Users are complaining that the phone number Facebook hassled them to use to secure their account with two-factor authentication has also been associated with their user profile — which anyone can use to “look up” your profile. Worse, Facebook doesn’t give you an option to opt-out. Last year, Facebook was forced to admit that after […]
View More Facebook won’t let you opt-out of its phone number ‘look up’ settingCategory: photo sharing
Instagram confirms that a bug is causing follower counts to change
Instagram confirmed today that an issue has been causing some accounts’ follower numbers to change. Users began noticing the bug about 10 hours ago and the drastic drop in followers caused some to wonder if Instagram was culling inactive and fake accounts, as part of its fight against spam. We’re aware of an issue that […]
View More Instagram confirms that a bug is causing follower counts to changeIs Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?
The German Federal Cartel Office’s decision to order Facebook to change how it processes users’ personal data this week is a sign the antitrust tide could at last be turning against platform power. One European Commission source we spoke to, who was commenting in a personal capacity, described it as “clearly pioneering” and “a big deal”, […]
View More Is Europe closing in on an antitrust fix for surveillance technologists?Tech platforms called to support public interest research into mental health impacts
The tech industry has been called on to share data with public sector researchers so the mental health and psychosocial impacts of their service on vulnerable users can be better understood, and also to contribute to funding the necessary independent research over the next ten years. The UK’s chief medical officers have made the call […]
View More Tech platforms called to support public interest research into mental health impactsInstagram’s Adam Mosseri to meet UK health secretary over suicide content concerns
The still fresh-in-post boss of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has been asked to meet the UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, to discuss the social media platform’s handling of content that promotes suicide and self harm, the BBC reports. Mosseri’s summons follows an outcry in the UK over disturbing content being recommended to vulnerable users of Instagram, following the suicide […]
View More Instagram’s Adam Mosseri to meet UK health secretary over suicide content concernsFacebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in Indonesia
Facebook said today it has removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram counts with links to an organization that peddled fake news. The world’s fourth largest country with a population of over 260 million, Indonesia is in election year alongside Southeast Asia neighbors Thailand and the Philippines. Facebook said this week it has set up an ‘election […]
View More Facebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in IndonesiaFacebook to encrypt Instagram messages ahead of integration with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger
Facebook is planning to roll out end-to-end encryption for Instagram messages, as part of a broader integration effort across company’s messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. First reported by The New York Times, the social media giant said reworking the underlying infrastructure of its three messaging apps to allow users to talk to each other more easily. […]
View More Facebook to encrypt Instagram messages ahead of integration with WhatsApp, Facebook MessengerIndonesia unblocks Tumblr following its ban on adult content
Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country by population, has unblocked Tumblr nine months after it blocked the social networking site over pornographic content. Tumblr — which, disclaimer, is owned by Oath Verizon Media Group just like TechCrunch — announced earlier this month that it would remove all “adult content” from its platform. That decision, which angered […]
View More Indonesia unblocks Tumblr following its ban on adult contentSamsung fakes test photo by using a stock DSLR image
Samsung’s Malaysian arm has some explaining to do. The company, in an effort to show off the Galaxy A8 Star’s amazing photo retouching abilities, used a cleverly-shot portrait, modified it, and then ostensibly passed it off as one taken by the A8. The trouble began when Serbian photographer Dunja Djudjic noticed someone had bought one […]
View More Samsung fakes test photo by using a stock DSLR imageSnap is being probed over its IPO because some investors are salty about losing money
Here’s something I didn’t expect to read today. The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed Snap for details on its IPO apparently in connection with a lawsuit from disgruntled shareholders who claim the company played down its rivalry with Instagram. Reuters first reported on the subpoenas which Snap has confirmed. Precise details […]
View More Snap is being probed over its IPO because some investors are salty about losing moneyFacebook’s election interference problem exponentially worse on eve of midterms, study suggests
An analysis of political advertisers running extensive campaigns on Facebook targeting users in the United States over the past six months has flagged a raft of fresh concerns about its efforts to tackle election interference — suggesting the social network’s self regulation is offering little more than a sham veneer of accountability. Dig down and […]
View More Facebook’s election interference problem exponentially worse on eve of midterms, study suggestsTumblr says it’s fixed a security bug, but says ‘no evidence’ any user data was exposed
Tumblr has disclosed a security vulnerability on its site that in some cases could have exposed account information. The bug was found in the part of the site that recommends other Tumblr blogs to users, according to a blog post. The blogging site said the “recommended blogs” module — only visible to logged-in users — […]
View More Tumblr says it’s fixed a security bug, but says ‘no evidence’ any user data was exposed