Cellphone Privacy

The U.S. Justice Department told Congress in November that there were no major disputes with the United Kingdom over how the two allies seek data from each other’s communication companies.

But at that time, officials knew British authorities were preparing a demand that Apple build a back door to its users’ encrypted data, according to people familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal department matters.

Apple users in the United Kingdom will no longer have access to a key data security feature for iCloud storage: Advanced Data Protection. It’s a relatively small change, but privacy experts worry it could have ripple effects for data privacy around the world.

The iPhone maker confirmed last week that it would end access for UK users to the optional end-to-end encryption feature, which helps to ensure that only users can access their own personal data, such as photos and messages.

In a surprising twist, the FBI—alongside CISA—has suddenly warned iPhone and Android users to use encrypted messaging and calls where available. This follows an extensive US telco network hacking campaign attributed to China’s Salt Typhoon, with officials warning of “a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign.”

Millions of people have long suspected it, but now a leak suggests that out phones really are listening to us. 

An apparent pitch deck from one of Facebook's marketing partners appears to detail how the firm eavesdrops on users' conversations to create targeted ads. 

In a slideshow, Cox Media Group (CMG) claims that its 'Active-Listening' software uses AI to collect and analyze 'real-time intent data' by listening to what you say through your phone, laptop or home assistant microphone.

Elon Musk on Monday threatened to ban Apple devices at his respective companies if the tech giant integrated OpenAI at the operating system level. 

Writing on X, the Tesla CEO called the prospect an "unacceptable security violation." 

Should he follow through with the ban, Musk said visitors would have to check their Apple devices "at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage." 

A little over 12 hours ago, Apple announced that OpenAI’s ChatGPT would be integrated into its technology, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk wasted no time battening down the hatches against the rival technology.

Formerly the world’s richest man, Musk is developing his own artificial intelligence models at EV maker Tesla and startup xAI.

xAI has already released a large language model named Grok.

But not only is ChatGPT a competitor to Musk’s own offerings, the entrepreneur also has an acrimonious history with the Sam Altman-led company.

Elon Musk is beefing with Apple — again.

Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer's Conference on Monday that it will be integrating its new AI software, called Apple Intelligence, across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

It also separately announced a partnership with OpenAI, which includes the option to integrate ChatGPT powered by GPT-4o across some of its software, including its new and improved Siri. Apple said the ChatGPT integration will be available for free without an account in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year.

Warnings about NameDrop, a feature on Apple’s iOS 17 that allows users to share contact information, have spread like an annoying chain letter across police department Facebook pages over the past few days. These warnings were misleading, but social media posts about online threats to kids don’t have to be true to get views.

In late November 2023, Facebook users shared variations of a viral warning about a relatively new iPhone feature called NameDrop, also known as "Bringing Devices Together." The posts hinted that NameDrop, dubbed by Apple as "a new AirDrop experience," was dangerous, and said that users needed to take action to protect their privacy and security.

Multiple U.S. police department Facebook pages also shared the warnings, which perhaps was one of the reasons that we received so many reader emails about this rumor.

The Viral Warnings on Facebook

The Supreme Court on Friday said the government generally needs a warrant if it wants to track an individual's location through cell phone records over an extended period of time.