Visa Europe is prepping the continent for widespread mobile payment rollout with its new tokenization tech--the same kind of tokenization that makes it possible for Apple Pay to function securely.
Caitlin McGarry | 25 Feb | Read more
Days after LastPass rolled out a native Mac app, popular rival 1Password has major updates for its own iOS and Mac apps. If you're not already securing your passwords with a manager like 1Password, these updates make the process easier and more appealing.
Caitlin McGarry | 27 Jan | Read more
Instagram's approach to privacy is nothing like the piecemeal strategy used by parent company Facebook. On the photo-sharing service, your privacy settings are limited to public and private--or at least that's what we thought. Instagram just fixed a bug that let people see your private photos if they had once been public.
Caitlin McGarry | 13 Jan | Read more
It seems like Facebook is constantly adding new settings or changing old ones. Sometimes it's under the guise of simplifying your options, like with the new Privacy Basics walk-through. Other times it's because new kinds of ads are coming and Facebook wants you to be prepared. So there's no better time than the present to update your privacy permissions than the present. Let's face it: You're not going to remember to check on your Facebook settings once the chaos of holiday parties and New Year's resolutions takes hold.
Caitlin McGarry | 09 Dec | Read more
If police suspect that you've committed a crime, the odds are pretty good that they'll want to search your smartphone for evidence. Whether they can actually search your phone depends on the security method you've picked--if any--to protect the device. Use Touch ID? Turn over those fingerprints. Have a passcode? You're home-free.
Caitlin McGarry | 01 Nov | Read more
People interested in checking out CurrentC, the mobile payment app from a retailers group that includes Walmart, Best Buy, and other major brands, signed up for the app's email list to get advance news about the launch. But that email list was hacked on Tuesday, leaking the addresses of a slew of early CurrentC testers. The news couldn't come at a worse time for the app, which has incurred the wrath of Apple Pay fans before its public debut.
Caitlin McGarry | 30 Oct | Read more
It's one thing to say your social network will never be like Facebook, it's another to enshrine that promise in legal documents. Ello, a social site whose claim to fame is an anti-ad manifesto, is doing just that by filing to become a public benefit corporation.
Caitlin McGarry | 24 Oct | Read more
Apple's Spotlight feature got a tune-up for OS X Yosemite and iOS 8. The search function now scours the Internet as well as your hard drive when you type queries into the Spotlight bar (with a little help from Bing). But privacy watchdogs accused Apple on Monday of being a little too helpful by automatically collecting your location data and search terms and sharing that data with Bing.
Caitlin McGarry | 22 Oct | Read more
Remember when Facebook played with your emotions and made you mad? OK, that's every day. But back in July, the social network revealed that it had experimented with your News Feed by showing some users more positive posts and others more negative ones. The resulting outrage prompted Facebook to change its research policy, but its self-imposed restrictions don't go far enough to appease anyone.
Caitlin McGarry | 03 Oct | Read more
Facebook knows more about your life than Google, and now the network is putting that information to good use--at least for advertisers who want to sell you stuff.
Caitlin McGarry | 30 Sep | Read more
Need another reason to upgrade to iOS 8? Apple can't see any of your personal information if you have a passcode enabled on devices running the new OS. And if Apple can't see it, the government can't, either.
Caitlin McGarry | 19 Sep | Read more
A sneaky method hackers use to crack your iCloud back-ups won't work anymore if you're serious about your security. On Tuesday night, Apple turned on two-factor authentication for iCloud, which will protect against the kind of social engineering exploits that helped hackers steal celebrity photos last month.
Caitlin McGarry | 18 Sep | Read more
As I stepped off the shuttle in Red Hook, Brooklyn and looked up at the blue-and-yellow behemoth on the waterfront that is my local Ikea store, my phone buzzed. "In Red Hook? Check out Ikea Brooklyn!" the notification read. Thanks for the tip, Foursquare.
Caitlin McGarry | 15 Aug | Read more
BitTorrent has teased its chat product for months, and now some lucky testers will get the chance to see the pre-alpha in action. The serverless chat client, designed to evade surveillance and big data collection, also has a name: BitTorrent Bleep.
Caitlin McGarry | 31 Jul | Read more
Google+ was built on identity. Like Facebook, the 3-year-old social network required you to use your real name. When Google started linking Google+ to its other services, it seemed like the company was creating a Google-centric ecosystem that used your identity as a jumping off point.
Caitlin McGarry | 17 Jul | Read more