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Kyle Rankin  

Due to FB and app developer pressure, Apple changed their mind about mandating apps ask permission before tracking users in iOS 14. That lobbying power should tell you everything you need to know about how much money is made through tracking in iOS apps:

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/0

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Kyle Rankin  

"Google is a popular target for this kind of request because almost everyone uses Google products in one way or another ... Moreover, Google frequently has GPS data that places a user's phone to within a few meters" arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

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Kyle Rankin  

It's so interesting that concerns over public health apps mean that you must opt-in to be tracked with built-in coronavirus features, but still must opt-out of all of the even more intrusive tracking that already happens on the phone by default: cnbc.com/2020/09/01/apple-goog

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Kyle Rankin  

Some say that people don't care about , but Facebook is convinced that enough people won't opt into being tracked that they are removing tracking by unique phone identifier entirely before opt in gets implemented in iOS 14: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

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Kyle Rankin  

Given what you know about the current state of phone technology and Internet , which tech company would you trust to control your neural implant? theverge.com/2020/8/26/2140224

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Kyle Rankin  

"Documents released also show that Google’s privacy policy was crafted in a way to allow applications that had location tracking turned off from using the location tracking information from another Google application that had location tracking on" azmirror.com/2020/08/24/unseal

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Kyle Rankin  

All the more reason to take control over your own location data and how it's shared, instead of hoping proprietary software funded by your data is operating in your best interests (it isn't): arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

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Kyle Rankin  

TikTok offers 3rd parties to audit their code to quiet concerns. Auditability, not just of TikTok w/ hand-picked regulators/experts, is critical for software we rely on. For real privacy and security, you want software w/ a license. washingtonpost.com/technology/

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Kyle Rankin  

I'm glad to see mainstream pieces on the issues behind sharing kid pics. I treat my child's online persona like a financial trust in his name: I am a trustee charged to manage/protect it until he is old enough to take ownership. washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2

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Kyle Rankin  

So now car companies will be faced with the choice of harvesting and selling our data, or leaving money on the table and facing shareholder wrath. Does @purism needs to make a car with hardware kill switches? vice.com/en_us/article/m7jpmp/

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Kyle Rankin  

"This has been going on for years and is an essential part of the mobile app economy."

Unless you remove the financial incentive, there's no hope for on Android/iOS. Their app ecosystems are built on selling user data and no amount of prompts or checkboxes can fix it.

vox.com/recode/2020/7/8/213115

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Kyle Rankin  

Movie remake: Terminator, but T-101 has 2020 facial recognition tech with current false positive rates. Twist: Sarah Connor is black.

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Kyle Rankin  

Bill aims to ban microtargeting of political ads. I'd argue the same reasoning to ban targeted manipulation for political ads should apply to *all* ads. The Internet (and society) would be much healither w/o microtargeting. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

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Kyle Rankin  

Interesting conflict: some governments and health officials are upset with Google and Apple because they won't share the location data their contract tracing apps collect. washingtonpost.com/technology/

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Kyle Rankin  

Surveillance vendor NSO Group pitched hacking tools to US police forces that would "turn your target's smartphone into an intelligence gold mine" vice.com/en_us/article/8899nz/

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Kyle Rankin  

Well that's pretty encouraging. It looks like when people are better informed about trade-offs and must opt-in, instead of being forced to opt-out, many prefer the privacy-preserving option. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

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Kyle Rankin  

Many of the arguments in the encryption backdoor debate (life-or-death, manpower vs automation, tech ineffectiveness, + freedom vs benefit, govt. + big tech power) apply to -19 app tracking debate, but with many ppl changing sides.

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Kyle Rankin  

The article touches on some concerns, but much depends on this being voluntary. My concern is it will be false choice like many TSA rules: ie. you can "choose" to use the app and resume work/public life or "choose" to stay at home. washingtonpost.com/technology/

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Kyle Rankin  

Remember that Big Data companies redefine to mean private to others, not private to them. They still see and store your personal data:

"No personally identifiable information, such as an individual's location, contacts or movement, will be made available at any point"

abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/coro

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Kyle Rankin  

With so many relying on video conferencing at home, it's more important than ever to disable your camera w/ a hardware kill switch when you aren't using it. If your laptop doesn't have one, cover up the camera when your call is over. puri.sm/learn/hardware-kill-sw

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