A company called Abine knows this all too well and has been running its DeleteMe service for the past decade, helping consumers keep their information out of the hands of unscrupulous data brokers.

DeleteMe - Remove Personal Info from Google

4.5

DeleteMe is a privacy service that aims to help individuals remove their personal information from public online directories. 

Learn More at DeleteMe

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

DeleteMe takes your data back from sketchy data brokers

Your data should be yours, but it’s not. Everyone from the White Pages to Spokeo and dozens of lesser-known data brokers hold your information.

In an ideal world, you would have control of your data and the option to sell it. But, until we reach that point, something like DeleteMe at least helps manage where your data is located.

Here’s how it works:

• You give DeleteMe your information so they can search for matching records held elsewhere
• Then, they help get those records removed and send you a report of what’s been done within seven days
• DeleteMe then sends removal requests to a huge list of data brokers every three months on your behalf
• It’s a recurring yearly subscription because data brokers are always regaining your information

How effective is DeleteMe?

DeleteMe promises to be your knight in shining armor, safeguarding your online privacy by removing your personal information from public directories.

But, does it actually live up to the hype? The truth is, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

On one hand, the service can help you eliminate unwanted information floating around the web. But, on the other hand, it’s not a one-and-done solution.

Your information could reappear on the internet at any time, and DeleteMe can only remove what it finds during your subscription.

So, while DeleteMe can be effective to a certain extent, it’s not guaranteed that all of your information will disappear from the web forever. It’s just one tool in the ongoing battle for online privacy.

How much is DeleteMe?

For $129 a year, or $230 for two people, you can get DeleteMe’s experts to remove your data.

Using their handy guide, you could do it yourself, but it’s super time-consuming, especially if you have to do it every few months. Some things are just better left to the professionals.

DeleteMe - Remove Personal Info from Google

4.5

Who is it good for?:

• People who want to be proactive in managing their online reputation
• Individuals concerned about identity theft or online scams and want to reduce the information available to potential scammers
• Privacy-conscious individuals who want to reduce the amount of personal information available about them on the internet

Learn More at DeleteMe

KnowTechie is supported by its audience, so if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale.

What do you think? Is this something you’d use to protect your data? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• How to make Facebook private
• LastPass owner confirms worst fears: stolen customer vault data
• The best free password managers (2023)
• Twitter data breach exposes millions of email addresses

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

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Depending on how you use Facebook, you may want to keep your profile private. Maybe you don’t want grandma to know about that party you went to, or you don’t want strangers to see what you post.

Whatever the reason, you can make your Facebook profile private so that only your friends see what you post. In fact, Facebook has several privacy options, so you can customize what portions of your profile can be seen by non-friends.

We’ll go over the various privacy options that Facebook has and how to enable them. So if you’re looking to go private on Facebook, check out the options below.

What kind of privacy options does Facebook offer?

Despite the public persona that Facebook, and now Meta, have created, the platform does offer a few substantial privacy options. Users can customize their profiles to create various levels of privacy.

First, users obviously have the option to choose who gets to see their posts. You can make posts viewable to the public, friends, or even just yourself.

READ MORE: How to change your birthday on Facebook

In addition to post privacy, Facebook gives users the option to make their friends list private. By default, any Facebook user can go through the friends list of another user.

However, there is a toggle that lets you change this on your own profile.

You can also make certain profile aspects, such as your job, where you live, and your relationship status private. These settings can be toggled individually, so you can customize your privacy the way you want.

READ MORE: How to enable Facebook Protect

And lastly, you can block your profile from showing up on search engines. With a public profile, anyone can find your Facebook page through a simple Google search. This setting lets you eliminate that option.

So let’s look at the various options you can use to make Facebook private.

How to choose who sees your Facebook posts on desktop

The first setting we will cover here is how you can adjust who sees your posts. Not only can you change your posts from public to friends only, but you can also choose exactly which friends see your posts.

First, we’ll show how it’s done on a computer:

1. Log in to Facebook and select the arrow drop-down menu at the top right

2. Select Settings & Privacy

3. Select Settings

4. Choose the Privacy tab on the left side

5. Scroll down and find Who can see your future posts? and click Edit

6. Click the drop-down menu at the bottom of this section and choose who can see your posts.

From that drop-down menu, you can change your posts from being viewable by the public to being viewable only by friends. Additionally, you have the ability to choose exactly which friends see your posts.

