Privacy technologies

Privacy technologies

Microsoft is "streamlining" access to Copilot within its productivity applications and updating the keyboard shortcut to activate the assistant. "We heard from many of you that you're unsure how to start engaging with Copilot," the company says, though it did not elaborate on where it had heard this. On its Microsoft 365 Copilot feedback forum, the top-voted request was for more granular agent availability controls.

Yarbo now plans to completely remove the remote backdoor access that could have let bad actors reprogram the robot over the internet. Yarbo customers will be able to decide whether that feature even gets installed in the first place, co-founder Kenneth Kohlmann pledges to The Verge.

“Personal Computer,” meanwhile, is designed to bring those capabilities to your own device. It does so by allowing AI agents access to local files, applications, and connectors, as well as the web, in order to handle the individual user's personal, multi-step workflows.

“Today, we're introducing a new enforcement type that we plan to roll out over the next few weeks,” Clancy shared in a post on X. “For channels identified as persistently viewbotting, we will apply a cap to the streamer's CCV [concurrent views] for a fixed period of time, on all of the Twitch surfaces.” Clancy added that the cap would be based on “historical data regarding that creator's non-viewbotted traffic” and that the limits will increase in duration with repeated violations.

Berkeley has abandoned at least temporarily a plan to bulk up its police surveillance network with new video cameras, drones and software supplied by the firm Flock Safety. The City Council voted 8-1 Thursday to pull the plug on a proposed $2 million surveillance network expansion sought by police, though it did not close the door on contracting with Flock for the technology in the future. In the short term, the council renewed Berkeley's lease of 52 of the tech giant's automated license plate readers for up to another year, at a cost of up to $200,000.

Google announced that Chrome's Android app will now allow users to share their approximate location with websites, providing more privacy without sacrificing functionality. Users can still choose to share their precise location if they prefer.

"We're working to make Widgets feel less distracting and overwhelming by making the experience quiet by default. To do this, we're testing a new set of default settings designed to reduce unexpected alerts and visual interruptions."

Kaelyn Lunglhofer's graduation video was stolen and edited to falsely imply she sought casual hookups, demonstrating the alarming potential for digital identity theft in advertising.

Brave Origin was developed in response to users saying they wanted a minimalist version of our browser, and that they would be willing to pay for it in order to support our development costs.

The FCC's decision to ban testing of electronic devices in Chinese labs stems from ongoing security concerns, as approximately 75% of US devices depend on results from these facilities.

You don't have to install any software, because the ability is baked right into the Google Drive app. Let me show you how easy it is.

The Kremlin's ongoing battle against VPNs has intensified, with a law banning circumvention of blocked websites introduced in 2017 and mass bans on VPN services starting in 2021. By 2024, advertising for these services was also prohibited, marking a significant escalation in efforts to control internet access.

Startale Group announced that it has chosen Sunnyside Labs' Privacy Boost as the official privacy partner for the Startale app, marking the protocol's first integration into a consumer-facing crypto platform.