Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s run into quite a number of privacy concerns in the past, and things hit something of a tipping point earlier this year when it was revealed that the company was snooping on WiFi data while it was collecting Street View images. Now Google has finally come back with some answers to some privacy questions it says it’s been studying for the past several months. First and foremost is the appointment of Alma Whitten as the company’s new directory of privacy, who will manage Google’s privacy efforts across both engineering and product management, and ensure that the company builds “effective privacy controls” into its products and internal practices. Backing that up is some expanded privacy training, including a new program that all employees will be required to take beginning in December, and some new internal compliance procedures, which includes a requirement that every engineering project leader maintain a privacy design document for each project they’re working on. Hit up the source link below for the company’s complete statement on the matter.

Google revises internal privacy practices, appoints director of privacy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Worried about local hackers? Like leaving your laptop behind in the coffee shop while you take long, leisurely trips to the bathroom? We wouldn’t be so self-assured. Turns out there’s a gaping security hole in the FaceTime beta, which allows anyone with access to your computer to change your password without knowing it to begin with, as well as peep and edit your security questions and answers. It would be nice if signing out of FaceTime would protect you, but unfortunately the app seems to have a lock-tight memory on your password, so it’s easy for anyone to open the app and sign-in again. Hopefully Apple will fix these holes quickly, and until then we recommend uninstalling FaceTime or choosing your friends very wisely.

PSA: FaceTime beta endangers your Apple ID password and security questions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nice going, Kensington — you just admitted to the world something we already knew. No one actually uses the lock slot / cable that’s issued to them on their first day on the job. It’s painful to envision the cash this company has made from mindless corporations who somehow think that employees are going to tie their laptops up each and every day, but now it has an alternative that it swears “your employees will actually use.” The new ClickSafe system essentially works as such: you insert a small locking nub into the lock slot that ships on (almost) every new laptop today, and then you clip the new locking cable on by hand. Once you’ve completed the first step, the cable connection is a simple motion each morning — in theory, at least. Peek the installation vid after the break if you’re still having your doubts, and feel free to blow $49.99 / $69.99 (depending on model) if you just know that this time it’ll be different.

Continue reading Kensington’s ClickSafe security lock: ‘so easy, your employees actually use it’

Kensington’s ClickSafe security lock: ‘so easy, your employees actually use it’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T told us back in July that it was fixing to launch the first carrier-provided two factor encryption service, and it seems that today’s the day. The day it goes live, we mean. At any rate, the company’s Encrypted Mobile Voice service is reportedly active, and it’s already providing “high-level security features for calls on the AT&T wireless network.” Of course, none of this fancy security is meant for simpletons like us — instead, it’s targeting government agencies, law enforcement organizations, financial services institutions and international businesses. We’re told that the tech combines KoolSpan’s TrustChip and SRA International’s One Vault Voice, with the former being a microSD card and the latter being a software layer. Currently, it only plays nice with BlackBerry and Windows Phones, but until we see Biden bust out a Bravo, we’ll assume the lack of Android support isn’t “a big flipping deal.”

Continue reading AT&T goes live with Encrypted Mobile Voice, kills your dreams of breaking into Pelosi’s social circle

AT&T goes live with Encrypted Mobile Voice, kills your dreams of breaking into Pelosi’s social circle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Come one, come all — let’s gather and act shocked, shall we? It’s no secret that Google’s Android Market is far easier to penetrate than Apple’s App Store, which is most definitely a double-edged sword. On one hand, you aren’t stuck waiting a lifetime for Apple to approve a perfectly sound app; on the other, you may end up accidentally downloading some Nazi themes that scar you for life. A curious team of scientists from Intel Labs, Penn State and Duke University recently utilized a so-called TaintDroid extension in order to log and monitor the actions of 30 Android apps — 30 that were picked from the 358 most popular. Their findings? That half of their sample (15, if you’re rusty in the math department) shared location information and / or other unique identifiers (IMEI numbers, phone numbers, SIM numbers, etc.) with advertisers. Making matters worse, those 15 didn’t actually inform end-users that data was being shared, and some of ’em beamed out information while applications were dormant. Unfortunately for us all, the researchers didn’t bother to rat out the 15 evil apps mentioned here, so good luck resting easy knowing that your library of popular apps could be spying on you right now.

Update: A Google spokesperson pinged up with an official response to the study, and you can peek it after the break.

Update 2: Looks as if the full study (PDF) has been outed, with the 30 total apps named. Here they are: The Weather Channel, Cestos, Solitaire, Movies, Babble, Manga Browser, Bump, Wertago, Antivirus, ABC – Animals, Traffic Jam, Hearts, Blackjack, Horoscope, 3001 Wisdom Quotes Lite, Yellow Pages, Dastelefonbuch, Astrid, BBC News Live Stream, Ringtones, Layer, Knocking, Barcode Scanner, Coupons, Trapster, Spongebob Slide, ProBasketBall, MySpace, ixMAT, and Evernote. Thanks, Jordan!

Continue reading Study: select Android apps sharing data without user notification

Study: select Android apps sharing data without user notification originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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