Choose the Friends except… option to stop some of your friends from seeing your posts. Or use the Specific friends option to only let a few of your friends see your posts.

And finally, you can also change who sees your past posts retroactively. Below this section, find the Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends or Public? section.

Click Limit Past Posts to apply similar privacy settings for your previous posts.

How to choose who sees your Facebook posts on mobile

And now, we’ll take a look at how you can limit who sees your post through the Facebook app. On mobile, the settings are a little different.

You’ll actually need to make a post to be able to change the privacy setting for future posts. Here’s what you want to do.

Now, the default setting for your future posts will be whatever you set it to during this post. Using the same method, you can change the setting whenever you’d like.

You can also adjust the setting in the post menu like this on a desktop. But changing the setting won’t change the default you set on your computer.

How to make your Facebook friends list private

Another privacy option that Facebook offers is the ability to make your friends list private.

If you don’t want people going through your list of friends on the platform, then you’ll want to toggle this privacy setting. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to Facebook and select the arrow drop-down menu at the top right

2. Select Settings & Privacy

3. Select Settings

4. Choose the Privacy tab on the left side

5. Scroll down and click Edit next to Who can see your friends list?

6. Use the drop-down menu to choose who can see your friends list

This feature gives you the same options as hiding your posts from certain people. You can make your friends list available to everyone or only your friends.

Additionally, you can choose exactly who gets to see the list with the Friends Except and Specific Friends options.

You can also use this How People Find and Contact You section in the Privacy Settings menu to adjust a few other settings.

Within this menu is a feature that lets you limit who sends you friend requests. You can also block or allow users to find your Facebook profile using your phone number or email address.

How to hide your Facebook profile from search engines on a computer

This is also the section you will use to block search engines from showing your Facebook profile. Click Edit on the bottom option labeled “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?”

Just uncheck the box under that option, and your Facebook page will be blocked on search engine results. This feature is good to turn on if you want your profile safe from people you don’t know.

How to hide your friends list on Facebook mobile

And now, how to do this on a mobile device. Again, the app may look a little different depending on whether you are using an iPhone or an Android (we’re using a Samsung Galaxy S20 for this guide).

But the steps for finding these settings will be almost identical:

1. Tap the hamburger menu button in the top right (bottom left on some versions)

2. Tap the cogwheel to open Settings & Privacy

3. Swipe down to the Audience and Visibility section and select How People FInd and Contact You

4. Tap Who can see your friends list

5. Choose the privacy setting that you prefer

Once you choose your preferred option, you can press the back button to go back to your main page. You don’t have to press any extra buttons to confirm the change.

And that’s how you can adjust the privacy of your friends list on Facebook mobile. Again, this page can be used for other privacy measures.

This menu has the same options as the desktop version. You can adjust who can send you friend requests as well as who can find your profile using your email address or phone number.

Hiding your Facebook profile from search engines on mobile

This is the mobile menu you will want to navigate to hide your profile from search engines. You get to this section in the same way outlined above for making your friends list private.

Just select the bottom option labeled “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile” and uncheck the box to block your profile from outside search engines.

With that box unchecked, your Facebook profile won’t show up on search engine results. This is a significant extra level of privacy that protects you from third-party visits to your profile.

How to make your Facebook profile info private on desktop

If you decide you don’t want to make your posts private, you can still hide some of your profile information.

Various profile information like where you live, where you work, or where you went to school can all be made private through your profile. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Log in to Facebook and click your name in the top left to go to your profile

2. Click Edit Details in the Intro column

3. Toggle off any of the listed options that you only want friends to see then click Save

You can also have a little more control over the privacy of this information if you head to the About tab. The About tab shows you every aspect of your profile in a few lists.

By clicking the icon next to the three-dot menu for a certain item, you can bring up a more in-depth privacy feature for each option.

In addition to making a section private or public, you have the additional option to choose exactly who can see a certain aspect of your profile.

You can build a list using either the Friends except or Specific friends option to choose exactly which friends can see that information.

How to make your Facebook profile information private on mobile

And if you mainly use the Facebook app on your Android or iOS device, don’t worry. You can still edit your profile settings through the mobile app.

Thankfully, it’s just as simple as on a web browser. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Tap your profile picture to head to your profile

2. Select Edit profile

3. Swipe down and select Edit in the Details section

4. Uncheck any boxes for options that you want only friends to see and press Save

And that’s how you adjust the privacy settings for your Facebook profile on mobile. Unfortunately, you don’t have all of the same options available on mobile as you do on desktop.

