Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts

2016-07-23

You'll never be able to escape Facebook, thanks to its incredible new plane

A STAGGERING solar-powered drone will see social network Facebook take to the skies, providing internet connections across the world.
Facebook Aquila drone

Facebook Aquila drone is able to beam internet access across the world

Facebook users will soon be able to update their status wherever they are in the world thanks to a new launch.

The social media giant is planning to boost your internet access by beaming an online network across the world via a fleet of drones.

The company has revealed it has completed the successful first flight of its solar powered Aquila drones, which it hopes can bring internet connectivity to billions of people around the world. The drone touched down in the Yuma desert in Arizona after a 90-minute flight, the longest such test to date, and a major milestone for Facebook's efforts.

It says that four billion people around the world – around 60 per cent of the total population – are without internet access, meaning they miss out on online benefits including education and healthcare.

Facebook Aquila drone

Aquila can fly at heights of more than 60,000 feet

This includes around 1.6 billion people who live in extremely remote areas without even any access to mobile networks, and where even installing internet access is a major challenge.

Developed in the UK by Somerset-based firm Ascenta, the Aquila drone is the size of a Boeing 737 airplane, but despite this is able to fly at altitudes of 60,000 feet or more.

Facebook acquired Ascenta in 2014 for around £125 million as it looked to expand its flight capabilities and spread internet access throughout the world.

Aquila is able to fly for three months at a time, and thanks to its glider-esque design will only consumer as much electricity as three hair dryers, or a high-end microwave, during this time.

Facebook is now aiming to continue its testing with more research into how to extend Aquila’s flight time.

This will require the company to break the world record for solar-powered unmanned flight, which currently stands at two weeks, showing the scale of the task at hand.

Facebook Aquila drone

Aquila is aiming to fly for three months at a time

The launch comes months after Facebook initially revealed plans for worldwide internet connectivity through its internet.org initiative.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has backed the project, which has so far looked to launch in Africa, Asia and South America, where selected services – including Wikipedia, BBC News, Facebook and some local news providers – were made available via the scheme's app without any data charge applying.

But Internet.org has come under fire from digital rights groups in countries including Uganda, Ecuador and Indonesia over net-neutrality concerns, as they fear it prioritises some services over others.

2016-07-20

WhatsApp BANNED again: Thousands of Brits face total messaging block

BRAZILIAN judge orders immediate shutdown of WhatsApp just weeks before millions head to the Olympics in Rio.
Whatsapp banned

BANNED: Brazil is blocking users from

WhatsApp fans are once again facing a countrywide ban in Brazil.

The world's most popular messaging app has just been blocked by a top judge in the country after its owners, Facebook, stood by a refusal to intercept texts for a police investigation.

The ban began at 11.30am local time today, with all of Brazil's five leading mobile operators agreeing to stop customers accessing the app.

It's currently unclear how long the app faces its censorship but the block has led to fears that it may extend up to the start of the Olympic Games on August 8th.

Thousands of Brits are expected to enter the country and the block could leave many unable to keep in touch with loved ones back home.

The Olympics has already been marred by the Zika virus and problems with the game's venues being ready to go ahead.

The latest order marks the third time that WhatsApp has been banned in Brazil over the last 12 months.

Whatsapp banned

BANNED: Brazil is blocking users from

The last WhatsApp block lasted for 72 hours, although the reasons behind it were never officially disclosed.

This followed a 48-hour outage back in December after repeated failings by the company to co-operate in a criminal investigation related to a drug trafficking deal.

Under the latest ban, ordered by Rio judge Daniela Barbosa, WhatsApp will be required to pay $50,000 a day until it complies with a court order to release the necessary information.

Brazil is one of WhatsApp's leading global markets, with nearly 100 million users estimated in the country, including many of the nation's doctors, who use the service to talk to their patients.

How do you get a verified blue tick on Twitter? Here's how anyone can do it

TWITTER has changed its policy, allowing anyone to request a verified blue tick on the social media website for the first time. Here's how to get verified right now.
Twitter Verified

Fancy a Twitter blue tick? Here's how you can get it

For years, being verified on Twitter was only open to celebrities, famous figures, and noteworthy citizens – a sure sign that you'd made it to the top of the social media pile.

However from today, Twitter is allowing anyone to apply online to get a "verified" account on the site.

The online application does seem fairly lengthy, and will require you to hand over some personal information, but if you really want that blue tick, here's how to get it.

To begin with, you'll need to submit basic information for your account, including the likes of a verified phone number, birthday, email address, profile bio and photo.

Your tweets will also need to be set to public rather than private, and you'll need a website linked to your account.

