WhatsApp Ordered To Cease Data Sharing With Facebook


CNIL, France’s privacy watchdog, has ordered WhatsApp to cease its data sharing with Facebook. It does that because Facebook is its parent company. WhatsApp has been given a month to comply with CNIL’s order, according to a notice posted on the watchdog’s website. It started looking into the data sharing practice after WhatsApp confirmed that it had updated its terms of service to notify users that it will share data with Facebook.

WhatsApp says that it shares data with Facebook to develop security measures and targeted advertising. It also does that to gather business intelligence.

The regulator’s notice mentions that it repeatedly asked WhatsApp to provide a sample of French users’ data that was transferred to Facebook. The company replied that it couldn’t provide the sample to CNIL as it’s located in the United States and that it’s only subject to the legislation of the U.S.

CNIL’s investigation found that WhatsApp’s claim of improving security measures by sharing data with its parent company is valid but that the business intelligence claim can’t be accepted. It mentions that there’s no way for users to opt-out of this without uninstalling the app and that violates the “fundamental freedoms of users,” according to CNIL.

CNIL isn’t the first European regulator to go after Facebook/WhatsApp for data sharing. Germany ordered the social network to stop collecting data from WhatsApp users in September last year. Facebook also agreed to stop doing that in the United Kingdom back in November 2016.

WhatsApp Ordered To Cease Data Sharing With Facebook , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

North Korea Publicly Named By U.S. As WannaCry Attack Source


Many of you would remember the WannaCry ransomware attack that spread panic across the globe earlier this year. The cyberattack disrupted countless businesses across the globe as it locked people out of their computers and demanded a ransom in return for unlocking their PCs. Previous reports have suggested that the intelligence community was convinced that North Korea was behind this attack. The United States Government has now formally named North Korea as the perpetrator of this attack.

Homeland Security Advisor Thomas P. Bossert wrote an article recently and mentioned for the first time that the North Koreans are directly to be blamed for the crisis.

Many businesses were affected by the hack. Even the National Health Service of the United Kingdom was crippled due to this cyberattack. Countless computers in hospitals, businesses, schools, and homes were rendered useless by WannaCry.

“While victims received ransom demands, paying did not unlock their computers. It was cowardly, costly and careless. The attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible,” he wrote.

North Korea’s involvement was suspected after the attack when researchers found out that WannaCry used an exploit that was stolen from the NSA. Comparisons were also drawn with the crippling cyberattack that Sony suffered back in 2014.

Microsoft and the government of the United Kingdom have recently blamed North Korea for the WannaCry cyberattack as well. Now, the United States has come out with a similar statement.

North Korea Publicly Named By U.S. As WannaCry Attack Source , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

New AirPods Will Reportedly Be Launched Late Next Year


It was recently reported that Apple’s AirPods are sold out until January 2018. While it may be difficult for you to get your hands on one right now, perhaps you will be able to buy the next-generation of these wireless earphones late next year. According to a new report, Apple is going to launch updated AirPods in late 2018.

The AirPods have proven to be quite popular and as Apple tries to meet up with demand for this product, the well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that the company is going to launch new AirPods late next year.

The analyst predicts that the upgraded AirPods will come with hardware improvements. They’re said to feature smaller components and may even have a higher average selling price.

No further information has been provided about the improvements that might be made to the new AirPods. Either there’s a lack of information on the street at this point in time or the next-generation of Apple’s AirPods won’t come with any major changes.

Kuo does expect the AirPods to perform well in the coming year as well. The shipments are expected to surge 100 percent year-over-year to 28 million units in 2018. Kuo goes so far as to call the AirPods “the most important accessory in Apple’s wireless ecosystem.”

New AirPods Will Reportedly Be Launched Late Next Year , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Xbox Controller Remapping On Windows 10 Now Possible


Serious gamers like having the ability to remap the controller to their preferences. While they’ve been able to do that on a normal controller with the Xbox One, Microsoft didn’t allow them to do that on Windows 10 which lets them use Xbox One controllers with their PCs. Gamers could use third-party apps for this purpose but now Microsoft is finally allowing them to remap Xbox controller buttons on Windows 10.

There’s native support for the controller remapping feature now which means that PC gamers who are using an Xbox controller no longer have to rely on third-party apps for this functionality.

Gamers can use the Xbox Accessories application on Windows 10 to remap the buttons on the controller. They can use the app to change the buttons, swap triggers and thumbsticks, invert axes, and more.

The Xbox Accessories app lets gamers customize their controllers. The app shows an image of the controller which always highlights their current configuration. If they’re changing a lot of buttons, they can see their new configuration all at once.

The ability to remap buttons on the Xbox controller will certainly be appreciated by gamers on PC. They can fire up the Xbox Accessories app right away and start remapping.

Xbox Controller Remapping On Windows 10 Now Possible , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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