If you want to use the Friends except or Specific friends option to build specific lists of who can see your profile info, you will have to use a computer and refer to the desktop guide above.

Set your profile up the way you want with Facebook’s privacy settings

Over the years, Facebook’s privacy settings have evolved to become extremely customizable. Now, the platform has tons of privacy settings so you can set up your profile exactly the way you want.

Whether you want to limit who can see your posts or keep people out of your friends list, the options are there. You can hide individual aspects of your profile and even block search engines from showing your profile in search results.

Using the guides above, you can be sure that your Facebook profile is as private as you want it to be. At least, private from other users. The only way to stop Facebook itself from gathering as much data from you as it can is to stop using the platform entirely.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• How to turn off the ‘People You May Know’ feature on Facebook
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• How to set up Facebook Pay
• Can I use Messenger without a Facebook account?

The post How to make Facebook private appeared first on KnowTechie.

Consumers are often unaware that their location data is being sold and that their past movements can be tracked, according to the commission.

The FTC’s suit specified that Kochava’s data can be used to track consumers to sensitive locations, including “to identify which consumers’ mobile devices visited reproductive health clinics.”

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, many people seeking abortion care found themselves in legal jeopardy.

Numerous state laws criminalizing abortion thrust the perilous state of personal privacy into the spotlight.

As a cybersecurity and privacy researcher, I’ve seen how readily people’s movements and activities can be tracked.

If people want to travel incognito to an abortion clinic, according to well-meaning advice, they need to plan their trip the way a CIA operative might – and get a burner phone.

Unfortunately, that still wouldn’t be good enough to guarantee privacy.

Using a maps app to plan a route, sending terms to a search engine and chatting online are ways that people actively share their personal data.

But mobile devices share far more data than just what their users say or type.

They share information with the network about whom people contacted, when they did so, how long the communication lasted and what type of device was used. The devices must do so in order to connect a phone call or send an email.

Who’s talking to whom

When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden disclosed that the National Security Agency was collecting Americans’ telephone call metadata – the Call Detail Records – in bulk in order to track terrorists, there was a great deal of public consternation.

The public was rightly concerned about loss of privacy.

Researchers at Stanford later showed that call detail records plus publicly available information could reveal sensitive information, such as whether someone had a heart problem and their arrhythmia monitoring device was malfunctioning or whether they were considering opening a marijuana dispensary.

Often you don’t have to listen in to know what someone is thinking or planning. Call detail records – who called whom and when – can give it all away.

The transmission information in internet-based communications – IP-packet headers – can reveal even more than call detail records do.

When you make an encrypted voice call over the internet – a Voice over IP call – the contents may be encrypted but information in the packet header can nonetheless sometimes divulge some of the words you’re speaking.

A pocket full of sensors

That’s not the only information given away by your communications device. Smartphones are computers, and they have many sensors.

For your phone to properly display information, it has a gyroscope and an accelerometer; to preserve battery life, it has a power sensor; to provide directions, a magnetometer.

Just as communications metadata can be used to track what you’re doing, these sensors can be used for other purposes.

You might shut off GPS to prevent apps from tracking your location, but data from a phone’s gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer can also track where you’re going.

This sensor data could be attractive to businesses.

For example, Facebook has a patent that relies on the different wireless networks near a user to determine when two people might have been close together frequently – at a conference, riding a commuter bus – as a basis for providing an introduction.

Creepy? You bet.

As someone who rode the New York City subways as a young girl, the last thing I want is my phone introducing me to someone who has repeatedly stood too close to me in a subway car.

Uber knows that people really want a ride when their battery power is low. Is the company checking for that data and charging more? Uber claims not, but the possibility is there.

And it’s not just apps that get access to this data trove. Data brokers get this information from the apps, then compile it with other data and provide it to companies and governments to use for their own purposes.

Doing so can circumvent legal protections that require law enforcement to go to court before they obtain this information.

Beyond consent

There’s not a whole lot users can do to protect themselves. Communications metadata and device telemetry – information from the phone sensors – are used to send, deliver and display content.

Not including them is usually not possible. And unlike the search terms or map locations you consciously provide, metadata and telemetry are sent without you even seeing it.

Providing consent isn’t plausible. There’s too much of this data, and it’s too complicated to decide each case. Each application you use – video, chat, web surfing, email – uses metadata and telemetry differently.

Providing truly informed consent that you know what information you’re providing and for what use is effectively impossible.

