#the light box it’s just checkmarks. like how do they not understand we are here BECAUSE we don’t want this to turn into tiktok ig whatever.

[pepprs]

turned off automatic updates for this stupid app. i am protecting my peace ♥️

[ntrending]

Here's why you've been getting so many privacy policy and terms of service updates lately

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/heres-why-youve-been-getting-so-many-privacy-policy-and-terms-of-service-updates-lately/

Here's why you've been getting so many privacy policy and terms of service updates lately

Right now, many of the big websites, services, and apps you use are rushing to get their new privacy policies and terms of service in order. You’ve probably noticed all the notifications about it popping up on your phone and in your email. Just this week, we’ve seen messages from Etsy, Instagram, GoDaddy, Squarespace, Square, LinkedIn, Strava, SoundCloud, and just about any other app that requires you to sign up for an account. The driving force behind this change is Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which has been approved since 2016, but goes into effect on May 25, 2018.

GDPR is a massive overhaul of privacy on the Web laid out over the course of a 261-page document that you can read here if you’re feeling studious. The recent wave of privacy policy and terms of service notifications, however, mostly stem from a part of the regulation regarding consent and taking steps to prevent companies from opting users into terms that are hidden within monstrous legal documents that most people don’t even read before clicking “agree.”

A 2008 study showed that it would take the average person roughly 244 hours per year to read all of the privacy policies for sites they use, which translates to about 40 minutes per day. And that was way back in 2008 when people used the internet for an estimated 1 hour, 12 minutes per day—a number that has grown to roughly 3 hours, 10 minutes. It sure is much easier just to check the box that says, “I agree” and then start using an app or service.

Technically, you have probably already given many services consent to track you and use your information in a variety of ways when you agreed to a site or app’s terms. This happens when an app like Facebook throws a wall of text at you, followed by a checkmark that says something to the order of, “I promise I’ve read all of this legal jargon, I understand what it means, and I can’t wait for you to start profiting from my data.” That last part is an exaggeration, of course, but it’s fundamentally how many online services operate.

“The privacy policies are purposely ambiguous,” says Kirsten Martin, associate professor of business ethics at George Washington University and cyber privacy expert. “They’re written with words like trusted third-party suppliers. They use vague words to ‘improve service for you’ and not explain what’s going on.” Under GDPR regulations, that kind of obfuscation won’t—or at least shouldn’t—fly.

A quote from the official GDPR FAQ sums up the top level reform in terms of privacy policies:

“The conditions for consent have been strengthened, and companies will no longer be able to use long illegible terms and conditions full of legalese, as the request for consent must be given in an intelligible and easily accessible form, with the purpose for data processing attached to that consent.”

In short, GDPR gives European Union citizens the right to clearly and explicitly opt into having their data collected and used by a company on the web.

Twitter’s recent privacy policy update is a good example of how companies are going about making the change. Below is a screenshot of the privacy notification I got earlier this week with various opt-ins to offer up my information.

It’s clearer than the typical mountain of legalese sites and services expect you to navigate, but there are still layers to dig through. Clicking “more information” on the “personalized ads” tab, for instance, takes you to another page that outlines some real-world examples of how the ad targeting works. At the very bottom, however, it also says that opting out of personalized ads still allows the service to target you with advertising based on “what you tweet, who you follow, what type of phone you use, where you are, and the links you click on Twitter.” It saves you from targeting by third parties who may have your email address or tracked you via Twitter integration on their website, but it can’t absolve you from Twitter’s ads completely.

A benefit of the notification, however, is that everything you can actually opt out of is available in one place that you don’t have to go hunting to find. My account went from totally opted in to completely opted out because of it. “GDPR says it has to be as easy to opt out as it is to opt in,” says Martin. Getting to the settings menu in Twitter to change these settings once you’ve dismissed the initial notification takes four taps into the menus.

Out of curiosity, I did sign up for a new Twitter account (which is why I now have an account called “@babymanrampge”) and didn’t get a prompt to opt into the tracking. By default, I was opted into all of the tracking except the part that tracks my activity across the web, which allows it to look at other sites I visit that have Twitter integration.

The language barrier

The concept of overly complex privacy policy has been the status quo since the early days of the Web, when flying toaster GIFs roamed the net. It didn’t have to be that way, though. “When businesses are forced to make complicated things easy to understand, they do a great job,” says Martin. “They do it every year with annual reports for investors and the FTC. If they didn’t, they would get sued.”

But, just because some sites are offering clearer controls and policies, we shouldn’t necessarily expect that all of the GDPR protections will apply to people in the U.S. and other countries.

Etsy’s update for instance, includes the following text:

“Depending on your location, we may provide you with the ability to access, download, and request deletion of your personal information.” It differentiates user’s specific rights based on the governing regulations of their country of residence.

When senators and representatives asked Mark Zuckerberg about whether Facebook’s GDPR updates would apply globally, his response translated to a resounding, “kinda.”

Since then, Facebook has issued a couple different privacy changes. You can now download your Instagram user data, including your photos and comments. That change is a direct nod to GDPR’s requirement for “data portability,” which allows users to take their content with them to another service or save it for posterity.

