LAWSUIT: Jewish Facebook is accused of spying on Instagram users by secretly accessing their smartphone CAMERAS for ‘market research’
(000228.79-:E-000157.73:N-:R-SU:C-30:V)
2005: S.Africa: Black Teenage Mum: I drowned my HIV+ baby in a toilet
A young Matatiele mother admitted in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday to killing her nine-month-old baby because she was HIV positive.
Facebook has been accused of secretly accessing Instagram users’ cameras
Lawsuit filed in San Francisco on Thursday claims the company collected ‘valuable data’ for market research
It comes after Instagram users in July noted the app was activating their smartphone cameras when the app was not in use
Apple’s iOS 14 beta version allowed iPhone owners to see which app were trying infiltrate the camera in the background
Facebook has been accused of spying on Instagram users for ‘market research’ by secretly accessing their mobile cameras through the app, according to a new lawsuit.
A complaint filed in a federal court in San Francisco on Thursday, claims Instagram’s parent company intentionally activated smartphone cameras without permission, to collect ‘lucrative and valuable data from users that it would not otherwise have access to,’ Bloomberg reported.
The lawsuit, filed by Brittany Conditi, from New Jersey, comes after the release of Apple’s iOS 14 beta update in July, which notified iPhone users if an app was accessing their camera in the background.
According to the complaint, Facebook and Instagram allegedly tried to obtain ‘extremely private and intimate’ personal information to collect ‘valuable insights and market research’.
The iOS 14 beta update allowed users to see a green icon on the control panel of an iPhone or iPad screen when an app attempts to infiltrate the camera in the background.
Earlier this summer, a user shared a screenshot of the notification on social media after scrolling through their Instagram feed – it is a round circle with the ‘recorder indicator’ in the center.
At the time, Facebook said the notification was a result of a bug in the new software.
‘We only access your camera when you tell us to – for example, when you swipe from Feed to Camera’, a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
‘We found and are fixing a bug in iOS 14 Beta that mistakenly indicates that some people are using the camera when they aren’t.
‘We do not access your camera in those instances, and no content is recorded.’
The beta version of the software allowed users to poke around for bugs that may have gone unnoticed by the firm ahead of the official September launch and also revealed the ‘evil’ of some third party apps – as noted by a Twitter user regarding the news about Instagram.
User Brittany Conditi, from New Jersey, alleges Facebook and Instagram obtained ‘extremely private and intimate’ personal information to collect ‘valuable insights and market research’ +4
Twitter user by the name of KevDov shared a screenshot on the platform showing Instagram had activated his iPhone camera while scrolling through the site.
‘Casually browsing Instagram when suddenly the new iOS 14 camera/microphone indicator comes on. Then control panel ratted out the app behind it. This is going to change things,’ he wrote in a tweet.
Earlier this week, Apple officially released iOS 14 which features a new ‘warning dot’ that enables users to see whether one of their apps is watching or listening in.
The helpful dot is part of Apple’s increasing focus on privacy as part of the new iOS.
‘Privacy is a fundamental human right and at the core of everything we do, Apple says on its website.
‘That’s why with iOS 14, we’re giving you more control over the data you share and more transparency into how it’s used.’
New iOS 14 feature warns you if someone is spying on you through your iPhone: Look out for the orange dot at the top of your screen
Apple’s latest iPhone software update features a new ‘warning dot’ that enables users to see whether one of their apps is watching or listening in.
Released this week, iOS 14 displays a small orange dot at the top corner of the iPhone’s display to let users know their microphone is activated.
The small but noticeable dot appears just above the signal bars and next to the battery indicator.
It switches to dark green when the camera is activated too, telling iPhone users that apps are ‘watching’.
After months of anticipation, Apple released its new iOS 14 Wednesday, September 16 – although there was no sign of the new iPhone 12 as expected +4
This is not much to worry about when users are enjoying a video call over apps like Zoom and Facebook Messenger, which need camera and audio to work.
But the dot, which is also a feature of the new iPad software, will be a crucial indicator that other apps are snooping when they shouldn’t be.
iPhone users can go to Settings and Privacy to switch off any of their apps’ access to microphone and camera.
HOW TO DENY ACCESS TO MICROPHONE AND CAMERA
– Go to iPhone Settings and then Privacy
- Go to Microphone
-
Toggle off the offending apps from green to grey
-
Do the same under Camera
The helpful dot is part of Apple’s increasing focus on privacy as part of the new iOS.
‘Privacy is a fundamental human right and at the core of everything we do, Apple says on its website.
‘That’s why with iOS 14, we’re giving you more control over the data you share and more transparency into how it’s used.’
As tested by MailOnline, the orange indicator appears at the top of the iPhone screen whenever an app uses the microphone without the camera, as long as iOS 14 is installed.
Whenever an app uses the camera – including when the camera and microphone are used together – a green indicator appears.
iPhone users can also go to their phone’s Control Center to see if an app has used the microphone or camera.
A message appears at the top of Control Center, which can be viewed by swiping a finger up from the bottom of the display, to inform users when an app has recently used either.
Users can deny apps access to their camera and microphone if they’re constant offenders – or delete the apps altogether.
For iPadOS 14 – the new operating system for Apple tablets – the tiny dot is also orange when the microphone is in use and green whenever the camera is in use.
Another privacy-focused update that comes with iOS 14 is the ability to share only an approximate location with apps, rather than an exact location.
This suits iPhone users who are wary about revealing to certain apps exactly where they live, for example.
To enable this feature, iOS 14 users need to go to Settings, Privacy and Location Services and then select the app from the list.
Toggling on Precise Location to green will let the app know exactly where the user is, while turning it off will let apps only determine an approximate location.
iOS 14 was released on Wednesday, following Apple’s ‘Time Flies’ event, which also unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 6, iPad Air and the 8th Generation iPad.
The software is available on iPhone 6s and above, giving users access to a redesigned home screen, widget gallery and a new Siri interface.
iOS 14 is letting also let users set their own default apps for web browsing and email for the first time ever, as opposed to forcing users to stick with its own native apps, Safari and Apple Mail.
This means that users who prefer using Google Chrome, for example, won’t have to go out of their way to use the browser.
Many Apple fans were disappointed that the company did not reveal the upcoming iPhone 12 this week as expected.
The company has already confirmed that new iPhone won’t be available until next month, fuelling speculation it will hold another announcement event in a few weeks.
Afrikaanse Boeke op AfricanCrisis
Hier is ‘n paar boeke wat jy nie in gewone liberale winkels sal kry nie!