If you use your mobile phone for anything other than a paperweight, your visit to the cannabis dispensary and your personality – how extroverted you are or whether you’re likely to be on the outs with family since the 2016 election – can be learned from metadata and telemetry and shared.

That’s true even for a burner phone bought with cash, at least if you plan on turning the phone on.

Do so while carrying your regular phone and you’ll have given away that the two phones are associated – and perhaps even that they belong to you.

As few as four location points can identify a user, another way your burner phone can reveal your identity.

If you’re driving with someone else, they’d have to be equally careful or their phone would identify them – and you.

Metadata and telemetry information reveals a remarkable amount about you. But you don’t get to decide who gets that data, or what they do with it.

The reality of technological life

There are some constitutional guarantees to anonymity. For example, the Supreme Court held that the right to associate, guaranteed by the First Amendment, is the right to associate privately, without providing membership lists to the state.

But with smartphones, that’s a right that’s effectively impractical to exercise. it’s nearly impossible to function without a mobile phone. Paper maps and public payphones have virtually disappeared.

If you want to do anything – travel from here to there, make an appointment, order takeout or check the weather – you all but need a smartphone to do so.

It’s not just people who might be seeking abortions whose privacy is at risk from this data that phones shed. It could be your kid applying for a job.

For instance, the company could check location data to see if they are participating in political protests. Or it could be you, when the gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer data gives away that you and your co-worker went to the same hotel room at night.

There’s a way to solve this chilling scenario, and that’s for laws or regulations to require that the data you provide to send and receive communications – TikTok, SnapChat, YouTube – is used just for that, and nothing else.

That helps the people going for abortions – and all the rest of us as well.

Have any thoughts on this? Carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Instagram and Facebook track you on other websites – here’s how
• What are over-the-air (OTA) car updates?
• Here’s why everyone hates those annoying cookie notifications
• The iPhone turns 15: A look at the device’s past, present, and future

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Susan Landau, Professor of Cyber Security and Policy, Tufts University, and republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post FTC lawsuit exposes major privacy risk, and it’s your phone’s fault appeared first on KnowTechie.

It lets you choose a soundtrack for making dinner, reorder a staple product from Amazon, set a timer, or find out information, all without doing anything but uttering the correct commands. 

But, there’s a darker side to how Alexa works. A recent lawsuit alleges that the company uses data from its smart speakers to serve relevant ads to consumers. 

Data allegedly collected without consent

When visiting a website, you can’t get far without seeing pop-up content that asks you to consent to cookies.

It explains how the site owners use data-collection practices and in some cases, lets you make some changes before accepting. However, there’s no way yet to do that on a smart speaker. 

People associated with the lawsuit say they have had targeted ads served to them without consent and that Alexa data was what allowed it to happen.

The invasion of privacy and infringement of personal rights are two of the numerous things the plaintiffs take issue with in the suit. 

Researchers arrived at a similar conclusion

A May 2022 research paper also confirmed the suit’s allegations about unauthorized data collection through Alexa.

The investigation involved 10 people from three universities using nine simulated personas of potential Alexa users.

The researchers made one for someone interested in health and fitness, another for religion and spirituality, and so on. They also built four control personas that did not interact with Alexa skills tied to certain interests. 

The results indicated that Amazon uses Alexa voice data to infer the ads that might interest a person. However, the researchers could not conclude whether the same practice occurred when individuals used certain Alexa skills. 

They found that most developers who create Alexa skills don’t write their privacy policies correctly, so it’s often unclear whether or how the skill collects data.

The researchers said some Alexa personas led to up to 30x higher bids from advertisers. Moreover, Amazon shares user data with as many as 41 ad partners. 

What are the potential implications?

Perhaps you’ve had some online advertising experiences that were genuinely helpful.

Maybe you’d recently searched for a product, then saw an ad afterward that assisted your buying process, enabling you to find and purchase an item you now love. 

Amazon’s practice of collecting voice data might lead to some similar experiences. Maybe it’ll make you aware of a new music track or audiobook you’d enjoy. 

However, it might also mean Amazon learns things about you or someone in your home you’d rather not share.

For example, an estimated 10% of Americans have alcohol use disorder, while 2-3% of adults in the United States meet the criteria for problematic gambling.

Other addictions, such as food, shopping, sex, or smoking, are more common than many people may realize. What if Amazon uses those issues against the people experiencing them to target ads and products?

Even considering the fact that not all targeted ads are necessarily bad, many users may still consider Amazon’s smart speaker usage a breach of privacy.

