Smartphone users got another reason to worry about privacy this week, when the New York Times reported that iPhone and Android apps can spy on your photos without permission.
The reports followed a discovery last month that …
consumers
Smartphones Outnumber Feature Phones in U.S. for First Time
Smartphones have finally become the norm. According to a new poll from Pew, 46% of Americans have a smartphone, compared to 41% who “own a cell phone that is not a smartphone.” Only 35% of Americans owned smartphones as of May …
How Google’s New Privacy Policy Could Give Governments Greater Access to Your Data [UPDATE]
As a consumer, I’m not too concerned about Google’s new privacy policy. I don’t mind cookies tracking me — I’d rather see targeted ads than the garish, random banner ads of the ’90s — and my life will be a lot easier once …
Google’s New Privacy Policy: 5 Ways to Minimize Your Online Exposure
Google just rolled out a streamlined privacy policy that consolidates your personal information for use across various Google-owned services. Despite some criticism and accusations of an Orwellian Big Brother scenario, the …
New Google Privacy Policy May Violate European Law
Google is facing some new flack for its new privacy policy — set to be rolled out on March 1 — after the French data protection authority said the new policy appears to violate EU law.
AT&T’s Terrible Plan to Bill App Makers for Your Data Use
AT&T thinks it’s figured out a new way to make money off the rise of smartphones: Instead of just having consumers pay for mobile data, AT&T plans to allow app makers to cover the cost of data themselves, so it doesn’t count …
TechnologizerMicrosoft
The Microsoft Store: Surprisingly Pleasant
Microsoft opened the first two branches of The Microsoft Store back in October 2009. But its retail chain didn’t reach the San Francisco Bay Area until November of last year, when a branch opened up across from the Apple Store at …
Coming Soon: Privacy Warnings on Mobile Apps
Thanks to the state of California, smartphone apps will soon have to tell you in advance what they plan to do with your personal data.
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris reached an agreement with Apple, Google, …
How Target Knew a High School Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Parents Did
Fifty Cameras, a Fake Home and Virtual Reality: How Tide’s New Detergent Came Together
Laundry detergent is not my regular beat. But when Procter & Gamble invited me to check out one of its secret lairs, with a PR rep touting “advanced modeling and virtual reality” within, I couldn’t resist.
Yes, the maker of …
Sony Music Chided for Upping Price of Whitney Houston iTunes Album
According to a report by The Guardian, the price of Whitney Houston’s album, The Ultimate Collection, apparently found itself the subject of a 60% price increase in Apple’s iTunes music store shortly following the 48-year-old …
The Case Against Letting the U.N. Govern the Internet
All this year, and culminating in December at the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, the nations of the world will be negotiating a treaty to govern international telecommunications services between …
