Tag: Facebook

Apple cracking down on apps store, requires all to define a privacy policy

Editor

Apple is taking an unprecedented step on its store in the fight for privacy. The tech company is cracking down on apps that don’t communicate to users how their personal data is used, secured or shared. In an announcement posted to developers through the App Store Connect portal, Apple says that all apps, including those still in testing, will be required to have a privacy policy as of October 3, 2018. The rules go into effect on October 3rd. Apple says that current software without a policy won’t be removed…

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Net giants urge court to reinstate repealed net neutrality rules

Representatives of internet giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon on Monday urged a federal appeals court to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules. Net neutrality rules, ideally prohibited internet service providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing most web traffic. The FCC officially repealed in June causing a huge outrcry. The Internet Association (IA) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), two of Silicon Valley’s most prominent trade groups, filed in support of a lawsuit against the FCC for its repeal of the 2015 regulations late last year.…

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Users Spent a Record 85 Billion Hours In WhatsApp vs 31 Billion In Facebook In The Past 3 Months

Editor

According to app analytics company Apptopia, among all the social media platforms, people globally spent a whopping 85 billion hours on the Facebook-owned WhatsApp in the last three months. By contrast, we’ve only spent 30 billion hours in Facebook, the company says. “It’s clear WhatsApp is the global messaging app of choice,” says Apptopia spokesperson Adam Blacker. “Apps having to do with communication take up most of our time spent on our mobile apps.” The data does not encompass all of China’s third-party Android app stores, or WeChat and other…

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Facebook’s new camera AR platform is the new home for Nokia classic, Snake Game

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, brings the classic snake game up to date with augmented reality. Snake Mask and Snake Real World filters bring the game to a new generation of fans. The addictive premise of the game remains the same, but with a fun AR twist fans can now be the apple-munching Snakes. Snake Mask utilises new Facebook AR technology to bring Snake to the widest audience possible. Snake at the zoo? Snake at the beach? Snake… on a plane? Now it’s all possible when Snake is…

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No VC: Facebook is not making any direct investments to African tech startups

Editor
Facebook’s to invest $57 Billion in Africa’s Economy in next five years

Facebook has been scaling up its operations in Africa and engaging more intently with tech startups on the continent, but the company has decided it will not be making any direct investments, Disrupt Africa reports That is according to Julien Decot, director of platform partnerships for EMEA at Facebook, who was speaking at last week’s MEST Africa Summit in Cape Town. He said the decision not to become an investor had come straight from Zuckerberg himself. “That was a Zuckerberg decision. The way Mark thought about it was – “this…

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Facebook entices content creators with new community-centered video platform

Dianne Jacobs
Telkom

Facebook announced several new live video features today that will allow creators to make their live streams more like games with polls and quizzes. The features are similar to those that creators on YouTube have had access to for months through the recent addition of the Community tab. These new features could entice established creators to migrate to Facebook’s video platform. Facebook says these features will reinvent traditional entertainment formats as more “community-centric,” and it noted a trend in more collaborative video consumption that relies on audience participation. YouTube integrated polling…

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Facebook’s new AI research is a real eye-opener

Dianne Jacobs

There are plenty of ways to manipulate photos to make you look better, remove red eye or lens flare, and so on. But so far the blink has proven a tenacious opponent of good snapshots. That may change with research from Facebook that replaces closed eyes with open ones in a remarkably convincing manner. It’s far from the only example of intelligent “in-painting,” as the technique is called when a program fills in a space with what it thinks belongs there. Adobe in particular has made good use of it with its…

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Facebook may now ban bad businesses from advertising

Dianne Jacobs
Facebook gaming

Facebook will now let you file a complaint about businesses you’ve had a problem with if you bought something after clicking on one of their ads. If enough people complain about a business, it could lead to Facebook banning the company from running ads. The new policy is rolling out globally starting today, and it’s meant to help Facebook fight back against another type of advertising abuse on its platform. Facebook says it’s trying to combat “bad shopping experiences,” which can cost customers and make them frustrated with Facebook, too.…

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Facebook Agrees on Data Sharing With Chinese Firms

Dianne Jacobs
facebook

Facebook has confirmed it has a data-sharing partnership with Chinese firms including Huawei, a company US intelligence previously flagged as a security threat. The agreements gave the Chinese firms some access to users’ data to help them build Facebook “experiences” on their own platforms. Facebook said all the data collected remained on users’ phones not servers. The company is already under scrutiny over how it uses members’ information. Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009 but the company has been trying to find other ways to access the massive…

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Facebook reportedly gave Apple, Samsung unfettered access to user data potentially violating a 2011 FTC consent degree

Facebook gave Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry and other device makers detailed access to user data and may have potentially violated a 2011 FTC consent degree according to the New York Times. The social network struck partnerships with at least 60 device makers so that they could offer messaging, “Like” buttons and other features without the need for an app. However, an NYT reporter found that the BlackBerry Hub, for one, was able to glean private data from 556 of his friends, including their religious and political leanings and events they planned…

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