By 2025, a projected 130 million Echo speakers are set to be shipped globally — out of these millions of users who are voluntarily bringing Alexa into their home, most probably don’t realize they’re unwittingly ad targeted through their device.

Amazon has changed its ad-targeting stance

Back in 2019, when questioned about whether Amazon used its smart speakers for advertising, a company representative said it did not.

However, things have changed because the researchers in the study mentioned above reached out to Amazon to get some clarifications. In that instance, an Amazon representative stated:

“Similar to what you’d experience if you made a purchase on Amazon.com or requested a song through Amazon Music, if you ask Alexa to order paper towels or to play a song on Amazon Music, the record of that purchase or song play may inform relevant ads shown on Amazon or other sites where Amazon places ads. Customers can opt-out of interest-based ads from Amazon at any time on our website.” 

The company also confirmed that this targeted advertising could occur during smart speaker usage. The representative continued:

“Customers may receive interest-based ads when they use ad-supported premium content ⁠— like music, radio or news streams.”

How to turn off Amazon’s ad-targeting

NOTE: You’ll still get advertisements, but not ones personalized to you. 

Awareness helps you use the internet and connected speakers carefully

Amazon is certainly not the only company engaging in ad targeting.

However, what people took issue with most regarding this recent case is that it happened without consent.

Think of this as a valuable reminder to always read privacy policies carefully and to be careful when you use the internet and Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets.

Even if you don’t realize it, companies may use your interactions to shape the ads you receive.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

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The post Amazon uses Alexa to target ads, lawsuit claims appeared first on KnowTechie.

People who do read the notifications carefully will find that they have the option to say no to some or all cookies.

The problem is, without careful attention those notifications become an annoyance and a subtle reminder that your online activity can be tracked.

As a researcher who studies online surveillance, I’ve found that failing to read the notifications thoroughly can lead to negative emotions and affect what people do online.

How cookies work

Browser cookies are not new. They were developed in 1994 by a Netscape programmer in order to optimize browsing experiences by exchanging users’ data with specific websites.

These small text files allowed websites to remember your passwords for easier logins and keep items in your virtual shopping cart for later purchases.

READ MORE: Instagram and Facebook track you on other websites – here’s how

But over the past three decades, cookies have evolved to track users across websites and devices.

This is how items in your Amazon shopping cart on your phone can be used to tailor the ads you see on Hulu and Twitter on your laptop. One study found that 35 of 50 popular websites use website cookies illegally.

European regulations require websites to receive your permission before using cookies. You can avoid this type of third-party tracking with website cookies by carefully reading platforms’ privacy policies and opting out of cookies, but people generally aren’t doing that.

One study found that, on average, internet users spend just 13 seconds reading a website’s terms of service statements before they consent to cookies and other outrageous terms, such as, as the study included, exchanging their first-born child for service on the platform.

These terms-of-service provisions are cumbersome and intended to create friction.

Friction is a technique used to slow down internet users, either to maintain governmental control or reduce customer service loads.

Autocratic governments that want to maintain control via state surveillance without jeopardizing their public legitimacy frequently use this technique.

Friction involves building frustrating experiences into website and app design so that users who are trying to avoid monitoring or censorship become so inconvenienced that they ultimately give up.

How cookies affect you

My newest research sought to understand how website cookie notifications are used in the U.S. to create friction and influence user behavior.

To do this research, I looked to the concept of mindless compliance, an idea made infamous by Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram. 

Milgram’s experiments – now considered a radical breach of research ethics – asked participants to administer electric shocks to fellow study takers in order to test obedience to authority.

Milgram’s research demonstrated that people often consent to a request by authority without first deliberating on whether it’s the right thing to do. In a much more routine case, I suspected this is also what was happening with website cookies.

I conducted a large, nationally representative experiment that presented users with a boilerplate browser cookie pop-up message, similar to one you may have encountered on your way to read this article.

I evaluated whether the cookie message triggered an emotional response – either anger or fear, which are both expected responses to online friction. And then I assessed how these cookie notifications influenced internet users’ willingness to express themselves online.

Online expression is central to democratic life, and various types of internet monitoring are known to suppress it.

The results showed that cookie notifications triggered strong feelings of anger and fear, suggesting that website cookies are no longer perceived as the helpful online tool they were designed to be.

Instead, they are a hindrance to accessing information and making informed choices about one’s privacy permissions.

