Google has been adding various privacy improvements to its services and apps in the past few years, but it wasn’t solely out of its own volition. Google’s own privacy-infringing problems forced the company to reconsider some of its practices. Then there’s Apple’s massive interest in security and privacy that forced Google to come up with …
A new study has shown that apps tracking user location data can also infer additional personal information, including personality traits, habits, demographics, and interests. The collected information can be used to deliver targeted ads based on data related to the places a user visits. Researchers created an app to track volunteers’ location and use it …
Google Maps is the undisputed champion of mobile navigation and it’s an extremely powerful tool for helping you find locations, but what about people? The search giant wants that to be just as easy and, as long as you’re cool with it, you can now use Google Maps to share your real-time location with whoever you …
New York University’s Polytechnic Institute has discovered a Skype security flaw that leaves Skype users’ locations and P2P sharing activity accessible to hackers. The security hole was discovered while NYU scientists monitored 10,000 Skype users and 20 volunteers during a two-week period. “A hacker anywhere in the world could easily track the whereabouts and file-sharing habits …
Apple, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Carrier IQ have been sued in a federal court by what the lawyers involved have deemed a “cell phone tracking software scandal.” Law firms Sianni & Straite LLP, Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy LLP, and Keefe Bartels L.L.C. have jointly filed a class action complaint in a Delaware …
Google has announced a new privacy option that allows users to opt out of having their wireless routers included in the Google Location Server. That’s right, you have to opt out, not in. Here’s how Google Location Server works: when you’re walking around town trying to figure out your location using your smartphone and Google …
Verizon Wireless began alerting its customers of changes to its official privacy policy on Friday. The carrier confirmed it will now use information for “private business and marketing reports” and “making mobile ads more relevant.” Verizon Wireless will share the URL of websites you visit, the location of your device, as well as app and …
Microsoft has updated its Windows Phone platform to address what is now presumed to have been a bug that caused phones to gather location data before a user opted in to such services. Windows Phone developer Rafael Rivera last week revealed that Microsoft’s mobile platform was exhibiting behavior that directly contradicted earlier claims the company made …
A developer has revealed evidence that Windows Phone devices collect and transmit user location data before users have given the phones permission to do so. The news follows claims Microsoft made to the United States House of Representatives stating that it does not collect or transmit any location data until a Windows Phone user opts …
Apple has repeatedly accused Samsung of “copying” its products, but it looks like Microsoft is now the one following Apple’s lead. A class action lawsuit filed in Seattle on Wednesday accuses Microsoft of unlawfully tracking users of smartphones that run the company’s emerging Windows Phone 7 operating system. According to the complaint, the camera application …
