Because torturing yourself by gazing at your ex’s profile pic on Facebook might not be punishment enough, Facebook is now testing video profile photos (really, profile videos) that can be up to seven seconds and will be set to loop over and over while you keep staring/crying. [More]
Data & Privacy
No, Facebook Will Not Be Charging You To Keep Your Profiles Private
By 9.29.15
If you’ve visited Facebook at all in the last few hours, you’ve most likely seen any number of your online acquaintances posting the terrifying news that Facebook will soon be charging users $5.99/month too keep their profiles private. It might sound believable for those who aren’t familiar with how Facebook actually makes its money, but the fact is that the company says it has no plans to start charging anyone. Even more pointless are the supposed “copyright” notices people are posting in the hopes that it will protect them. [More]
Hilton Looking Into Possible Hack Attack Affecting Guests Using Credit Cards At Its Restaurants, Gift Shops
By 9.28.15
Hilton Hotels says it’s looking into a possible hack attack connected to point-of-sale registers and a variety of Hilton properties. If you bought something at a restaurant, gift shop or other store at a Hilton property recently, you should take a closer look at your credit card statements for any fraudulent activity. [More]
New Scam Preys On Facebook Users’ Desire For A “Dislike” Button
By 9.25.15
There’s one relatively simple way scammers can hook their prey: by knowing exactly what you really want and acting like they’re giving it to you. But as much as you want to be able to express something other than “like” with a button on Facebook, it’s not here yet, and it’s not going to be invite-only when it does arrive. [More]
Federal Data Breach Included 5.6M Compromised Fingerprints, Five Times The Original Estimate
By 9.23.15
Federal investigators underestimated the number of fingerprints stolen in a massive breach of the Office of Personnel Management earlier this year: the agency announced Wednesday that 5.6 million individuals’ finger prints were stolen, nearly five times the original estimate of 1.1 million compromised prints. [More]
Apple Pulls Malware-Infected Apps After App Store Suffers Its First Major Breach
By 9.21.15
Hackers have finally taken a bite out of Apple’s App Store: the company confirmed that attackers were able to infect some of the apps it offers with malware, by copying and modifying a tool used by software developers. Apple says it has now removed the affected apps from the App Store. [More]
Security Vulnerability In New Kardashian Websites Coughs Up User Info For 600K Subscribers
By 9.17.15
If you’re not up to date on all your reality TV star news, perhaps you aren’t aware that the Kardashian/Jenner sisters recently launched new mobile apps and redesigned websites to stay even more connected with their adoring hordes than before. But while the family’s popularity has seen hundreds of thousands of people signing up for those sites, a new report says the personal information for many of those subscribers was available — albeit briefly — to anyone with the know-how to get it. [More]
Facebook Trying To Assure Advertisers That Their Ads Are Actually (Maybe, Possibly) Being Seen
By 9.17.15
Will you do something for us? Take a quick, 10-second look at just about any site that isn’t Consumerist and then come back here. Done? Now see if you can remember all — or any — of the ads on that page. You probably can’t because (A) we’ve trained ourselves to ignore ad units and (B) you probably skimmed past or didn’t even get to a lot of the ads on that page. Advertisers know this, which is why Facebook is offering an option that only charges them when someone sees 100% of their ad. [More]
Facebook Close To Unveiling The Long-Awaited “Dislike” Button
By 9.15.15
Nearly a year after Facebook overlord Mark Zuckerberg said the company was kinda, sorta looking into creating a “dislike” button for all those posts you, well, don’t like, he says the social network is on the cusp of unveiling a companion for the often overused thumbs-up sign. [More]
Pharmaceutical Companies Using Fitness Trackers To Collect Data On Drug Trials, Other Research
By 9.14.15
Consumers looking to improve their health have turned to fitness trackers like Fitbit, Jawbone, Vivofit, and Fuse that record the user’s heart rate, calories burned, steps walked, and other pertinent data. These devices are also increasingly being used for another purpose: tracking the effectiveness of new medications in drug trials and other research for pharmaceutical companies. [More]
Facebook Reportedly Working On A Virtual Reality Video Smartphone App
By 9.14.15
Nearly a year and a half after Facebook paid $2 billion to buy virtual reality company Oculus, the online behemoth is apparently ready to bring some virtual reality technology to its social media platform. [More]
No, You Aren’t Going To Win An Audi Or A Diamond Ring Just By Liking & Sharing A Post On Facebook
By 9.9.15
Although you might be suspicious that something sounds too good to be true, not every scam you come across on the Internet will immediately set off alarm bells. After all, what’s the worst that could come from liking and sharing a post on Facebook, beyond the fact that a new Audi R8 V8 or a diamond ring from Tiffany & Co. won’t become yours? Some scams exist (and thrive) just to get those valuable likes and shares, and gain an audience for future scams. [More]
Facebook-Owned WhatsApp Crosses 900 Million User Mark
By 9.4.15
Facebook is having a good run this summer of taking over the world one app at a time. Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement that the big blue network now has more than 1 billion daily users, the company is now crowing about a user milestone they’ve reached on one of their two big messaging platforms, WhatsApp. [More]
Ashley Madison Says People, Even Some Real Women, Are Still Signing Up For Cheating Site
By 8.31.15
We can understand why people continued to shop at retailers that have been hit by data breaches. You still need to buy groceries, clothing, housewares, etc. But what about a website whose main selling point is privacy? Even though AshleyMadison.com — the dating website for cheaters — has been publicly embarrassed by the posting of millions of users’ personal data, it claims that people are still signing up… and that they’re not all just dudes. [More]
Court Rules NSA Phone Data Collection That Is Now Changing Anyway Is Still Legal
By 8.28.15
After several years of back-and-forth rulings, an appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled today that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program can indeed continue… at least until November, when it gets shut down anyway because Congress changed the law in June. [More]
Ashley Madison CEO Steps Down In Wake Of Hacking Scandal
By 8.28.15
Less than two weeks after hackers published two big data dumps full of material stolen from Ashley Madison, a dating website for cheaters, its parent company Avid Life Media announced that effective today, CEO Noel Biderman will be stepping down from his position and is no longer with the company. [More]
Facebook Launching Digital Personal Assistant That Uses Real People To Complete Tasks For You
By 8.26.15
Because Facebook’s Messenger doesn’t already have enough going on – sending mobile payments, video chats, go-between for businesses and customers – the company today launched a very limited test of its new personal digital assistant that lives inside the app, confirming rumors it was working on a Siri- and Cortana-like feature. [More]
“Spam King” Pleads Guilty To Sending More Than 27M Unsolicited Facebook Messages
By 8.25.15
When your email or other messaging account is flooded with messages promising cheap$ R0lexes! and invitations to collect a million dollars from the estate of a long-lost foreign dignitary relative, it’s not easy to place the blame: is it a robot programmed for maximum annoyance? A wee, cackling, evil spam elf? Sometimes, it’s just a human: a man known as the “Spam King” has admitted in court that he’s behind more than 27 million unsolicited messages sent through Facebook’s servers. [More]
