Items tagged with Tracking
Back in January, Google gave us an early taste of what it is calling Federated Learning of Cohorts or FLoC. With the tech industry -- led by players like Apple -- moving more towards a privacy-centric approach to handling customer data and internet surfing habits, change was bound to happen. Instead of individually tracking users with cookies, FLoC uses an algorithm that can group together thousands of people with similar browsing habits. A user's internet "behavior" is kept locally on-device (maintained by the browser), and personalized ads can still be sent to users. However, because the data is anonymized and users are pooled in large groups, they are not easily identifiable/trackable....
Read more...
Private threat analysis and mitigation company, HYAS, is buying user data from phone apps to try to track hackers. A major side-effect of this, though, is that regular users are possibly being ensnared and HYAS claims they can track people to their “doorstep.” The collection of user data has long been a problem for everyone. Only recently was TikTok discovered collecting user data, which put their parent company, Bytedance, under scrutiny. By and large, the data collected is anonymous. However, when it is not collected anonymously, it can be used to track specific people accurately. HYAS, the threat intelligence company, is now offering tools to track people for threat intelligence...
Read more...
Tech companies and consumers alike are rightfully concerned about government agencies seeking backdoors into smartphone operating systems. Agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have exclaimed that backdoors can help them crack smartphones that belong to criminal or child predators. On the other hand, companies like Google and Apple claim that it's a slippery slope that will result in privacy forfeiture and reduced security for everyone. Today, we have more evidence that shows that the U.S. Government is likely getting its hooks into smartphones around the globe via a well-connected contractor. A new Wall Street Journal report alleges that Anomaly Six,...
Read more...
Intel has a commanding share of the laptop market, even as it faces its strongest challenge yet from AMD’s Ryzen 4000 processor family. So, it should come as no surprise that the company is looking to enable new “hooks” that make Intel-powered laptops even more appealing to customers, and it’s advancing those efforts via a new partnership with Tile. Tile is known to most people for its tiny tracking tags which can be placed on keychains or other household items that are frequently lost. Instead of the rather awkward appearance of slapping a tracker onto the exterior of your laptop, Intel and Tile are working to incorporate the same tracking technology inside the...
Read more...
Earlier this week, we reported that Avast was under fire for its data privacy policies (or lack thereof) for its free antivirus software. Through its subsidiary Jumpshot, Avast sold vast amounts of user data to big name customers like Google and Microsoft (among others). Although Avast claimed that the data that it obtained and transmitted to these companies via Jumpshot was "fully de-identified and aggregated", it was rather easy to piece the data together including a user's device ID, time stamps, and other pertinent details to track a person across the web. "Maybe the (Jumpshot) data itself is not identifying people," said privacy researcher Gunes Acar earlier this week in reference...
Read more...
The University of Missouri (MU) is deploying a new student tracking application that runs on a smartphone. The app, SpotterEdu, is designed to measure and enforce class attendance. Reports indicate that the tracking app is required for all student-athletes, but is optional for all other students. MU says that participation was offered to fewer than 2% of MU students during the pilot phase and is completely optional. For students who don't want to check-in using the app, they can use an alternate method, like signing an attendance sheet. SpotterEDU is an app that was developed by a former basketball coach, and can monitor attendance by pinpointing students in the classroom and...
Read more...
Being tracked when you are online is a everyday reality for many of us. While there are ways that you can hide your online shopping and surfing habits from tracking devices and marketers, the majority of us don't care if Google knows that we bought new pants from Amazon. Google's latest shopper tracking program is a bit creepier though and has been around since May of this year, but you probably didn't even know about it. Google's new purchase tracking program is called Google Attribution and the search giant says that the purpose of the new program is to let marketers know if their efforts are working. It's integrated with AdWords, Google Analytics, and DoubleClick search according to Google....
Read more...
Today, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on data privacy, holding 9-0 that neither police officers nor federal law enforcement have a unilateral right to search cell phones without first procuring a warrant. Prior to today, the government had previously argued that the police could search a cell phone under previous court rulings that extended such rights in limited cases, including incidents where the officers on the scene had reason to believe evidence could be destroyed or that the evidence was on the individual (or within arms' reach). What the Court recognized today is that a cell phone is something unique from a pack of cigarettes or a glove compartment that might contain a firearm....
Read more...
As technology evolves, one thing in particular has remained a challenge for those in the location business: tracking indoors. Once those concrete walls start to add up, conventional GPS signals begin to falter. New technology from product development firm Cambridge Consultants, however, can reportedly "accurately detect someone's location indoors when GPS drops out." A number of sensors and a custom algorithm determine the location, with an accuracy of within approximately 1% of the distance travelled. Yet the technology uses low-power, low-cost sensors and the device concept is small enough to clip on a belt. It also doesn't need any existing internal infrastructure. "We are excited about the...
Read more...
