Lisa Gus’ Post

Who owns the phone in your pocket? That’s the question at the heart of Apple’s latest battle with #European regulators, and it doesn’t look as if it’s going to be settled any time soon. On Thursday, the company published its plan for how to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (#DMA), a mammoth piece of legislation that seeks to break up the power of so-called “gatekeepers”: the massive (almost entirely #American) technology companies whose stature warps whole industries. From our story: Under the changes, the #UStech company will also give #iPhone users a range of browsers to choose from as their default, allow the use of alternative payment systems to #ApplePay, and permit the installation of alternatives to its #AppStore, which could theoretically include the #GooglePlaystore. But there is a catch: for the first time, developers who take advantage of the option will be charged a flat fee per installation, overturning free-to-play #businessmodels and limiting the sorts of apps that can bypass the store. The six companies named as #gatekeepers – the American big five of #Apple, #Google, #Facebook, #Microsoft and #Amazon, plus #ByteDance – have a raft of requirements foisted on them in the areas they are considered to be dominant. Varied though they are, covering everything from TikTok’s power in social networking to Google’s #monopoly in search engines, the goal is the same: to ensure that control of the services doesn’t lead to control of the world we build on top of them. But giving up control is hard. Apple has long argued that its strict control of the #iOS platform and the App Store is fundamentally paternalistic, rather than authoritarian. It says that a world in which iPhones worked like #Macs would be one with more scams, viruses and consumer harms. The EU says, effectively: “We’ll take that risk.” Hence the company’s begrudging new plans. When Apple switched the iPhone line to use #USBC rather than the company’s own #Lightning ports, it was effusive about the benefits the change would bring – and silent about the fact that it was mandated by the #EU. Not so this time. Apple’s announcement drips with displeasure at being forced to do something it detests: The DMA requires changes to this system that bring greater risks to users and developers … This includes new avenues for #malware, #fraud and #scams, illicit and harmful content, and other #privacy and #securitythreats. These changes also compromise Apple’s ability to detect, prevent, and take action against #maliciousapps on iOS and to support users impacted by issues with apps downloaded outside of the App Store.

The smart of AI is made possible by your volunteering and exposing your private data, to find that document or photo that you can describe but cannot find by name or exact date in photo library. The same access capability can be used for the vendor to comply with authority’s request to look for risks to the country. Apple is saying they would not stand for it and making it impossible to give up YOUR data by making them beyond their reach, through the way they design security and privacy of your communications, what you store on device and cloud-based storage, rather than subjecting those for data mining in order to profile, capture your unvolunteered interest or intent, as that is yours. https://lnkd.in/gYyNUvPn

Apple has gotten used to being a favorite target of rivals and government agencies. The company has been repeatedly scrutinized by regulators around the world, and other tech companies have accused the company of anticompetitive practices. Apple’s most recent legal challenge is a doozy: an antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice and more than a dozen state attorneys general. The suit takes aim at the security and privacy features offered only on the iPhone, and accuses Apple of using that exclusivity to lock consumers into its ecosystem. At the center of the suit is the lack of cross-platform encryption on Apple’s messaging platform—the green bubble-blue bubble divide—which the government alleges harms consumers by leaving them more vulnerable to attacks. This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED senior security editor Andrew Couts about the encryption and privacy issues behind the DOJ’s suit against Apple, and how the dreaded green bubbles on iMessage factor in. Show Notes Read Andrew and Andy Greenberg’s WIRED story about how the DOJ is targeting Apple’s iMessage encryption. Read Lauren’s story about how the antitrust case is all about the green bubbles, really. Recommendations Andrew recommends profumo del chianti sea salt spice mix. Lauren recommends the book Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Mike recommends going to the Big Ears music festival next year in Knoxville, Tennessee. Andrew Couts can be found on social media @AndrewCouts. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. How to Listen You can always listen to this week’s podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here’s how: If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts, and search for Gadget Lab. If you use Android, you can find us in the Google Podcasts app just by tapping here. We’re on Spotify too. And in case you really need it, here’s the RSS feed. Source link By Nakisisa George

Apple accounts are used in mobile forensics for sideloading third-party apps such as our own low-level extraction agent. Enrolling an Apple ID into Apple Developer Program has tangible benefits for experts, but are they worth the investment? Some years back, it was a reassuring “yes”. Today, it’s not as simple. Let’s delve into the benefits and limitations of Apple Developer accounts in the context of mobile forensics. https://lnkd.in/emCtPWmK #dfir #apple

