Mobile security company SMobile has looked into the potential privacy and security issues in more than 48,000 apps in the Android Market.

The company’s findings are alarming for Android owners, since approximately 20% of Android apps request permission to access private or sensitive information.

SMobile’s findings shed new light on Apple’s tight grip over its own App Store, where apps must undergo a rigorous review process. By contrast, the Android market is open, meaning that Google doesn’t minutely examine apps for approval (it did, however, ban certain apps from the Market) and Android apps don’t have to be acquired from the Market; users can obtain them from other sources, like a developer’s website.

via 1 in 5 Android Apps Pose Potential Privacy Threat [REPORT].

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Changes privacy policy, offers new opt-out option

11:52AM Tuesday Jun 22 2010 by Karl Bode
Tipped by Z80A

Back in May we noted how there’s a lot of money to be made by carriers in selling your personal location data — and they’re only just starting to figure out how to cash in on it. Meanwhile the LA Times notes that with the launch of “iAd” and the new iOS 4, Apple has updated its 45 page privacy policy to allow the company to collect the “precise,” “real-time geographic location” of its users’ iPhones, iPads and computers for the incredibly vague purpose of “improving our services, content, and advertising.” The specific paragraph that caught LA Times’ eye, if you’re interested:

via Apple Hits Users With Behavioral Ads – Changes privacy policy, offers new opt-out option – dslreports.com.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

There have been three million worldwide iPads sold since the device first launched in the US market on 3 April, Apple has announced.

iPad sales broke the two million barrier at the end of May after reaching the one million mark earlier that month.

“People are loving iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive.

via Apple sells three million iPads | Latest technology and web news | Web User.

Finally – after a 3 years’ break – is Tiiws.com’s famous web design back online again.

Tiiws.com specializes in web design for micro, mini and small business as well as private individuals, who prefer to present their product, services or themselves with professionally designed websites rather than have it done “by their friend/son/daughter, who also know on – How To Do This”.

Tiiws.com’s web design made its name due to the simplicity of websites created. We care about the typical average user and, therefore create websites, which may be easy navigated – that every potential customer may find without any problem what he/she was looking for.

Another outstanding feature is the opening speed of Tiiws.com’s web designs. Many Internet users are still connected via dialup networks and so they have to cope with slow Internet connectivity. Today’s opportunities of having DSL or CABLE Internet connection tempts many web designers not to care about their websites’ volume anymore. Disadvantage of these website are extreme slow opening time, resulting – in bad conditions – in waiting periods of up to 1 minute (!!!) until the homepage will open.

We at Tiiws.com focus on every important detail for a good visited website:

• Fast website opening speeds – best results were measured at 5 seconds with dialup connection.
• Easy to navigate, clear and simple menues
• Creativity and not stupidity
• Useful gadgets only
• Last but not least – Tiiws.com’s web designs are realisticly priced. We are not the cheapest, but we also do not create “cheap” websites.

Are you looking for a new website or do you need alteration of your existing one? Feel free to contact us for a free quotation.

EFF Research Shows More Than 8 in 10 Browsers Have Unique, Trackable Signatures.

San Francisco – New research by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found that an overwhelming majority of web browsers have unique signatures — creating identifiable “fingerprints” that could be used to track you as you surf the Internet.

The findings were the result of an experiment EFF conducted with volunteers who visited http://panopticlick.eff.org/. The website anonymously logged the configuration and version information from each participant’s operating system, browser, and browser plug-ins — information that websites routinely access each time you visit — and compared that information to a database of configurations collected from almost a million other visitors. EFF found that 84% of the configuration combinations were unique and identifiable, creating unique and identifiable browser “fingerprints.” Browsers with Adobe Flash or Java plug-ins installed were 94% unique and trackable.

“We took measures to keep participants in our experiment anonymous, but most sites don't do that,” said EFF Senior Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley. “In fact, several companies are already selling products that claim to use browser fingerprinting to help websites identify users and their online activities. This experiment is an important reality check, showing just how powerful these tracking mechanisms are.”

via Web Browsers Leave ‘Fingerprints’ Behind as You Surf the Net | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

* Tue, 18 May 2010 | Web User

The new-look Windows Live Hotmail will let you edit Office documents within your browser, even if the PC you are using doesn’t have Office installed.

Microsoft is to give its webmail client Windows Live Hotmail a makeover this summer, the company has announced.

New features including Windows Live Messenger integration and tools to deal with email that isn’t spam but not important either will be present in the new version of Hotmail when it is rolled out to the company’s 360 million email users.

via Microsoft unveils new look for Windows Live Hotmail | Latest technology and web news | Web User.

Google has issued an apology for inadvertently collecting the contents of users’ Web transmissions as part of its Street View project, which has come under fire from European data-collection authorities alarmed at the privacy implications of the effort.

To capture a curbside view of an ever-expanding number of world cities, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has been dispatching a fleet of vehicles equipped with cameras, and then compiling the imagery to provide a navigable view of the location on the Web.

But the search giant’s cars have also been collecting information about Wi-Fi networks in the areas they patrol. Google has said that it aimed only to gather publicly transmitted information, such as the network name, or SSID, and data tagged to specific devices, such as wireless routers known as MAC addresses.

via Google Apologizes for Snaring Wi-Fi Data – www.esecurityplanet.com.

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Now you can discover, create, and share Microsoft Office documents with your Facebook friends. Built using Microsoft Office 2010 – Docs for Facebook provides the best possible document service for the Facebook environment. Seamless integration with Facebook means that the service is all about sharing your documents. Finally docs can be friendly too!

Since launching docs.com last Wednesday, they’ve updated the site several times. Improvements include:

• Better sign-up and waiting list flows
• Better timing of prompts for extended Facebook permissions
• Fixed several styling bugs across browsers
• Better thumbnail generation
  … etc.

In addition to these changes, they’re working to improve:

• The comment stream beside each document
• Issues opening documents in Office running on your Mac or PC
• … and much, much more (including new features!!)

“We are gradually opening up the full featured offering to those of you on the waiting list, granting you access to create and upload new documents. If you have not received an invite yet, please regularly check whichever email address you use to manage your Facebook account.”

via About.

Office Web will be accessible at no cost through the software maker’s Windows Live portal.

By Paul McDougall
InformationWeek
July 13, 2009 08:25 AM

In an effort to keep pace with the growing number of free or low-cost desktop productivity tools available online, Microsoft said Monday that it plans to introduce a Web-based version of its Microsoft Office suite that consumers can use at no cost.

Office Web, as the offering is called, will be part of the Microsoft Office 2010 release, which is slated for the first half of next year. “It’s going to be a great way for people to get their hands on these applications,” said Chris Capossela, senior VP for Microsoft’s Business unit, in an interview.

The free, online products will include the Office word processing application, the Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation software, and OneNote message pad. They’ll be available directly through Microsoft’s Windows Live portal and launch directly within a user’s browser.The move allows Microsoft to protect its flank from Web-based software from Google and from free, open source-based offerings, such as IBM’s Lotus Symphony product.

via Microsoft Plans Free Version Of Office 2010 — InformationWeek.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.