Twitter is also recommending that individuals submitting a request use their real or stage name, and that the photos you include portray you accurately.

Twitter Verified

Supercharge your Twitter account with verification

Along with this, the site may also ask for additional information about your account, including giving your own personal reasons why you deserve a verified profile (e.g. what makes you noteworthy).

Finally, you may also need to send Twitter a copy of government ID such as a passport or driving licence to prove your own identity.

The applications can be filled out online now, with Twitter promising to respond to all requests via email.

If your request is rejected, you will need to wait 30 days before submitting a new one.

Twitter says it has around 187,000 verified accounts at the moment, but 320 million active users, meaning the approval criteria is notably tough.

Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of User Services, said: "We want to make it even easier for people to find creators and influencers on Twitter so it makes sense for us to let people apply for verification.

"We hope opening up this application process results in more people finding great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for these creators and influencers to connect with a broader audience."

2016-07-11

Facebook Messenger to get ‘secret’ conversations

Service will also have disappearing messages, Snapchat-style
Facebook Messenger to get secret conversations

First it was WhatsApp, now it seems Facebook Messenger is about to up its security levels.

First it was WhatsApp, now it seems Facebook Messenger is about to up its security levels. The social network is beginning to test a new feature called secret conversations that will offer end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages.

The new feature means the messages can only be read on the device of the recipient - so a conversation you start from your smartphone can only be read there, even if you later log into Messenger on your PC or tablet - and it will be optional rather than the default.

“Secret conversations can only be read on one device and we recognise that experience may not be right for everyone,” Facebook said in the announcement.

Messages sent in top-secret conversations can also have a timer set for each message, controlling how long the message is visible.

There are other things to consider. At present, secret conversations don’t support GIFs or videos, along with other extras Facebook has added to Messenger over the years.

It’s a limited test at the moment, but Facebook said it will be more widely available throughout the summer.

Five other features Facebook has added to Messenger over the years:

Calls:

If you thought Facebook Messenger was just about sending funny images and texts to your friends, you’re wrong. You can call people over Facebook Messenger, using your wifi connection to get free phones calls with your contacts. If they don’t pick up, you can leave them a voicemail, which they can then pick up from their web browser. it works for group calls too, allowing you to create a conference call at the touch of a button.

Video calls:

Who needs Skype or facetime? Facebook also offers the ability to make video calls to your contacts, as long as they are using Messenger.

Location sharing:

Sending your location to friends can be done with a tap. No more guessing or giving cryptic directions (“past the house that has black fencing and looks like something out of Breaking Bad” doesn’t cut it).

Chat bots:

The newest thing to hit your social network is an army of chat bots that will help you with everything from ordering flowers to getting the news. It’s as simple as striking up a conversation with a bot.

Payments:

Facebook has been testing ways to send and request money through its Messenger service, eliminating the need to use a service such as Paypal to pay back your friends or family. Peer to peer payments are a US only thing for now.

2016-06-29

Travelling to America? US border guards may require your Facebook and Twitter accounts before letting you in

The Department of Homeland Security has proposed that all travellers be asked to provide their social media details before entering the country
US border guards needs your social media data

America has proposed recording your social media accounts before letting you in

British travellers trying to enter the United States may soon have to provide Facebook and Twitter profiles as part of the process.

The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed social media vetting as an additional step for anyone seeking a visa or an Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) .

Handing over the information will be optional - but many may feel obligated to provide it for fear of being refused entry.

Travellers will need to reveal which forms of social media they use and what their "identifier" (username or handle) is.

US border guards needs your social media data

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checks the passport of a European tourist

If the proposal is successful, it will be added as an extra line in both the online and paper application for anyone wishing to stay in the US for up to 90 days.

According to the US Federal Register : "Collecting social media data will enhance the existing investigative process and provide DHS greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate the case."

US border guards needs your social media data

A Customs and Border Protection officer checks passports at the passport control booth

The proposal is currently under consultation and the US government is taking comments on it for the next 60 days. After which, it will decide whether or not to go ahead.

"Just as with any change in entry requirements, the DHS will need to balance security issues against the need to encourage people to visit their country," a spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents told the BBC .

2016-06-23

Mark Zuckerberg tapes over his webcam. Should you?

Does covering his laptop camera and microphone with tape make Facebook’s boss paranoid, or are they really after him? Probably a bit of both
Mark Zuckerberg tapes over his webcam.

Mark Zuckerberg celebrates 500 million monthly active users on Instagram – but he also revealed a lot about himself by leaving his laptop in the background

Don’t worry, Mark Zuckerberg: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. And as the richest millennial in the world, you can probably be confident that someone, somewhere, is after you.

