Last month, Uber updated its location tracking policies asking users to allow the app to continue following them for five minutes after their ride ends. Unsurprisingly, the change was met with some concern from users and privacy advocates. Now, lawmakers are jumping into the fray, urging Uber to upgrade its privacy policy to ensure that sensitive customer data is properly protected. [More]
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Evernote Backtracks On Privacy Policy Changes After User Outcry
By 12.16.16
Popular note-taking and general reminder app Evernote had big plans for 2017. In January, it was going to start feeding all your personal content to an algorithm in order to improve internal machine learning. But those plans allowed for human employees to peek over the robot’s shoulder to see your stuff, which users objected to loudly enough that now those plans are on hold. [More]
Evernote: Update To Privacy Policy Was “Communicated Poorly”
By 12.15.16 — Updated: 12.16.16
Evernote is a cross-platform application for taking notes and storing information, which inspires almost religious devotion in users. This week, though, some Evernote fans have grown disillusioned because of a change to the company’s privacy policy that details how Evernote employees can access and read users’ notes. Update: this change has been called off, and Evernote will only peek at the notes of users who opt in. [More]
Verizon Won’t Explain Confusing Ad Data Policy On NFL Mobile Streaming
By 12.9.16
If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer, you may have taken advantage of the carrier’s promotion that allows you to stream local football games via the NFL Mobile app without eating away at your monthly data allotment. However, you might not have noticed that the commercials you watch during those games do count against your data limit — at least initially. It’s confusing to some Verizon customers, and the nation’s largest wireless provider won’t explain why it’s not more straightforward. [More]
Your Phone Sends All Your Call Records To Apple When iCloud Is Turned On
By 11.17.16
You’ve got a computer in your pocket that works as a camera, a video recorder, an internet connection, a game console, and everything else. And odds are good there’s some data on there that you want backed up safely, and that you use a cloud storage service to do just that. But your smartphone is, indeed, a phone — and your good old-fashioned calling records may be going places and getting stored in ways you do not intend. [More]
Facebook Is Launching Yet Another Snapchat Clone
By 11.9.16
In its latest attempt to lure Snapchat users away from the photo-sharing app, Facebook has launched yet another service that basically does exactly what Snapchat does. [More]
Verizon Wireless Agrees To Wipe Out Non-Profit’s $20,300 Data Bill
By 10.18.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
After the Federal Communications Commission saw a huge spike in complaints from Verizon Wireless customers reporting mysterious data overages, the carrier has apparently started offering refunds. In one case, that means canceling a non-profit’s $20,300 bill for using 1,300GB of data — on a single phone, in one month. [More]
Amid Reports Of Billing Issues, FCC Sees Spike In Verizon Wireless Complaints
By 10.12.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Amid recent reports of Verizon Wireless customers getting dinged on their phone bills with unexpected data overages, it may come as no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission has seen a spike in complaints related to the company. [More]
How Much Control Do You Actually Have Over Your Private Data?
By 9.20.16
“Privacy” is the buzz of our era, but… what even is privacy? Different consumers, businesses, and regulators each have their own definitions and perspectives on the issue, while the law, too, is always evolving. [More]
Verizon Wireless Decides Not To Make Florida Woman Pay For $8,535 In Data Overages
By 9.16.16
The Florida woman who was shocked to receive a $9,100 bill from Verizon Wireless for data she says she couldn’t possibly have used is off the hook, as the company has decided not to make her pay up. [More]
Woman Hit With $9,100 Verizon Wireless Bill For Data She Says She Didn’t Use
By 9.14.16
A Florida woman who says she barely ever uses her monthly allotment of data recently received a bill from Verizon Wireless for $9,153, claiming she had used 569 GB of data in the span of about 10 days. [More]
Reminder: Your iPhone’s WiFi Assist May Get You Data Overage Charges Galore
By 9.2.16
If you need a reminder to turn off the WiFi assist feature included in iOS 9, now’s the time, after yet another report of folks getting hit with data overages because they weren’t aware of what their phones were doing without their knowledge. [More]
Niantic Writes Back To Sen. Al Franken, Says Privacy Concerns Are All Fixed Now
By 9.1.16
Back in July, when the Pokémon Go fad first hit and users had serious questions about the types of personal data that the location-based game was gobbling, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota decided to step in and add some gravitas to the proceedings. Franken is concerned about privacy and technology and how they intersect in new products like the Oculus Rift or Apple Music. His office sent game-maker Niantic a letter back in mid-July. The company responded, and their response, predictably, is that users shouldn’t have any privacy concerns. [More]
Here’s How Airbnb Uses The Data It Collects In Every Part Of The Company
By 8.1.16
Websites collect information about the people who use them, and the people who end up not using them. If you’ve even visited the website of Airbnb, the company has used your data to improve its offerings or its site in some way. [More]
Investigators: Driver In Fatal Tesla Autopilot Crash Was Speeding
By 7.26.16
As federal safety investigators continue to investigate the first fatal crash allegedly involving Tesla’s autopilot feature, a preliminary report found that the vehicle was speeding before the collision. [More]
Senators Call For Inquiry Into Impact Of Airbnb & Other Short-Term Rentals On Affordable Housing
By 7.14.16
Short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway are intended as a way to give travelers varied and interesting lodging options, while letting homeowners make a bit of money when they aren’t at home. However, a group of three senators are concerned that the affordable housing market is being squeezed by the increasing number of property owners cashing in on short-term rentals.
[More]
Report: Verizon Wireless To Increase Data Caps, Plan Prices
By 7.5.16
Verizon may not have unveiled anything big on July 1st, but according to the rumor mill and the ever-popular “source familiar with the situation,” they’re still planning big things in July. Those plans include increasing the data cap on all of their wireless plans… but at a cost. [More]