That's Just Plain Creepy! Mozilla’s Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter distills what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s just plain creepy in the world of consumer tech. Since 2017, Mozilla has published 15 editions of *Privacy Not Included, their consumer tech buyers guide. They've reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars, and more, assessing their security features, what data they collect, and who they share that data with. Looking back over their findings of the past five years, it quickly becomes clear that products and companies are collecting more personal data than ever before — and then using that information in shady ways. 💪 Which products are getting more secure, but less private? 🎉 Which products and services are the clear winners? 🚫 Or obvious losers? Determine your Digital Privacy Footprint with Mozilla's product quiz. Link below 👇 in the first comment. #Privacy

That's Just Plain Creepy! Mozilla’s Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter distills what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s just plain creepy in the world of consumer tech. Since 2017, Mozilla has published 15 editions of *Privacy Not Included, their consumer tech buyers guide. They've reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars, and more, assessing their security features, what data they collect, and who they share that data with. Looking back over their findings of the past five years, it quickly becomes clear that products and companies are collecting more personal data than ever before — and then using that information in shady ways. 💪 Which products are getting more secure, but less private? 🎉 Which products and services are the clear winners? 🚫 Or obvious losers? Determine your Digital Privacy Footprint with Mozilla's product quiz. Link below 👇 in the first comment. #Privacy

That's Just Plain Creepy! Mozilla’s Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter distills what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s just plain creepy in the world of consumer tech. Since 2017, Mozilla has published 15 editions of *Privacy Not Included, their consumer tech buyers guide. They've reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars, and more, assessing their security features, what data they collect, and who they share that data with. Looking back over their findings of the past five years, it quickly becomes clear that products and companies are collecting more personal data than ever before — and then using that information in shady ways. 💪 Which products are getting more secure, but less private? 🎉 Which products and services are the clear winners? 🚫 Or obvious losers? Determine your Digital Privacy Footprint with Mozilla's product quiz. Link below 👇 in the first comment. #Privacy

The battle for iMessage on Android has taken a twist, with Apple once again targeting Beeper Mini, the app that grants Android users the coveted blue bubbles. But this time, dark data takes center stage, potentially holding the key to Beeper’s survival. Just days after Apple’s initial attempt to shut down Beeper Mini, the startup claims the tech giant is back, “deliberately blocking iMessages” for a small percentage of users. However, Beeper boasts a seemingly simple fix: uninstall and reinstall. This cat-and-mouse game highlights the crucial role of dark data in Beeper’s fight for cross-platform messaging freedom. Reverse-Engineering the Blue Bubble: Beeper’s initial solution utilized reverse-engineered iMessage protocol, allowing Android users to register their phone numbers on Apple’s servers, essentially mimicking iPhone behavior. While Beeper believed this approach was foolproof, Apple swiftly moved to block the app, citing security concerns. Enter Dark Data: Faced with Apple’s barricade, Beeper pivoted towards an a pproach that leveraged dark data. Users now authenticate through their Apple IDs, bypassing the phone number registration hurdle. This move leverages dark data – information not explicitly provided by users but gleaned from their interactions – to authenticate users within Apple’s ecosystem. Read full article at: https://lnkd.in/g-wxu5Xg #android #iphone #beeper #darkdata #redesignthebox #AI

I wish our DC elite understood tech better. There are many good reasons to litigate against Apple, almost all of them require new anti trust laws. However, the latest DOJ lawsuit is yet another example of lawyers trying to bring Apple to court by suggesting their ecosystem causes consumer harm. That hamfistedness is what leads to comical assertions like apple users are unable to switch to Android because it is expensive to switch. Wut? Apple consumers like me value their closed ecosystem, control, quality of software and hardware integration, so much that we look forward to forking over thousands every year for Apple. Developers value apple because of high end consumers like me who fork over silly $ for their barely useful apps (I paid $20 for an annual subscription for an app that helps me adjust to new time zones when I travel -- wut? I know it's bizarre) Yes, we all value openness and transferability - but there's no law that suggests every platform should be open, there's is no consumer harm from being closed (I think there is from being open - my PCs in 90s became malware machines because Windows was an open platform), and Apple has the right to price their services as they should. Having said this, there is a need to enable a vibrant marketplace for developers and Apple abuses it's AppStore powers unfairly. To litigate this, we don't need a lawsuit - we need new laws.

At a time when the privacy of AI is under the spotlight, phone makers say artificial intelligence offers a new way of protecting people’s data, with the firm working out which core tasks can be processed on the device. As with most things, when choosing between iOS and Android AI specifically, it comes down to evaluating the operating systems’ overall trade-offs in terms of privacy features, data-handling practices, and transparency aligned to your needs…