Which is why it makes perfect sense that you’ve joined the growing number of people doing a little DIY hardware hacking, and disabling their computer’s webcam and microphone. Even if a sneaky hacker does manage to penetrate your security, they’re not going to be seeing you in your tighty whities.

Yes folks, Zuckerberg tapes over his webcam. The billionaire made the (accidental?) revelation in a Facebook post intended to promote Instagram reaching its latest milestone of half a billion monthly active users.

In the picture Zuckerberg posted, of himself framed by a cardboard Instagram UI (cute), his laptop is visible in the background. And as Christopher Olson pointed out, that laptop has some weird accoutrements:

(And yes, that really does seem to be his laptop. Gizmodo’s William Turton notes that it’s the same desk the Face-boss gave a tour of on Facebook Live back in September.)

Thunderbird is an email client, for what it’s worth, which is made by Firefox creators Mozilla. Unlike Firefox, though, it’s never really taken off in the wider world, and development has rather stalled in the past five years. It may not even be Thunderbird that Zuckerberg has installed – others think it’s a Cisco VPN client.

Taping over the sensors and a particularly geeky mail client might seem paranoid. But to be fair to Zuckerberg, he’s not the only one taking a look at his webcam and wondering if it’s worth the risk.

Take the FBI’s director, James Comey: “I put a piece of tape over the camera because I saw somebody smarter than I am had a piece of tape over their camera.” The American digital rights group EFF sells webcam stickers, and told the Guardian’s Danny Yadron “people purchase these regularly”.

Even experts who don’t cover their cameras think they should. Why doesn’t Matthew Green, an encryption expert at Johns Hopkins University? “Because I’m an idiot,” he told Yadron.

“I have no excuse for not taking this seriously … but at the end of the day, I figure that seeing me naked would be punishment enough.”

While Zuckerberg probably does have any number of advanced persistent threats trying to break his digital security, normal people shouldn’t be too complacent either. Installing backdoors on compromised computers is a common way for some hackers to occupy their time.

According to a 2013 report in tech news site Ars Technica, sites such as Hack Forums contain threads full of people comparing and trading images of “slaves”, people whose computers they have broken into and taken control of. “One woman targeted by the California ‘sextortionist’ Luis Mijangos wouldn’t leave her dorm room for a week after Mijangos turned her laptop into a sophisticated bugging device,” Ars’ Nate Anderson wrote. “Mijangos began taunting her with information gleaned from offline conversations.”

Mac users, like Zuckerberg, can rest a bit easier: unlike most Windows laptops, the light next to a Mac’s webcam is controlled deeply in the hardware, and so it’s very hard to turn the webcam on without also turning on the warning light. Hard, but not impossible.

So should you copy Zuckerberg? Probably. It doesn’t hurt, most of the experts do it, and it could minimise damage – even if it’s just emotional – in the case of a catastrophic hack. But maybe don’t use Thunderbird. Some things are just too much hassle.


Source: The Guardian UK

2016-06-16

Facebook Messenger can now send SMS text messages

Facebook has announced that SMS text messages can now be sent and received through its Android Messenger app.
Facebook Messenger can now send SMS text messages

Facebook wants to keep users confined to its app

In a post on the site, Facebook said that users would now have the choice to send and receive texts in Messenger without having to go to different screens to communicate.

Though the feature is functional, the move is the latest way that Facebook is trying to keep users confined to its apps.

Facebook Messenger can now send SMS text messages

Messenger has other features including Uber requests and money transfers

It follows voice calls, Uber requests and money transfers, which are available to do through Messenger in certain countries.

Facebook’s announcement follows similar news from Apple, which said its Messages app would include features designed to prevent users from having to close it down.

Facebook says that iOS doesn’t currently support app permissions for accessing text messages, though the SMS recipient can be on any platform.

2016-06-15

Survey says Instagram attracting more advertising than Twitter

Social media advertisers are increasingly turning to Instagram over rival Twitter, new data has shown, in a blow to Jack Dorsey’s micro-blogging giant.
Survey says Instagram attracting more advertising than Twitter

Instagram has gained more agency attention than its rival Twitter according to a new report

Investors in Twitter were unlikely to retweet the findings from media software firm Strata, which questioned 83 advertising agencies about which platform their clients preferred for social media campaigns.

Facebook and YouTube maintained their top positions while nearly two thirds (63%) plan to use photo-sharing app Instagram. Just 56% said Twitter.

Strata, owned by Comcast, said it marks the first time Instagram has gained more agency attention than its rival. Twitter said: "The data presented in this survey couldn't be farther from the truth."

