What went on in tech this week? Unfortunately, a lot of bad news. Security violations, a tough breakup between Amazon and NYC, and outright oppression of women allowed on both the App Store and Google Play. But it’s not all bad news. There were some funny commercials in there, and an invasive form of voyeurism is now illegal in the U.K.
In This Article:
Leaf and Core Recap
Many Apps Are Recording Your Screen and Leaking Data
Intercepted screenshots from Air Canada are not always privatized. Source: TechCrunch
Take it from this developer, it’s a good thing we sometimes take recordings or screenshots of your screen. However, that power can be abused. A number of popular apps, including Air Canada, record everything you do on your screen. Because of this, they’ve had data leaks of incredibly sensitive information. But screen recording can be done right. Read on to see how.
Apple’s Funny Commercial Asks, ‘Did you just bokeh my child?’
Need a quick laugh? After the mostly bleak news this week, I can’t blame you. So check out Apple’s latest iPhone XR ad that asks parents not to bokeh your friends’ kids.
Apple and Google Host Misogynistic Saudi App
Tim Cook, center, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Right. Photo: Saudi Embassy USA/Twitter
The App Store and Google Play store are home to hundreds of thousands of apps. It’s a multi-billion dollar business. However, the companies have strict guidelines on what can and cannot be in an app hosted on their store. Despite this, Apple and Google have allowed a Saudi app that allows men to track women and limit their travel. The two companies showed the tech industry’s extreme ambivalence and occasional disdain towards women. Both Apple and Google are currently profiting off of an app that is the primary tool to prevent women from escaping abusive relationships and an oppressive regime. How could these companies ban other apps promoting bigotry but allow such outward human rights abuses?
The shameful answer is, of course, that they don’t care enough about women’s rights. Read on for the full story.
Amazon Abandons NYC Plans
Long Island City condos, via Streeteasy
Amazon was supposed to add 25,000 jobs to Long Island City in Queens. However, the project was done in secret, would have displaced thousands of people from their homes, and featured huge subsidies. New Yorkers weren’t happy. Now the company has backed out. This could have gone much better, as Google, making a similar move, proved. It’s a long and complicated process, but Amazon and New York leadership dropped the ball. Here’s how.
Around the Web
What is this Maddening Black Dot in Sarah Sanders’ Apple Notes Statement? – Dami Lee, The Verge
Statement on Government Funding Bill: pic.twitter.com/DrNv9D4rEi
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) February 14, 2019
How important is the so-called “national emergency” Trump claims, despite the lowest immigration volumes in years, exists at our southern border? It’s so important that Sarah Sanders tweeted out a screenshot from the Apple Notes app. Not only is that a move better reserved for Instagram and celebrities, but the White House Press Secretary also failed to give us a clear screenshot. She left an errant markup dot on the screenshot.
If you needed any further proof of the sloppiness of this administration and this manufactured crisis, look no further.
Apple Sued Over Fatal Fire Allegedly Caused by Defective iPad – Luke Dormehl, Cult of Mac
In February of 2017, a fire originating from a defective iPad killed a man. Now his widow is suing Apple over her late husband’s death.
Apple to Offer First Showing of Original TV Clips in March, but Streaming Service Could Launch as Late as Fall – Alex Allegro, 9to5Mac
Apple has been planning a video service for some time. They’ve been snatching up original programming, readying for what we expect to be a new streaming service to rival Netflix and Hulu. We could finally see some of those shows this Spring, but expect the streaming service to launch later in the year.
‘Upskirting’ is Now a Crime in the UK – Jon Fingas, Engadget
Shoe cameras like this make upskirting easy.
Believe it or not, the act of “upskirting,” that is, taking photos up a woman’s skirt, isn’t necessarily illegal. In fact, in the United States, at least one judge has stated that it’s not illegal and no charges were pressed against a man who violated a woman’s privacy. The U.K., however, has shown more respect for women than the U.S. In the U.K., taking a photo up a woman’s skirt is now illegal, and perpetrators could spend up to two years in prison for violating a woman’s privacy.
The act has been illegal in Scotland for nearly a decade now, however, in the land of kilts, where men could be the victims of these crimes, it’s easy to see why. Nations where women are the only ones wearing skirts have had a harder time arguing against the practice.
Now if only the U.S. cared a little bit more about women’s (and kilt-wearers’) rights.