As of today, the Real ID Act—which will require all US IDs to meet minimum federal security standards—enter the first stage of its multi-year enforcement. That has a lot of people pretty nervous; whether legislators use the term or not, it smells an awful lot like a national ID card. But what is Real ID, exactly?
     |
This of you looking to continue using Nest devices in the future now that Google owns the lot will find a comment from the company’s founder to be particularly inspiring … Continue reading
The team at T-Mobile USA let it be known at CES 2014 that they had no love for their fellow carriers, going so far as to offer early termination fee … Continue reading
Google’s research department just released a fun visualization called Music Timeline, which attempts to chart the rise and fall of different musical genres in terms of their relative popularity. Watch rock, pop, alternative, and hip hop each rise to the top.
| |
A U.S. government report finally offers up some details about the series of hacks that led to theft of the debit card information for 40 million people
| |
If you think you drink a lot of coffee, think again. While the US might pride itself as being a nation fuelled by the stuff, it turns out that other countries beat it hands down.
| |
Nathan Yau has turned the American Film Institute’s 100 most memorable quotes from American cinema into chart form. Here they are, in all their wonderful geeky glory.
| |
Nest says that it’s not going to just hand over its customer data to Google willy-nilly post-acquisition – in a blog post sent to TechCrunch penned by Nest founder Tony Fadell, a question and answer section at the end contains the following:
Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?
Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.
This contrasts with some of the reactions making the rounds on Twitter, which express apprehension about the fact that Google will have access to Nest’s data, which knows, for example, where you are in your house.
Oh PS with Nest’s built-in sensors now Google knows when you’re home, what rooms you’re in, and when you’re out. Just FYI.—
Ryan Block (@ryan) January 13, 2014
It’s interesting because the immediately apparent upside of Google acquiring Nest would be the data it stands to gain access to. Still, the quote above indicates that it won’t use data from its devices any differently than it does now, and Nest will continue to operate as a separate entity. There’s no outright “No” answer to the question before the explanation about the privacy policy, however (I’d bet anonymized data still gets shared), so we’ve reached out to Google and Nest to hopefully clarify exactly how the relationship will work.
In the meantime, the startup’s early supporters stand to make a lot of money on the deal.
In December, it was reported that security firm RSA — according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden — was paid millions by the NSA to put a back door into … Continue reading
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season, hackers silently managed to nab millions of instances of customer card data, the means and extent of which were unknown … Continue reading
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