Twitter’s user growth stalled for the first time in the first quarter, with 320 million average monthly users.

Total social spend is on the up, with 17% of agencies saying they will allocate up to a quarter of their budget on social.

2016-06-12

Details of 33 million Twitter accounts hacked and posted online

Twitter security officials said they are 'confident the information was not obtained from a hack of Twitter’s servers'
Details of 33 million Twitter accounts hacked and posted online

Security experts said the most common password affected by the breach was '123456'

Twitter has been forced to lock around 33 million accounts after their security details were posted online for sale.

The accounts were breached by Russian hackers and posted on to ‘the dark web ’ – a web service that requires specific advanced software to access.

The hack was made public by security firm LeakedSource.

According to Michael Coates, Twitter’s trust and information security officer, the social networking site is “confident the information was not obtained from a hack of Twitter’s servers.”

Rather, the usernames and passwords were stolen from email accounts and other social networking sites, such as LinkedIn and MySpace.

“Regardless of origin, we’re acting swiftly to protect your Twitter account,” Mr Coates said.

Twitter quickly responded to the breach by cross-checking the details of 32,888,300 records with its user database. It immediately locked any Twitter accounts it believed were vulnerable.

The social networking service guaranteed: “If your Twitter information was impacted by any of the recent issues – because of password disclosures from other companies or the leak on the ‘dark web’– then you have already received an email that your account password must be reset.”

“Your account won’t be accessible until you do so, to ensure that unauthorized individuals don’t have access.”

LeakedSource explained the breach was caused by computers infected with malware that “sent every saved username and password from browsers like Chrome and Firefox back to the hackers from all websites including Twitter”.

The security website observed the most common password affected by the breach was ‘123456’, followed by ‘123456789’ – ‘qwerty’ and ‘password’ were third and fourth respectively.

It also showed that Russian cyber-surfers were the worst affected.

Speaking to Ars Technica, security researcher Troy Hunt said: “I'm highly sceptical that there's a trove of 32 million accounts with legitimate credentials for Twitter.

“The likelihood of that many records being obtained independently of a data breach and them being usable against active Twitter accounts is extremely low.”

Just this week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts hacked after hackers used a password obtained from a LinkedIn breach in 2012.

Twitter warned that to prevent your account from being hacked, users should “use a strong password that you don’t reuse on other websites.”


Source: Independent UK

Facebook is going to delete your synced photos unless you install another of its apps

Facebook is going to delete your synced photos in a few weeks’ time unless you install another of its apps.
Facebook is going to delete your synced photos unless you install another of its apps

Facebook is going to delete your synced photos

Now if that sentence puzzled you, you’re not alone. Many users have no idea that the synced photos album even exists, or that Facebook may have had access to their private photos since 2012.

Back then, the ‘synced’ or ‘synced from phone’ section of Facebook photos was launched, but most users did not know that this gave the app access to their private albums.

Facebook is going to delete your synced photos unless you install another of its apps

Mark Zuckerberg wants users to download the Moments app

The update allowed Facebook users to sync automatically all the photos taken on their iPhone with their social profile, reports TechCrunch.

The company now wants users to download the Moments app, which was launched last year.

This makes the ‘synced photos’ feature in the existing app unnecessary.

Facebook wants users to transfer or download these photos to your desktop before the next update, which takes place in the first week of July.


Source: Metro UK

2016-06-11

Facebook is about to delete photos from your account in an attempt to push its new photo app

Save them before they're gone
Facebook is about to delete photos from your account in an attempt to push its new photo app

Facebook is about to delete a group of photos on your phone, although you might not know or even care that they’re there. The reason you might not have noticed them is because they’re hiding in a private “synced from phone” section of your Facebook photos. This photo section was created in 2012 when Facebook offered you the option to automatically upload all photos captured on your phone to a private folder in order to make it easier to share them at a later date.

However, now Facebook is attempting to encourage users to adopt the Moments app to share their photos so this feature is being phased out and any photos not extracted from this private folder if you have it before 7 July will be deleted. Moments launched in June 2015, so it’s been around for a while, and it offers a more private way to share your photos, addressing the needs of users who want a social platform to share their photos but not in public posts.

Rather than automatically syncing everything to one folder and leaving it there, Moments scans your photos, organising them by events, and identifying your friends' faces so that you can easily share the photos directly with them.

We’ve seen Facebook attempt to influence user behaviour and feature adoption with moves like this before, when they pushed for the adoption of the dedicated Messenger app by disabling the ability to access and respond to messages in the main app. This is a similar act of persuasion - to save these photos if they’re not stored on your phone, users can either download them from Facebook onto a computer, or they can download the Moments app before 7 July and transfer them over.