And, as suspected, cookie notifications also reduced people’s stated desire to express opinions, search for information and go against the status quo.

Cookie solutions

Legislation regulating cookie notifications like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act were designed with the public in mind. But notification of online tracking is creating an unintentional boomerang effect.

There are three design choices that could help. First, making consent to cookies more mindful, so people are more aware of which data will be collected and how it will be used.

This will involve changing the default of website cookies from opt-out to opt-in so that people who want to use cookies to improve their experience can voluntarily do so.

Second, cookie permissions change regularly, and what data is being requested and how it will be used should be front and center.

And third, U.S. internet users should possess the right to be forgotten, or the right to remove online information about themselves that is harmful or not used for its original intent, including the data collected by tracking cookies.

This is a provision granted in the General Data Protection Regulation but does not extend to U.S. internet users.

In the meantime, I recommend that people read the terms and conditions of cookie use and accept only what’s necessary.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by Elizabeth Stoycheff, Associate Professor of Communication, Wayne State University, and republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• The iPhone turns 15: A look at the device’s past, present, and future
• Tesla Autopilot crashes have big implications for self-driving cars
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• Why have so many women in tech chosen to become whistleblowers?

The post Here’s why everyone hates those annoying cookie notifications appeared first on KnowTechie.

With this newly updated feature, not only could your children talk to strangers, but they could also unknowingly disclose their exact location, down to the street address, and even the exact house number,

Now, if that sounds spooky, that’s because it is. In addition to disclosing their exact location, Snapchat now estimates how long it’ll take to drive there using Google Maps.

What is Snap Map and why are parents worried?

READ MORE: Snap launched a desktop version of its mobile app

Snap Map requires users to enable location sharing. Snapchat uses this to offer real-time location tracking.

Users’ location is shared with Snapchat friends, then used to search for nearby Snaps. It is also shared with other Snap Map users across the world. Each shared live location update disappears after four hours. 

Health and beauty brand, Ethan Thomas Collection, shared this hint in a now-deleted Facebook post that has since gone viral. It posted 

READ MORE: Snapchat now has its own ‘dual-camera’ feature similar to BeReal

“Click the drive icon which will open google maps and it gives you their precise address. Even the house number!  ‘If you have kids, turn their location off or put it in ghost mode.”

Although this feature is opt-in and can be disabled in the settings by turning off Precise Location, not many parents or their children may know how to do this. 

Snapchat+ also shares users’ location data

Snapchat’s new subscription service, Snapchat+, brings exclusive data insights including the ability to see your friends’ location history in the last 24 hours and rewatch their Stories. This is almost similar to Google’s Location History and Google Map Timeline features.

If you’re concerned about sharing your location with others, you should turn off Precise Location and enable Ghost Mode to prevent location sharing. You should also educate your teens on the dangers of cyberstalking by other Snapchat users.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Snap’s CEO says the metaverse is ‘ambiguous and hypothetical’
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• Snapchat’s latest update will let you pause your Snap streaks

The post A new Snapchat update lets other users see your precise location appeared first on KnowTechie.

In a brief update shared before the weekend, Riot Games outlined what’s going to happen. On July 13, the voice evaluation system is going live in North America, but only for English communications.

This update is only going live for Valorant, not other Riot games. The system will then start using reported voice comms to train its language model.

Riot wants to launch the voice evaluation system as a beta later this year. The publisher says that it won’t be using the voice evaluation from the July test for follow-through on reports.

They want to make sure the system works, before rolling it out more widely.

“Voice evaluation during this period will not be used for disruptive behavior reports. That will only begin with the future beta. And we know that before we can even think of expanding this tool, we’ll have to be confident it’s effective, and if mistakes happen, we have systems in place to make sure we can correct any false positives (or negatives for that matter),” from Riot’s blog post.

This is all possible because Riot updated its Privacy Notice and Terms of Service last year. That update allowed for recording of voice communications. Recording is also only allowed after a report is made.

Toxicity is a big issue for online gaming. Most games don’t even give you an option to report toxic players until you’ve either died, or the match is over. That’s too late. By the point, your gaming session is already ruined.

This isn’t the only multiplayer game recording voice chat. Back 4 Blood also records all voice chats. Again, the publisher is using it for moderation tasks.

We’re not saying that these AI-powered tools are the only way to fix toxicity in gaming. That seems more of a societal thing and expecting publishers to fix it is a tall challenge.

