that requires popular websites—estimated to encompass the
top 20 percent of sites—to utilize a content filtering system that
prevents copyrighted works
from ever being posted to the platform. The other key
issue is Article
11, also known as the “link tax.” In an effort to push
readers back to the homepages of news organizations, lawmakers
want to charge websites fees for linking to news and using
snippets of text from articles. Both articles have broad
implications for upending the way the internet functions as we know
it today, but activists
have warned from the beginning that online encyclopedias that rely on
fair
use practices would have their very existence threatened.
Perspective.
Amazon
could be coming for CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens and over half of
consumers say they are on board
In an informal survey of Business Insider readers,
Business Insider Intelligence found that the majority of respondents
(57%) would use a pharmacy service offered by Amazon over their
current pharmacy. The data isn't representative of the general
population — Business Insider readers tend to be younger, male, and
tech-savvy. Still, we think the data provides a strong indicator
that retail pharmaceuticals will be one of the next industries to get
"Amazon'd."
(Related) The “old school” view?
Amazon: How
The PillPack Acquisition Is Shaking Up The Health Care Sector
… We expect that the move will force some
changes on the incumbents, but we don’t think that any of them will
be waving a white flag anytime soon. As an example, just last week
CVS announced that it will begin shipping prescriptions nationwide
for a nominal $4.99 fee. Walgreens also offers the same one-day
service for $19.95 (we think that price may drop a bit now).
Perspective.
Netflix
Crushes Cable and Broadcast TV for Home Viewing, Survey Finds
Consumers continue to move away from basic cable
and broadcast television for Netflix,
according to a new survey from financial research firm, Cowen Inc.
… Netflix was most popular, with 27% of
respondents saying they used the streaming service most often. Basic
cable came in second place at 20%, and broadcast television was third
with 18%. YouTube, Hulu, Amazon
Prime Video followed. Premium cable channels such as Showtime, HBO
and Cinemax were next.
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