If you’re reading this on a smartphone in the U.S., odds are high that you’re using either an Apple iPhone or one of Samsung’s many Android-based devices. However, Samsung’s sales are flat and Apple’s phone sales are declining, all the while China’s Huawei is drinking their milkshake. [More]
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Bill Requiring Security Backdoors On Phones & Other Devices Appears To Be DOA
By 5.27.16
Last month, Senators Diane Feinstein of California and Richard Burr of North Carolina were set to bring forth legislation that would end the debate on whether companies like Apple should help law enforcement unlock users’ devices, by requiring them to do so. In spite of the bipartisan, high-level sponsorship and the spotlight of the disputes between Apple and the Justice Department, it looks like this controversial legislation may never even be formally introduced. [More]
Apple Isn’t Going To Become A Mobile Carrier After All
By 5.24.16
Last year, Apple denied reports that it was testing mobile phone service, planning to become a mobile virtual network operator, or re-seller of service from a major carrier’s network. By doing that, Apple could sell phones and service to customers directly all over the world, cutting out customers’ direct relationships with carriers. [More]
Apple Sent Two Technicians To Investigate Music Download Deletions
By 5.18.16
When your Apple product starts acting up, maybe you go the Genius Bar, maybe you call tech support, maybe you just ask a friend for advice. Or maybe, if your blog post about Apple Music apparently deleting thousands of downloaded files makes national news headlines, two Apple techs come knocking on your door. [More]
Government Asks Wireless Manufacturers & Carriers About Device Security Updates
By 5.9.16
At the same time as their counterparts at the Justice Department are trying to circumvent smartphone security, the folks at the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission are talking to manufacturers about how to make these devices more secure. [More]
Apple’s App Store Is Having Some Serious Issues Finding Popular Apps Right Now
By 5.5.16
UPDATE: As of about noon on the east coast, the App Store seems to have sorted itself out. I was able to search for Tidal and actually get the music app, instead of an app to track the tide. [More]
Court: Apple Has To Share The iPhone Name With Chinese Accessories Company
By 5.4.16
A Chinese company that peddles purses and wallets bearing the IPHONE name has the right to keep selling those products, despite Apple’s efforts to keep the trademark all for itself. [More]
Dish Will Send Someone To Your House To Fix Your Broken iPhone
By 5.3.16
One of the most annoying things about breaking your phone is having to go somewhere and wait in line to get it fixed. There’s another, unexpected option now for iPhone users who have shattered their device’s screens or need help with a dead battery: satellite provider Dish has launched a new repair service that sends a technician to wherever the customer is. [More]
Why Won’t The FBI Tell Apple How It Unlocked iPhone?
By 4.26.16
A month ago, the FBI dropped its legal effort to compel Apple to unlock a dead terrorist’s iPhone after a third party provided the agency with a way to bypass the device’s encryption. While the federal law enforcer is okay with using what it learned to aid other criminal investigations, it doesn’t look like the FBI is jumping at the chance to let Apple in on the secret. [More]
The End Is Just The Beginning In The Apple Vs. DOJ Legal Battle Over Encryption
By 4.25.16
As you may have heard, on Friday afternoon the U.S. Department of Justice backed off its efforts to compel Apple to aid in unlocking a criminal suspect’s iPhone — for the second time in only a few weeks. While some have heralded this as a significant victory for Apple (or at least as a loss for the government), it’s really just a tiny, unresolved spat in what looks to become a protracted legal battle for both sides. [More]
Did U.S. Use Secret Court To Force Tech Companies To Weaken Encryption?
By 4.19.16
Legislators in D.C. are currently considering a law that would compel tech companies to have weak device and software encryption so that law enforcement can snoop when necessary, while federal prosecutors have repeatedly used a 227-year-old law to try to force Apple and Google to work around existing security on their products. A new lawsuit seeks to find out if the government has also been using a highly secretive court to force tech companies to assist in breaking their own encryption. [More]
Apple: Why Should We Help Unlock iPhone Of Someone Who Has Already Pled Guilty?
By 4.18.16
With the U.S. Department of Justice still attempting to compel Apple to unlock the iPhone of a drug suspect, the tech giant is asking the court why this is so important when the former owner of that iPhone has already pled guilty. [More]
Petition Against Encryption-Weakening Bill Crosses 40,000 Signatures In Two Days
By 4.14.16
Usually, D.C. moves slowly. There’s a kind of plodding, methodical rhythm to Congress and the federal agencies, and very little turns on a dime. So it stands out that less than 48 hours after introducing a bill into the Senate, over 42,000 people have already objected to basically everything about it. [More]
4 Things You Need To Know About New Bill Requiring Weak Encryption On Devices
By 4.13.16
A week after it was first reported that Senators Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Richard Burr (NC) were prepping a bipartisan bill that would compel tech companies to build their devices and software with weakened encryption or built-in backdoors for law enforcement, the actual bill has been introduced. Here’s what you need to know about why consumer and privacy advocates are concerned.
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DOJ Still Pushing Apple To Unlock Drug Suspect’s iPhone, In Spite Of Judge’s Ruling
By 4.8.16
In February, while a federal court in California was pondering whether or not to compel Apple’s assistance in unlocking a terrorist’s iPhone, a federal magistrate judge in New York ruled — in a drug-related case — that the government couldn’t force Apple to defeat its own encryption. In spite of that ruling, the Justice Department now tells the court that it is going ahead with its effort to require Apple’s help. [More]
Report: New Bill Would Let Judges Order Tech Companies To Break Encryption; White House Not Thrilled
By 4.7.16
The public fight Apple and the FBI recently had over one particular phone may have resolved itself, but the national discussion over encryption is just warming up. Now there’s a bipartisan effort to make a decision wandering through Congress… but the politics of it say that this particular bill is going to go nowhere fast. [More]
Apple Fixes iPhone Flaw That Allowed Siri Twitter Search To Access To Photos, Contacts
By 4.6.16
No one likes a snoop. That’s why Apple says it has fixed a security flaw in the iOS operating system that allowed the Siri virtual assistant to search Twitter on locked iPhones, leading to the unauthorized access of photos and contacts.
[More]
Facebook’s WhatsApp Messaging Service Bolsters Encryption Amid Law Enforcement Scrutiny
By 4.5.16
Even though the FBI has figured out a work-around that — for now — allows the agency to bypass an iPhone’s encryption, the debate still continues about which is more important: privacy for all consumers, or ready-but-limited access for law enforcement? Today, Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp made it clear which side of that argument it comes down on. [More]