Facebook even published its internal guidelines for moderating user content, which is an acknowledgement of the GDPR’s mandate for transparency. That development is particularly interesting because of its interplay with Facebook’s penchant for using AI tools to evaluate content. “You have to have the ability to ask questions about the decisions made about data,” says Martin. “Facebook has a tendency to try and automate things when they go wrong. GDPR gives people the right to a human review of decisions made by AI an algorithms in general.” By posting its content moderation guide, Facebook is offering a pre-emptive explanation of its moderation decisions.

For instance, Facebook’s guidelines shed some specific light on its policies regarding nudity, which have come under fire when breast feeding and post-mastectomy photos have been removed from the service. There’s still some ambiguity in the language, but it’s more straightforward than before.

There could be a second wave of changes

Right now, the onslaught of privacy policy changes we’re seeing stem from Europe’s privacy laws. What U.S. policy will eventually look like is still a big ol’ question mark. For now, as was apparent during the Facebook testimony, U.S. regulations are still relatively lax. Even new efforts to impose some regulatory order are somewhat scattered and sporadic.

The Honest Ads Act, for instance, is a bipartisan bill meant to mitigate the ability of organizations to manipulate users with targeted political ads. Both Facebook and Twitter have voiced support for the bill, but the proposed law only addresses a small piece of the enormous privacy puzzle. It’s possible we could see more sweeping reform here in the States, but it’s likely a long way off if it happens at all.

Still, we’re reaping the fringe benefits of Europe’s efforts, which are about to come to fruition. Martin likens it to California’s efforts to raise the bar regarding vehicle emissions by imposing stricter requirements for things like miles-per-gallon, then getting other states on-board to incentivize car companies to increase their efficiency efforts.

This all culminates in the idea of “privacy by design,” which is one of GDPR’s ultimate goals. It makes privacy a fundamental and requirement from the beginning of the design process so it doesn’t have to get shoehorned in later. These revisions are costly for companies and often confusing for users—even updated privacy policies and terms of use include piles of complex language. If companies want to avoid that hassle as they expand, they can start their lifecycle with privacy in mind. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see European companies pop up to offer North American consumers viable alternatives to Facebook or Instagram,” says Martin. “Opting for models that don’t track their users could become a real competitive advantage.”

Written By Stan Horaczek

[techbrossgq-blog]

Survey: Android's "Google Now" can show Siri a couple traps Skirmish of the intuitive assistants.

Android 4.1 "Jam Bean" propelled at the Google I/O gathering this June with an unforeseen flavor: a great new virtual associate called Google Now.

The Google Now include set is difficult to outline. It expands on the voice activities framework that Google offered in past forms of Android, including support for normal dialect inquiries, yet it likewise has an inactive mode in which it will show logically applicable data through Android's notice framework. Between the two methodologies, Google Now can do a wide range of things.The voice control interface in Google Now works much like Apple's Siri; the product records and translates the client's voice, parsing full sentences of characteristic discourse into charges. It reacts by talking back to the client and showing significant data. You can utilize the discourse interface to manage an email or instant message, look Google, play out a computation or unit transformation, get the meaning of a word, get a stock quote, seek the stage's inherent addressbook, set a caution, play a melody, get travel headings, get the present climate conditions in a district, or dispatch an application. The scope of bolstered summons and inquiries is practically identical to Siri's.

The inactive data mode utilizes a wide cluster of information—including the client's area, calendar, and inquiry inquiries—keeping in mind the end goal to give valuable data on a preemptive premise. At the point when the client has a meeting, for instance, Google Now will supportively offer headings to the area and an estimation of to what extent it will take to touch base there in current activity conditions.

Sounds helpful—yet how well does it work? We tried Google Now in Android 4.1 on a Nexus 7 tablet and on a Galaxy Nexus cell phone. We tried an extensive variety of inquiries and hunts, then invested some energy contrasting Google Now with Siri to perceive how it stacks up against Apple's usage.

Utilizing Google Now

Rather than building Google Now as a different utility, Google helpfully coordinated it into Android's current worldwide pursuit device, an element that enables clients to perform Google Web hunts and inquiry the neighborhood substance of their gadgets. The worldwide inquiry highlight is initiated by tapping the hunt box on the Android home screen. In Android 4.1, you can achieve it from anyplace in the stage by swiping upward from the home catch in the Android route bar; it's additionally available from the default bolt screen—simply drag the slider to the highest point of the open hover rather than to the privilege edge.When the client enters a question, the product will decide if to play out a regular Google hunt or process the inquiry with Google Now. At the point when the last happens, the client sees a "card" that shows a uniquely designed reaction comprising of content and graphical components. At the point when the client requests a stock quote, for instance, the product will show the most recent shutting cost and demonstrate a chart. (The card can be moved off the beaten path by swiping up from the base of the screen to show traditional indexed lists.)

Not at all like Siri, Google Now offers the alternative of writing questions (Siri is voice as it were). Any normal dialect state that Google Now is fit for translating can be asked verbally or written into the content box. At the point when the client begins writing, look autocompletion recommendations and normal worldwide gadget list items will show up progressively. To talk rather than sort, simply tap the mouthpiece symbol. The conduct of the product is generally the same amongst voice and content questions. The main genuine distinction is that voice inquiries deliver a verbal reaction from the telephone—where pertinent, Google Now will read its answer so anyone might hear.

