It sounds like a nightmare: You’re driving along, maybe whistling along to the radio, when suddenly the music changes and starts blasting, the car begins honking and won’t stop and the transmission cuts out. Nightmarish though that may sound, it could be a reality for drivers, after a team of hackers showed they’re able to get control of a vehicle from miles away. [More]
Data & Privacy
Facebook Testing Shops Built Into Retailers’ Pages
By 7.20.15
Like Google, Twitter and its own Instagram platform, Facebook is toying with the idea of allowing users to buy stuff directly from retailers’ pages, instead of seeing those items in an ad and going outside the social network to purchase them. [More]
Diner Owner Defends Yelling At Crying “Beast” Of A Child
By 7.20.15
The owner of a diner in Portland, Maine, does not appear to be terribly concerned about the social media backlash resulting from her admitted hollering at a crying child and then later dubbing that youngster a “beast” and “monster” on Facebook. [More]
How To Opt Out Of Getting Phone Calls, Texts From Pandora Under Music Service’s Updated Contact Policy
By 7.16.15
Proving that it’s always a good idea to thoroughly read any changes in a company’s terms of service, even if you really don’t want to because it’s just so many words, Pandora customers might be interested to know that they could be getting phone calls, text messages or even videoconferencing calls from the company in the future if they don’t opt out. [More]
Facebook, Firefox Want Adobe To Just Kill Flash Already After More Security Exploits Found
By 7.14.15
The questionable stability and frequent security issues with Adobe’s Flash have long been a running joke among the tech-minded. Although the once-ubiquitous plugin’s star began to wane after mobile browsing took off, it still makes a lot of the content on the internet move. But after the release of yet another potentially disastrous vulnerability recently, the crowd clamoring for an end to Flash has now gone far beyond your local IT office, and includes both Firefox and Facebook. [More]
Facebook Reportedly Working On A Personal Digital Assistant Who Lives In The Messenger App
By 7.14.15
When it’s time to buzz about a reported new tech feature, having a recognizable code name is kind of a must-have. So it goes with Facebook’s new rumored project, a personal digital assistant nicknamed “Moneypenny,” after the secretary character in James Bond movies. [More]
British Facebook User Legally Changes Her Name To Get Back Into Account… And Is Still Locked Out
By 7.13.15
Unlike other social media networks like Twitter, where you can be anyone you like as long as you’re not trying to impersonate, say, the Queen of England, on Facebook, users are required to use their real names on the site. One British woman made a big change to her identity in order to regain access to her account, only to be kept waiting to find out her fate. [More]
Federal Data Breach Reportedly Affects An Additional 21 Million People
By 7.9.15
Remember when it was announced that more than four million federal employees in the country were part of a massive data breach last month? Well, turns out that was just one of two rather large data breaches to hit the Office of Personnel Management, with the newly announced second, larger hack affecting upwards of 21 million current and former employees, as well as prospective employees, their families and others who applied for federal background investigations in the last 15 years. [More]
Facebook Will Actually Let People Decide What They Want To See In The News Feed
By 7.9.15
Customization can be a wonderful thing. In the case of your Facebook News Feed, it might mean the difference between confronting a daily onslaught of adorable baby photos and actually getting content you want to view. The social network added a new feature today that will allow users to designate a group of accounts that will automatically appear at the top of their News Feed. [More]
Senate Advances Bill That Would Require Social Media Sites To Report “Terrorist Activities”
By 7.9.15
If it seems like everyone uses social media, well, that’s because basically everyone does. But it’s not just cake recipes and birthday party meet-ups people plan online; plenty of illegal activity gets talked about in digital space, too. And now members of the Senate want to make sure that when certain kinds of no-no topics pop up, the platform owners let the feds know. [More]
No, United Airlines Is Not Giving Away 100 Free Tickets For Sharing A Photo On Facebook
By 7.7.15
Here’s a hint: Sharing a photo is not a valid way to enter a sweepstakes where the prize has a value worth more than few bucks, and no multibillion-dollar international airline is going to run a contest that way. And yet, in just a few hours more than 40,000 Facebook users have shared an obviously bogus sweepstakes from a page pretending to be United Airlines. [More]
You No Longer Need A Facebook Account To Use Facebook Messenger
By 6.24.15
Because we all needed another avenue to converse with friends and acquaintances other than actual face-to-face conversations, Facebook has opened its Messenger to people without an account on the social media network. [More]
The Apartment Rental Credit Check Scam Is Alive And Well
By 6.24.15 — Updated: 5.23.17
Six years ago, we alerted the world to the apartment rental credit check scam. That’s a scheme where apartments or houses that may or may not exist are advertised on Craigslist or other classified ad sites to sell not-so-free credit checks to prospective renters. Unfortunately, in spite of our campaign and warnings right on Craigslist ads, these schemes are alive and well. [More]
Facebook Develops Technology To Recognize You Even When Your Face Is Covered
By 6.23.15
If you regularly shield your face in photos for fear someone might recognize you on Facebook, then you might need to find another way to stay incognito when it comes to the social media site. [More]
Samsung Rolling Out Security Update To Fix Keyboard Vulnerability That Affects Up To 600M Galaxy Phones
By 6.19.15
After a security researcher found a flaw in the way Samsung phones update their SwiftKey keyboard software that leaves Galaxy phone owners open to hack attacks, the company says it’s rolling out a security update in the next few days that will address the vulnerability. [More]
4 Million Federal Employees Are The Latest Victims Of A Massive Data Breach
By 6.5.15
There are millions of federal employees in the country, and not just in Washington, DC. The government is a big bureaucracy and a big employer — and that makes it a nice, juicy target for a big data breach. [More]
Advertisers Can Now Add Action Buttons Like “Shop Now” To Instagram Ads
By 6.2.15
The days of an ad-free Instagram are long gone, lost in the pre-Facebook ownership days, so it might be no surprise that the photo-and-video-sharing social media app will now feature ads that let viewers take action beyond liking or commenting on them. [More]
Supreme Court Rules That You Have To Intend A Threat For It To Be A Real Threat
By 6.1.15
Lots of people have ill-will and mountains of unflattering things to say about their exes. Many of those people say those things online. But if your rant happens to be filled with violent language that makes your former partner afraid for their safety, even if you say you had no intention of ever following through, is it still a real threat? [More]