3D body sensors are soon to be useful for more than just video games and sci-fi movies. Xsens has just introduced what it's calling the "world's first wearable 3D body motion tracking system" that's based entirely from consumer-grade MEMS combo sensors. The kicker here is the "consumer-grade" part. Finally, the cost is coming down in the world of 3D body tracking. As part of a broader strategy, Xsens now offers IP originally developed for professional (B2B) applications of 3D body motion tracking using wearable motion trackers for mass market application in the consumer electronics industry. Xsens has supplied 3D body motion tracking technology for Hollywood productions such as Ted, John Carter,...
Read more...
With WWDC just days away, the rumors revolving around Apple are at a fever pitch. From new Retina Display-equipped hardware to details about iOS 6, Apple has the technology world's eye yet again. And given that it really is a developer conference at heart, it shouldn't come as any surprise to hear rumors about new dev-related announcements to come. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is planning to let loose a "new way for mobile app developers to track who uses their software." Currently, the UDID model effectively does this already, but that began to be phased out last year. Reportedly, the new tool would attempt to "balance developers' appetite for targeting data with consumers' unease...
Read more...
Every so often, a piece of unusual technology comes our way that we can't help but gush over. And it's not a GPU, a PSU, a CPU or any other three-letter combination that we usually get excited over. It's an IS-2S, so four letters and a dash. Technology within a box or a chassis is certainly amazing, but it's wonderful to branch out from time to time and realize that technology is doing much more than simply enabling higher frame rates; it's changing lives. Tobii Technology is a company that specializes in eye tracking and gaze interaction, and today they announced the introduction of its next-generation eye tracking integration component, the Tobii IS-2 Eye Tracker. "By introducing the smallest...
Read more...
It was only a matter of time. In order to keep kids coming to class, the Anaheim Union High School District is implementing a controversial new system: giving out GPS units for students to track there whereabouts. It's honestly not as invasive as it sounds at first, but it's still pushing the envelope of "comfort" and "privacy." The system is designed to hand out tracking devices to students and parents if the kid (in 7th or 8th grade) has over four unexcused absences this year. If the parents and kid agrees, they're given a cellphone-sized GPS device that asks them to check-in at various times during the day -- all a way to help them avoid skipping class. Each student with a tracker also gets...
Read more...
Usually it's GPS doing the monitoring and tracking for the so-called "Big Brother," but lately Bluetooth has been lending a hand as well. The pervasive short-range communications protocol is found on nearly every mobile telephone available today, making it perfect for tracking thousands upon thousands of concert goers.In fact, around 80,000 or so festival attendees over in Belguim are expected to be tracked via Bluetooth, but those responsible for the initiative have assured the world that privacy is of the utmost concern. Reportedly, a team from the University of Ghent in Belgium is setting up 36 Bluetooth scanners across the music site in order to track those in attendance as part of a research...
Read more...
The good news is the U.K. has decided against a government database tracking all Internet and phone use. The bad news is, they still want it done, but by the private sector. Cost is the issue with the government doing it itself; why bother when you can simply require the private sector to do so, right? Research from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's department estimated that the proposal would have cost the government £2 billion to implement. That said, Smith said that doing nothing was not an option. The data stored, according to Smith, would not include the content of such communication, but instead the "who, when, where and how" of the communication. She added:"Communications data is an essential...
Read more...
Seasoned web users are well aware that the websites you visit and the search engine queries you employ are monitored and analyzed in a general sort of a way to allow web companies to sell advertising targeted to specific subsets of people. Casual users are often surprised and unnerved at the amount and type of information that is gathered about them on the web, and caution about the downstream effects of having the information available is growing. Numerous legislators are looking into regulating the amount and type of information that can be collected, and whether or not any information should be collected without the specific consent of the web user. New York assemblyman Richard Brodsky is...
Read more...
If you've been on the hunt for a Nintendo Wii system this holiday season, along with what seems to be the entire free world, but have given up your quest due to lack of availability, perhaps this will give you some additional motivation. Without any hands-on experience with the system, you may have more easily dismissed the Wii as just another game console with an innovative controller twist that has merely become a fad of sorts. Johnny Chung Lee, on the other hand, will show you just how innovative Wiimote technology really is and why millions have flocked to the hot new Nintendo game console. In reality, you'll see why the Wii console and more importantly,...
Read more...
While the iPhone didn't quite hit the first week/first dale sales targets that many predicted, it was still a strong performer upon its introduction. Despite the initial demand not being quite as high as many predictions, the demand in the weeks and months following the launch have actually exceeded earlier estimates.Current figures estimate that Apple stores (1800 nation-wide) have sold at least 3 a day, every day, since the launch. That's about a half-million phones right there. "Factoring in hundreds of thousands of iPhones sold through Apple stores and online via Apple.com, we still believe that our unit estimate is conservative," he told clients. "While Apple has not provided any information...
Read more...