Bolster for writing your charges can be helpful now and again. Consider, for instance, that it is so natural to send an email from Google Now without going into the email application. You swipe upwards at the bolt screen and afterward sort "email Bob will be late" into the hunt box. Google Now will show a card with the message and the beneficiary—you should simply hit the send catch. You could simply utilize a similar component with voice, however it's helpful to sort in the many situations where you would prefer not to state the message so anyone can hear.

Another Google Now highlight that is helpful to use with console info is the stock query. I think that its more helpful to simply sort in the three or four letter ticker image as opposed to stating an expression like "Google's stock price."Test Queries

I ran diverse test inquiries through Google Now, beginning with scientific calculations and unit changes. It took care of those well, giving similar outcomes you would get from a standard Google look. When I solicited it to demonstrate the speed from light in miles every second, it showed a card with the right esteem and talked it out loud. It additionally experienced no difficulty with money transformations.

My next arrangement of tests included real issues. Amid the demo at its I/O gathering, Google requested that the product recognize the leader of Japan, a question that it could reply with information from Wikipedia. Be that as it may, Google Now's execution in this more troublesome region is hit and miss—a few inquiries of a comparative sort won't create a reaction.

Google depends on Wikipedia and on list items as its information hotspots for such questions, though Apple's Siri utilizes Wolfram Alpha. The distinctions accordingly exactness to a great extent come down to the expansiveness of data accessible from those sources and the courses in which the contending programming usage handle it.

I tried Google Now and Siri by posing both inquiries on an extensive variety of various subjects. Siri could answer a couple of a greater number of inquiries than Google Now. The table beneath shows which administrations could deal with each query.In a few cases, discourse acknowledgment issues kept the product from legitimately translating the question. For instance, neither Google Now nor Siri could make sense of "Linux." In the vast majority of alternate cases that I tried, formal people, places or things and item names were taken care of accurately, including complex names like "Aaron Sorkin," mark names like "Hewlett Packard," amusement titles like "Skyrim," and names of performers, for example, "Skrillex" (however not "Deadmau5").

Strangely, saying "gleam" independent from anyone else was deciphered as "Flickr" on both platforms.The "Cthulhu" question was additionally tricky, however for various reasons on every framework. Google Now's discourse acknowledgment just couldn't understand the word. Siri translated it accurately however couldn't answer the question. On my first endeavor with Siri, it attempted (unsuccessfully) to scan for Cthulhu in my address book. On ensuing endeavors, it apologized for being not able hunt my call history. The nearness of "call" in the title appeared to befuddle it altogether.

Bolster for physically writing the inquiry into Google Now can be valuable in cases this way, where the discourse acknowledgment can't recognize the words. The question about The Call of Cthulhu, for instance, was addressed effectively by Google Now when it was written rather than talked.

At the point when Google Now can't answer an authentic inquiry, it shows the consequences of a Google look for the question expression. The excerpted content from the individual indexed lists will in some cases incorporate the response to the question, which implies that you may not have to navigate to one of the outcome goals keeping in mind the end goal to get the data you need.

The outcomes in the table above don't mirror that conduct (Google Now is just credited above when it delivers a genuine answer in a card), however it's still genuinely critical by and by. Google Now is somewhat less able than Siri at noting inquiries of actuality, however the fast accessibility of significant list items guarantees that it is as yet helpful much of the time where it can't supply an immediate answer.

Google Now likewise gives off an impression of being growing its base of real information as clients make inquiries. In some uncommon cases, asking a similar question different circumstances will create an arrangement of query items the first run through and a genuine answer sheet on consequent inquiries. This seems to occur in situations where the right data shows up toward the highest point of the query items. It's difficult to tell precisely what it is going ahead here, however it appears a ton like Google is taking inquiries that neglect to deliver genuine answers and utilizing those to figure out what data it ought to rub with a specific end goal to answer the question appropriately whenever it comes up.We went through the rundown of inquiries twice for every stage (about a week and a half separated) and could add four more checkmarks to the Google Now segment on the second time through (the family of a house feline, creator of the light, the year Paradise Lost was distributed, and the year the Eiffel Tower was built). Google Now is adapting amazingly quick—it wouldn't astound me at all in the event that it beats Siri on the above rundown inside a matter of months, if not sooner (particularly if the greater part of our perusers take a stab at posing those questions).

Siri will commonly offer to play out a Google inquiry when it can't answer a question, yet it doesn't show inline indexed lists. You need to tap a catch that whisks you to the program, which will then load the aftereffects of the Google seek. You wind up sitting tight for Siri to break down the question and after that you hold up again while the list items stack, so the aggregate procedure can be longer.

I additionally saw that Wolfram Alpha, utilized by Siri, doesn't generally give great data. Sometimes, it shows a void information table. For instance, when I asked what year Google was established, Siri shown a vacant table that had a heading for the IPO date. When I asked it who made Batman, it showed an outcome sheet with a void field marked "maker."