Technology

Facebook Pauses Data Exchange With Hospitals

CNBC reports: Facebook has asked several major U.S. hospitals to share anonymized data about their patients, such as illnesses and prescription info, for a proposed research project. Facebook was intending to match it up with user data it had collected, and help the hospitals figure out which patients might need special care or treatment. The proposal never went past the …

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Facebook: 87M Users Exposed In Data Privacy Scandal

The Associated Press reports: Facebook revealed Wednesday that tens of millions more people might have been exposed in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal than previously thought and said it will restrict the user data that outsiders can access. Those developments came as congressional officials said CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify next week, while Facebook unveiled a new privacy policy that …

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Facebook To Update TOS For First Time In Years

Digital Chew reports: On Wednesday, Facebook announced they will be updating their terms of service to clarify what it does with user’s social media information. The changes to the TOS are in response to major business shakeups to Facebook’s business since the last time the company implemented major changes in 2015. This news comes after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, …

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Grindr Exec: We’ve Stopped Sharing Users’ HIV Status

Axios reports: Grindr has stopped sharing users’ HIV status with its third-party vendors, the company’s head of security told Axios. However, much of the concerns with Grindr’s data-sharing practices were a misunderstanding of what was being shared and with whom, says Grindr security chief Bryce Case. Grindr may have been sharing more information than needed, but it insists the most …

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Grindr Shares Users’ HIV Status With Third Parties

Buzzfeed News reports: The gay hookup app Grindr, which has more than 3.6 million daily active users across the world, has been providing its users’ HIV status to two other companies, BuzzFeed News has learned. The two companies — Apptimize and Localytics, which help optimize apps — receive some of the information that Grindr users choose to include in their …

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Zuckerberg Hits Back At Apple: Just Because Facebook Is Free Doesn’t Mean We Don’t Really Care About You

Business Insider reports: Mark Zuckerberg fired back at Tim Cook after the Apple CEO criticized Facebook amid a burgeoning scandal around the company’s data practicies and its role in political campaigns. Cook said that “privacy to us is a human right” and a “civil liberty,” and ultimately, because Facebook is a free service, the users become the products that are …

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New York City To Launch Free Cybersecurity App

Via press release: Mayor de Blasio today announced the launch of NYC Secure, a pioneering cybersecurity initiative aimed at protecting New Yorkers online. Using a steadily evolving suite of solutions, NYC Secure will defend New Yorkers from malicious cyber activity on mobile devices, across public Wi-Fi networks, and beyond. The first NYC Secure programs will include a free City-sponsored smartphone …

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Chinese Space Station To Crash This Weekend [VIDEO]

Space.com reports: The falling Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is tumbling in orbit and may crash back to Earth early Easter Sunday (April 1), experts say. Estimates for the crash of Tiangong-1 range sometime between March 31 and April 1, with a focus of 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) on April 1, according to Aerospace Corp., which is tracking the space …

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FCC OK’s SpaceX Plan For Satellite-Beamed Internet

The Washington Post reports: SpaceX has received official permission from the U.S. government to launch a fleet of satellites designed to beam high-speed Internet signals down to earth. The decision marks a major milestone for chief executive Elon Musk as he pursues a dream of putting 12,000 small satellites into low-earth orbit, connecting rural and developing parts of the world …

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Facebook Begins Fact-Checking Photos And Videos

Gizmodo reports: Facebook has started fact-checking photos and videos, as a part of a larger plan to prevent foreign agents from using the platform to spread propaganda and influence elections. Executives on Thursday explained Facebook’s plans in a blog post and on a conference call with journalists. Some of the plans had already been announced—for instance, verifying election ad buyers …

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Facebook Records Your Every Click And Keystroke

The Associated Press reports: To get an idea of the data Facebook collects about you, just ask for it. You’ll get a file with every photo and comment you’ve posted, all the ads you’ve clicked on, stuff you’ve liked and searched for and everyone you’ve friended – and unfriended – over the years. But activity isn’t limited to pages or …

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FTC Launches Probe Into Facebook Data Scandal

USA Today reports: The Federal Federal Trade Commission says it’s officially investigating the potential misuse of the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users by Trump-connected data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica. The agency’s action comes after it began a probe last week into the social network’s admission that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica, which had worked for …

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Pay-To-Pee App To Launch For NYC Restaurants

The New York Post reports: Luluapp — a mobile app that, for a fee, promises to direct tourists and other assorted weak bladders to the nearest available bathroom — says it has already signed up more than 100 New York restaurants and bars ahead of its summer launch. “Instead of paying a lot of money for a Facebook or Yelp …

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Qantas Debuts First Nonstops From Australia To UK

The Guardian reports: The first non-stop scheduled flight from Australia to the UK has landed in London – early – after a 17 hour, six minute journey across 9,240 miles (14,875km) from Perth. Qantas flight QF9, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with more than 230 passengers and crew on board, touched down at 5.03am at Heathrow on a chilly Sunday morning …

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Craigslist Ends Personal Ads Over Sex Trafficking Law

Fast Company reports: The popular classifieds website has announced it has pulled its personal ads section from the site. Craiglist made the move after the passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) on Wednesday. The act makes it easier for sex trafficking victims and prosecutors to sue websites that allowed sex traffickers to …

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Breaks Silence On Stolen Data Scandal, Lays Out Three-Point Response

USA Today reports: Facing growing criticism of his leadership of the social media giant he co-founded, CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence on the escalating crisis over how Facebook handles people’s private information. Zuckerberg took responsibility for what he called “a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to …

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ARIZONA: Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Pedestrian

Gizmodo reports: Last night a woman was struck by an autonomous Uber vehicle in Tempe, Arizona. She later died of her injuries in the hospital. The deadly collision—reported by ABC15 and later confirmed to Gizmodo by Uber and Tempe police—took place around 10PM at the intersection Mill Avenue and Curry Road. According to Tempe PD, the car was in autonomous …

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24 State Attorneys General Sue Over Net Neutrality

Courthouse News reports: The Federal Communications Commission published its official order repealing net neutrality rules in the Federal Register Thursday, prompting New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to immediately challenge the repeal along with 23 other attorneys general. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former Verizon attorney appointed by President Donald Trump last year, completed his campaign to repeal the Obama-Era …

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Today In Creepy Robots [VIDEO]

The Verge reports: We’ve seen Boston Dynamics robots open doors before, but this egress is different. Outfitted with an articulating arm and clamp similar to the one it used to wash dishes in the original video, we see the new SpotMini locate, recognize, and deftly operate a door handle, and then hold the door to let its arm-less sibling march …

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Facebook Tests Long-Demanded “Dislike” Button

The Daily Beast reports: Facebook is testing a “downvote” button with certain users, effectively creating the “dislike” button long predicted by memes and articles since inception of the Like button. The test appeared for several users on Thursday in the comment section of posts within Facebook groups and on old Facebook memories content. Users shared screenshots with The Daily Beast. …

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