Today’s Tech Sightings: WhatsApp in Hot Water in India Over Privacy Policy Changes Messaging service WhatsApp’s about-face on privacy has raised eyebrows in the U.S., Europe, and now in India. New Delhi’s High Court has asked the government and telecom regulators to look into WhatsApp data-sharing after some users complained about changes in its privacy […]
India to Probe WhatsApp Privacy; DeepMind, UK Join to Fight Cancer
Apple to EU: It’s Jobs or Taxes; Sri Lankan Teen Hacker Gets Fine, Jail
Today’s Tech Sightings: Apple: You Can Have Taxes or You Can Have Jobs, but You Can’t Have Both That sentiment sums up Apple’s official response to the EU’s decision that the company received illegal state aid and should pay Ireland nearly $13 billion in back taxes. But the situation is complicated due to an understanding […]
WhatsApp Turns Its Back on Privacy; Happy 25th Birthday, Linux
Today’s Tech Sightings: WhatsApp Is Going to Share Your Phone Number With Facebook So much for WhatsApp’s promise to protect the privacy of its one billion users! The global messaging service today announced users have a limited time to opt-out of sharing their information with Facebook. WhatsApp claims Facebook won’t post the telephone numbers online […]
Drones for Refugees; Tim Cook’s Apple, 5 Years Later
Today’s Tech Sightings: How a Former Refugee Uses Drones to Help Others Survive Dangerous Sea Crossings “Drones for Refugees” is a project designed to help rescue workers move swiftly to locate and rescue refugees making the treacherous crossing of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas to a better life. The project was founded by drone expert […]
‘Mobile Security Broken’ Without Concerted Effort for Change
Does any of this sound familiar? A vulnerability or malware is discovered. A patch is released and the problem is fixed. But then a new threat pops up and the cat-and-mouse security cycle begins again with no winners in sight. And some security experts believe this approach will no longer be sustainable as more and […]
US to Cede Internet DNS Control; Window’s 10’s Data Mining Dilemma
Today’s Tech Sightings: US: We’re Now Ready to Give Up Governing the Internet The U.S. National Telecommunications & Information Administration says it is now ready to pass internet domain name (DNS) control to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based nonprofit organization. The move marks the end of a 20-year U.S. […]
Best Mobile Connectivity Is in Korea; Web Tracking Is on the Rise
Today’s Tech Sightings: OpenSignal: Koreans Enjoy Best Mobile Internet, Dutch Spend Most Time on Wi-Fi A new report from wireless signal mapping company OpenSignal places South Korea at the top of the list of countries enjoying 3G mobile connectivity 93 percent of the time, followed by Japan and Israel. The U.S. took 17th place with […]
Chesky’s Airbnb – From Bodybuilding to Tech; Linux Bug Hits Android
Today’s Tech Sightings: How a Former Bodybuilder Became One of America’s Richest Young Tech Founders His name is Brian Chesky. And the 34-year-old New Yorker and founder of Airbnb was in his younger days more interested in bodybuilding and hockey than in technology. But overbooked hotels triggered an idea and drove him to launch a […]
Dealing With Augmented Reality Cities; Facebook Under Fire Over Ads
Today’s Tech Sightings: Games Will Reshape Cities As the Pokemon GO craze continues unabated, many countries are restricting and zoning urban areas to prevent players from meandering into government sites and other sensitive areas to hunt Pokemon characters. Writer Geoff Manaugh argues that once this game is forgotten, new augmented reality games that place a […]