We’re just glad that Valorant, and others, are deciding to fix the issues with voice chat moderation.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Here are your free PlayStation Plus games for July 2022
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• Steam Deck SSD upgrade can ‘significantly’ shorten its lifespan
• No Man’s Sky touches down on Nintendo Switch this October

The post PSA: Valorant is listening to your voice chats appeared first on KnowTechie.

And according to a new report, several internal recordings have revealed that the company’s employees based in China have consistently had access to US user data.

Buzzfeed News recently obtained audio from tons of internal TikTok meetings. And in those meetings, there were 14 statements claiming that Chinese employees have had access to US TikTok user data.

“We know we’re among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data. That’s why we hire experts in their fields, continually work to validate our security standards, and bring in reputable, independent third parties to test our defenses,” says TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan in response to these recordings.

READ MORE: FCC commissioner urges Apple and Google to ban TikTok

China essentially sees everything, said one member of TikTok’s Trust and Safety department. In the past, the platform has seen tons of scrutiny over its potential data harvesting practices.

Additionally, Former President Donald Trump even attempted to ban the platform a couple of years ago.

TikTok is trying to address this problem

READ MORE: TikTok finally adds ‘content levels’ to limit what kids see on the app

The majority of recordings regarding China’s access to US user data revolves around TikTok’s efforts to limit Chinese access. In fact, the platform is currently working to protect US user data in an effort called Project Texas.

Project Texas is an effort from TikTok to migrate US “protected” user data to a data center managed by Oracle. Of course, it’s unclear exactly what TikTok considers to be “protected” data. But this is a key effort from TikTok to limit China’s influence on its business in the United States.

So it seems like TikTok is at least trying to protect its US users’ data from Chinese employees.

READ MORE: New TikTok hack reportedly exposes source code and user data

In fact, the majority of recordings gathered confirming Chinese access to US user data were from discussions about how to stop China’s data access. But at the end of the day, it seems like ByteDance still holds all the power.

“It remains to be seen if at some point product and engineering can still figure out how to get access because, at the end of the day, it’s their tools,” said one employee in a September 2021 meeting. “They built them all in China.”

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Facebook is redesigning its feed to keep up with TikTok
• TikTok now lets you limit your own time on the app
• TikTok Avatars let you show the world the ‘real’ you
• TikTok is now testing in-app video games

The post Leaked TikTok meetings show China accesses US user data appeared first on KnowTechie.

In fact, you can opt-in for the private account on Instagram but you will still risk being seen when:

• You view someone’s stories
• You follow someone (you will be listed as one of their followers)
• You send someone a private message that they can screenshot and make public

Here are three ways to minimize the footprint you are leaving when using Instagram:

1. Watch Someone’s Stories Anonymously

READ MORE: How to collect feedback from your blog readers

Would you like to watch a story without letting the story author know that you did?

There’s a tool for that.

Here’s a detailed tutorial on how to watch Instagram Stories anonymously, i.e. by using tools like InstaStories and StoriesDown.

Word of caution: Stay away from any tools that need your Instagram login in order to operate.

Here’s also a detailed tutorial on how to hide your Instagram Stories from people you don’t like.

2. Follow Someone on Instagram without Clicking the “Follow” button

Whenever you follow someone on Instagram, other people can see your profile picture and name in the list of their followers.

In many cases, you would like to follow an Instagram account without being its public follower. For example, you need to know what a political opponent is posting without being associated with that profile.

Or you don’t want to be considered someone’s fan or supporter. Or you want to spy on your competitors (and their storytelling tactics) without them knowing you are listening.

READ MORE: How to bulk delete Instagram posts, comments, and interactions

Creating an anonymous Instagram account to follow people you don’t want to be associated with is a good idea. Yet, even an anonymous account can be traced back to you.

Overall, to prevent identity theft, minimize the number of sites you give your private data to, so maintaining several profiles is not a perfect solution. 

Visual Ping is a better idea here as you will be notified by email when a new post appears on the Instagram account you are tracking. You will also be notified of any bio changes that occur on that account. 

READ MORE: 10 easy tools for beginner bloggers

This way you will know when an Instagram account you are interested in will have something important happening in life.

Simply by following someone on Instagram you won’t be aware of bio changes which usually signal something crucial going on.

It is also a great way to avoid being the target of remarketing when an advertiser re-targets followers of a certain celebrity account.

READ MORE: How to create effective social media ads

Be careful not to leave more traces, i.e. don’t like new updates unless you want others to see that you liked them. Whether your account is set to private or not, any Instagram user will be able to see you among people that liked an update.

