Privacy

The government wants to give you greater control of app privacy and data tracking

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated November 9, 2023

We don't often discuss U.S. government action when it comes to iPhone apps. But proposed legislation in Washington has iOS app advertisers up in arms and could even curtail future app development. Known as the "Apps Act", the measure ostensibly is aimed at protecting the privacy of consumers downloading a growing number of apps on mobile devices.

Per voluntary guidelines, Apps Act will require apps to get explicit permission from you before acquiring your name and email address. Among the areas targeted in the US House of Representatives proposal by Georgia Democrat Hank Johnson is requiring app devs to explain how your data will be used and what third parties can access it.

These steps are largely positive and one component of the proposed new regulation is particularly interesting as it would give your the right to delete your personal data used by advertisers...

Instagram reminds us that new terms of service go into effect on Saturday

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 15, 2013

Photo sharing service Instagram in an email notice issued to its users today warned that the new terms of service pertaining to images are about to go into effect later this week. The official email communication acknowledges that the updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, that now "take into account the feedback we received from the Instagram Community", will be in effect this coming Saturday, January 19, 2013.

When it first announced new terms of service that mentioned “advertising” and “your photos”, many users feared the service would be able to sell their Instagrams to advertisers and use them elsewhere. After the fallout ensued, Instagram returned to the original terms of service and clarified in a blog post that "Instagram users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos"...

Privacy app Clueful returns to iOS in web form

Cody Lee ∙ January 10, 2013

Clueful, a privacy app by Bitdefender, garnered a lot of attention last summer when Apple pulled it from the App Store without giving much of an explanation. It was odd, because the app claimed that it just identified privacy threats.

Well here we are, 6 months later, and we have still yet to hear a reason behind the removal. But obviously Bitdefender still sees a market for the app, as the software company has just re-launched Clueful as a web-based application...

JavaScript bug found in iOS 6’s Smart App Banners

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

This is kind of weird. A new bug has been discovered in iOS 6 that has to do with the Smart App Banners feature. It seems that the banners, which websites can implement to give users a direct link to apps, will turn on the JavaScript setting in Safari without warning.

On the surface, this may not seem like a very big deal. After all, most folks don't mess with the JavaScript settings on their iOS devices because a lot of web sites require it. But the fact that these Smart Banners are turning it on, unbeknownst to users, is a bit troubling...

Instagram returns to original ad terms after fallout

Cody Lee ∙ December 21, 2012

Things have been pretty rough for Instagram here lately. Earlier this week, the photo sharing network announced an update for its TOS (or terms of service) that included talk of "advertising" and "your photos." Obviously, this didn't sit well with many of its users, and mayhem ensued.

To stop the wildfire, co-founder Kevin Systrom published a blog post assuring the community it was all a misunderstanding, and that Instagram would be changing the language in its TOS to clear things up. Now its reverted to the original terms to try and get everything back to normal...

Instagram responds: ‘your photos are your photos’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

There has been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Instagram's newly updated terms of services, with commenters warning the new rules might give the popular Facebook-owned photography service the right to share your data with third-parties and - worse - sell your Instagram photos without compensating you. Does Facebook really intend to turn Instagram into a stock photo service that doesn’t pay a dime to photographers?

Cowed by privacy outrage, hours after releasing the new terms the company's co-founder responded by shedding more light on the matter. In a blog post, he makes it clear that Instagram does not intend to sell its users photos while sharing interesting tidbits concerning Instagram's advertising strategy...

Google Maps app could violate European data protection law

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

I read an interesting article the other day by Evan Wiener on why Apple dropped Google from Maps in iOS 6. Wiener suggested that Google was withholding features, like voice-guided navigation, as a negotiation tactic to get Apple to agree with deeper Google integration, and Apple finally said enough's enough.

The well-connected John Gruber confirms that he's heard a similar story from numerous sources — more specifically, that Google was wanting to collect user data for serving up targeted ads, and Apple said no. And wouldn't you know it, it seems Google's trying to do the same thing in its new Maps app...

FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 9, 2023

The US Federal Trade Commission released a report yesterday regarding mobile apps that are aimed at children. It has been investigating kids titles from both the App Store and the Google Play marketplace, and has found that there has been little done over the past few years to address privacy concerns. These apps are still collecting kids' data, and sharing it, without their parents' knowledge or consent...

MyPermissions lets you nuke Facebook apps that invade your privacy

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

So you're on Facebook and pride yourself with making sure only a select few apps are allowed to access your personal information. But you could be in for a surprise learning just how many apps actually are granted access to the data Facebook has collected on you.

Enter MyPermissions, a new iPhone app which - as the name suggests - scans your Facebook permissions and alerts you when new apps and online services gain access to your personal information on the web. It's a free download and I urge you to check it out right now and take control of your privacy.

You can also revoke Yahoo and Facebook apps right from within the app itself and do more with a handy Chrome extension. More info and a nice video right below...

Microsoft to Safari users: Google screwed you, use Bing instead

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

Exploiting a record $25 million settlement Google negotiated with The United States Government over the iOS Safari privacy breach that erupted back in February 2012, software giant Microsoft put together a little web page meant to convince Apple users to use Bing as their default search engine.

The Windows maker is reminding us of Google's failed promise of not tracking Safari users without their permission, suggesting Google's credibility has been tarnished beyond repair. Want to do something about it?

Use Bing instead, the company proposes...

Check if your iOS device has been compromised by the FBI breach

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 15, 2024

Yesterday, news broke that the hacking group AntiSec published a million UDIDs from an alleged trove of twelve million device IDs claimed to have been stolen from a laptop belonging to an FBI agent. Even though the hackers had removed some of the identifiable information from the list, your UDID might be exposed out in the wild, along with 999,999 other IDs posted on the web.

And why would you want to know if your UDID is out there for everyone to see? Good question. Your UDID uniquely identifies your device and expert hackers could use it to glean all sorts of information from other data associated with your UDID.

Yeah, it's a privacy catastrophe, one that might potentially even lead to identity theft. Perhaps even more important than that, wouldn't you like to know if your device is on the FBI's watch list?