Strava says military users should opt out of heatmap feature to avoid revealing secret army base locations
Military personal who used the fitness app Strava have unwittingly contributed to revealing the location of secret army bases around the world. Strava published a "heatmap" of global user activity in November, and from this data visualization the location of secret military bases was accidentally exposed.
The company argues that the information had already been made public by users who chose to share their location data. It goes on to suggest that military users might want to consider opting out of the heatmap feature of the iOS and Android app.
Ahead of GDPR laws, Facebook publishes privacy principles and promises to educate users
Facebook has published its privacy principles for the first time, ahead of the European Union's general data protection regulation (GDPR) which comes into force on May 25 -- although the company is pitching it as being part of Data Privacy Day.
On top of this, the social network has also detailed plans to use videos to educate its users about privacy. The videos will explain how to control who has access to personal data, as well as how to manage the data Facebook uses to control the ads it shows users.
Trump was almost ten times more popular with Russian Twitter bots than Clinton
In the run-up to the 2016 US election, Russian bots shared Donald Trump's tweets 470,000 times -- nearly ten times those of Hillary Clinton.
The figures come courtesy of Twitter, who shared the data with Congress for a review into Russian influence on the election. In the period September 1 to November 15, 2016, Russian bots accounted for more than four percent of Trump's retweets.
OnePlus denies sending clipboard data to China
Phone-maker OnePlus has had a tough time of things in the press recently with claims about users' clipboard data being mined, and the problems following a credit card breach. A second suggestion that the company was sending clipboard data back to China surfaced recently, but the company has been quick to deny any wrongdoing.
Suspicions were raised when a OnePlus user noticed a file called badwords.txt which includes a list of words such as "chairman," "private message" and "address."
Hackers hijack YouTube ads with Coinhive to mine Monero cryptocurrency
The clandestine mining of cryptocurrency is something that we have seen in various forms over the last year or so, in website code and Android apps. A new discovery by security firm Trend Micro shows that hackers have found a way to inject Coinhive mining code into ads that appear on YouTube.
The crypto-jacking technique means that hackers have been able to profit by using other people's CPU time to mine the Monero cryptocurrency while they watch videos. Trend Micro reports that there has been a huge increase in Coinhive web miner detections in recent days, with hackers abusing Google's DoubleClick to distribute the code through big sites including YouTube.
Intel will release chips free from Meltdown and Spectre bugs this year
The discovery of the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities in processors caused a great deal of panic and confusion. The poor reliability and performance hit brought about by patches did little to help consumer confidence, but Intel says it will be releasing processors in 2018 that are free from the problems.
The move will be welcomed by customers who have been frustrated by problematic bug fixes designed to mitigate against the bug but which brought issues of their own. A timescale for the hardware solution has not been pinned down more specifically than "later this year."
Google tweaks Files Go to make it easier to free up space on your Android device and change file associations
Using any smartphone means having to work within its storage limitations. The prevalence of cloud services has taken some of the strain off physical storage, but running out of room locally can still be an issue.
To help with this problem, Google offers Files Go. Now the company has updated the app to make it an even more powerful tool for freeing up space. The app can now handle SD cards and tablets, and includes a new option to change file associations.
Google grants users more control over ads
Google is a company that's synonymous with advertisements. It makes huge amounts of money from delivering carefully targeted ads, much to the chagrin of those on the receiving end. To make life a little more bearable -- although not ad-free -- the company is making changes to Ads Settings and the Mute This Ad feature.
The changes affect not only the millions of websites that are filled with ads delivered through Google, but also the myriad of apps that are ad-supported. The latest changes make it possible to mute ad reminders, and also increases the level of control users have over ad muting.
UK government to monitor social networks and fight fake news with National Security Communications Unit
In a bid to tackle the ongoing problem of fake news, the UK government is setting up the National Security Communications Unit. The NSCU is tasked with "combating disinformation by state actors and others."
It's a mission that the likes of Microsoft, Facebook and Google have already taken on in various ways, each with varying degrees of success. One of the aims of the NSCU is to "more systematically deter our adversaries and help us deliver on national security priorities," and part of its work will involve monitoring social networks.
Now you can buy audiobooks from Google Play
Google has added a new audiobooks section to its Play Store. The announcement was widely expected, as over the weekend imagery came to light suggesting Google had plans to start selling audiobooks -- but no one knew quite how far off it might be.
There's some good news for anyone who has been put off by the likes of Audible in the past -- audiobooks in Google Play are being offered without a subscription. Available in 45 countries and nine languages, Google offers support for Android, iOS and Google Assistant.
TVAddons launches new GitHub Browser to deliver Kodi addons
TVAddons has previously promised to 'change how people access streaming media forever', and now it is delivering on the first phase of the Kodi addon revolution. The newly announced GitHub Browser makes it easier than ever to browse and install Kodi addons.
The browser makes it possible to install any Kodi addon directly from its developer's own GitHub repository. It's all part of a plan that will make the TVAddons community "more resilient and decentralized."
Facebook to roll out new privacy tools ahead of European GDPR laws
Facebook has faced numerous complaints and accusations when it comes to privacy, and nowhere has this been more obvious than in Europe. In response to European Union plans to change the laws concerning the privacy of personal data, the social network is on the verge of rolling out a new privacy center to users.
The upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is designed to give people more control over their personal data, and it is due to come into force in May. Facebook's response means that its millions of global users will all benefit from additional privacy controls.
Apple's HomePod launches February 9 for $349
Pre-orders for Apple's eagerly anticipated smart speaker -- the HomePod -- start in just a few days' time. Today the iPhone-maker announces that the HomePod will launch on February 9, but you can pre-order from Friday January 26.
The smart speaker will be available in the US, UK and Australia first of all, and springtime will see it launch in France and Germany. The voice-controlled HomePod had been planned for 2017, but was delayed before Christmas. Now Apple is finally ready to offer a premium alternative to the likes of the Amazon Echo and Google Home, with the company placing a firm emphasis on not just the familiarity of Siri, but also audio quality.
Android 8.1 Oreo shows the speed of public Wi-Fi before you connect
When out and about, you may well find that you use free public Wi-Fi connections. The chances are that you use more than one as you battle to find one that offers a decent speed. With Android 8.1 Oreo, Google has a new feature that will help to make your life easier.
As the company has been talking about for a little while, Oreo now lets you see the speed of a Wi-Fi connection before you decide if you want to connect or not.
Rupert Murdoch suggests Facebook should pay 'trusted' publishers for news content
Facebook has been fighting something of a losing battle against the problem of fake news, but media mogul Rupert Murdoch thinks he has come up with a solution. He says that the social network should pay "trusted" publishers for the provision of news content.
Facebook recently said that it wants to promote content created by outlets deemed trustworthy by users, but Murdoch -- who controls Fox News -- is not impressed. He says that what Facebook has proposed so far is simply not enough, and he believes that the only solution is to start paying.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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