3. Send Disappearing Messages They Cannot Screenshot

When you send a private message on Instagram, there’s always a chance the recipient will make a screenshot and make it public.

Until you know someone can be trusted, consider sending a disappearing message to them on Instagram.

READ MORE: Three digital marketing tools that use machine learning

A disappearing message is the only way for you to know if your recipient has a bad habit of making screenshots of your DMs on Instagram.

To send a disappearing text, photo, or video:

• Go to that profile page
• Tap “message” to end the private chat section
• Swipe up from the bottom in the chat until you you see the back screen called “Vanish mode”
• Send as many messages as you want.

All of your messages will only be available until your friend opens the chat. Once they are read, all of those messages will disappear forever. You will also be notified if your friend makes a screenshot of those messages.

Conclusion

Obviously, no matter which precautions you take, you risk your privacy when you join any social media network. There’s always a chance of a data breach exposing your private details like email, password, and phone number. 

So anytime you join a social media network, keep that possible risk in mind. However using the above hacks, you can minimize privacy surprises and be of better control of where you can be seen.

READ MORE: Can you see who views your Instagram Stories?

In other words, if you have reasons to believe someone may be spying on you online, these hacks will make it much harder for them.

To further protect your privacy, consider one of these identity theft protection services which keep an eye on your online accounts and alert you of anything suspicious going on.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Instagram adds Amber Alerts for missing kids in your feed
• How to turn on Instagram captions
• This iPhone trick takes your Instagram Stories to the next level
• How to post on Instagram from a desktop
• 5 tips to avoid getting shadowbanned on Instagram

The post 3 privacy-enhancing Instagram hacks appeared first on KnowTechie.

Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, went into detail about the new option in a blog post on Google’s product updates site. Here’s what it means for users. 

Google’s new steps to protect privacy

As of Google’s April 2022 announcement, all Google users now have the option to submit a request for their personal information to be removed from search results.

This includes personal contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses. 

Before the update, users were already able to request more sensitive data to be removed, such as social security numbers or financial information.

Google updated privacy options for users under 18, as well. Minors or their parents or guardians can also request that photos of them be removed from search results in addition to personal information. 

How to use Google’s new policy

Google has a page set up in their official help center where users can submit a request for their information to be removed from search results.

In that form, users can specify what info they want to be removed and where they saw it online, such as the page where the info was posted. 

Google does clarify in their announcement that a request to remove information does not guarantee it will be removed. 

In order to keep people from abusing the option, Google has to thoroughly review each request before taking requested information down from search results.

If the information in question is part of something like a news article or other generally useful content including the public record, Google may reject the request. 

It is also important to remember that Google can remove personal information from search results but not from the entire internet.

Individual pages outside of Google may still have users’ personal information on them — those pages just won’t appear in Google search results. 

How the new privacy updates impact users

Consumers lost an estimated $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021 alone — a 70% increase from 2020 statistics. Google’s new privacy options may help to protect users from this growing fraud and scamming issue.

If personal information is not so easily accessible online, scammers will have a harder time building contact lists for potential victims. 

Scammers tend to target specific types of people if possible, so the more information they have, the more likely they are to try to scam someone. 

Many common types of scams rely on the use of personal information.

For example, a scammer who knows that someone lives around an area that recently experienced a natural disaster or other tragedy could abuse that knowledge with a fake charity appeal, while experts warn veterans to beware of mortgage scammers claiming to be from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Other types of scams may target countless different groups, such as elderly individuals or people using dating apps. 

Google’s new privacy options can also help protect content creators and social media users from the growing threat of “doxxing” and “swatting.”

These two similar forms of cyberbullying involve posting or sharing a user’s personal information, such as their home address.

Even worse, swatting involves prank-calling emergency services to have a SWAT team sent to a user’s leaked home address. 

Even well-known content creators continue to face this issue because their personal information is so easily accessible and circulated online.  

Protecting privacy online

Google is taking important steps to improve privacy protection. The April 2022 policy update gives users more control over what personal information is publicly available online.

As more users utilize Google’s new privacy option, online scams and harassment may see a decline in the months and years ahead. 

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Google Search is improving local results and image search
• 5 low-key tips to getting better Google Search results
• Everything to know about removing web results from Google Search
• Google upgrades its “about this result” feature to show how it found your search results

The post Google can now remove your personal information from search results appeared first on KnowTechie.