Source: Independent UK

2016-06-06

Why is Facebook trying to force you to use its Messenger app?

Soon Facebook’s smartphone users will have to install its separate app to chat, as social network phases out mobile web version. But what’s in it for Zuckerberg and co?
Why is Facebook trying to force you to use its Messenger app?

Facebook is phasing out chat from its mobile site and there’s not much you can do about it

Facebook is forcing users of its mobile site to install its separate Messenger app if they want use chat, just as it has already done for users of its Android and iOS app .

The Facebook app for Android and iOS began encouraging people to install Facebook Messenger in August 2014. Some users switched to using the Facebook mobile site on their phone browser instead, which still had Facebook’s built-in chat – but now that mobile site work-around has been marked for death, too. Facebook is prompting users to install its Messenger app, while warning it will be their only option soon. The change should also affect web wrappers such as Metal, which is currently blocking the warning message.

Facebook says the move is to give chat users the “best experience” possible. A spokesperson said: “Since [2014], we’ve worked hard to make Messenger the best way to connect with the people you care about by adding video calling, conversations with businesses, gifs and much more. [Messenger] helps messages load about 20% faster and enables richer interactions.”

The dedicated app has features and functions that are not available in the mobile web version, including the ability to send and receive regular SMS messages on some platforms, video and voice calls, as well as Facebook’s floating notification and chat boxes, called Chat Heads. Whether it provides a better experience remains a point of debate, particularly given that there is no obvious reason why it couldn’t remain baked into the primary Facebook app. Either way, there’s not a lot you can do about it other than install Messenger, Facebook Lite if it is available to you, or stop using the service.

Why push users into another app?

Why is Facebook trying to force you to use its Messenger app?

Facebook and Facebook Messenger are two of the most popular non-native apps on Android, alongside other Facebook-owned apps Instagram and WhatsApp.

The real reason that Facebook is pushing chat into its Messenger is to create another platform or silo from which Facebook can access you as a user. This might seem an odd decision on the surface, but viewed through the lens of a company that wants to spread its tendrils as far and wide as possible, it makes sense.

It’s the same reason Facebook bought WhatsApp. On the one hand the dedicated chat app competes directly with Facebook Messenger, and potentially the low-level Facebook social network experience. However, it also targets users who are not interested in Facebook. The overlap between WhatsApp users and Facebook users is likely very high in the West, but outside of the developed world WhatsApp has excellent penetration with users who do not use Facebook.

Facebook also has Instagram, which is not as far removed from the core Facebook experience as WhatsApp, but started life as a separate photo-sharing social network and only recently became more tightly integrated with Facebook.

It’s still a standalone app, and you don’t have to have anything to do with the Facebook social network to use Instagram, which means it can attract users who don’t want Facebook but do want to share photos.

Messenger is the hardest sell as a separate service from the main Facebook social network, but in June last year the company made it so that a user could sign up and use Messenger with just a phone number. It means users who don’t want a Facebook account can still chat with their Facebook-using friends. It also gives Facebook another phone number and personal data on another user.

Gather users from far and wide

Why is Facebook trying to force you to use its Messenger app?
The more users the better, as far as Facebook is concerned.

Chat apps are only as good as the number of people using them. Facebook Messenger has the peer pressure of being the chat system of Facebook and the billion or so users on its site, but can now act as a gateway into the Facebook experience for those who have resisted joining the social network.

Facebook’s end goal is to reach as many people as possible by any route available. The company’s siloed app platform play is smart because it means it has more irons in the fire at any one time. Should people stop using Facebook, they might continue using WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram. Meanwhile Messenger users are more than likely to be persuaded to hit that button to upgrade to a full Facebook account.

For Facebook to do more with Messenger and make it a service users cannot avoid, it is imperative to get as many people logged into the service and using the dedicated app as possible, which is why it is closing off access to chat via other routes. Since it started doing so, Messenger use has jumped from 200 million to 900 million users in two years.

If Facebook can convince every one of its 1.09 billion daily active users to install Messenger, it suddenly has a third potentially powerful platform along with the social network and WhatsApp, further strengthening its insurmountable global reach.

At that point Facebook can attempt to use Messenger for more than just chat. The company’s foray into artificial intelligence and chatbots is a good example, but delivery of news, payments and voice calling could be just the tip of the iceberg.


Source: The Guardian UK

2016-06-03

Facebook's is scanning ALL your posts with a 'near-human' level of understanding - should you be worried?

Social network develops a new artificial intelligence that's reading everything on the site to help sort out what you and your friends see
Facebook's is scanning ALL your posts with a 'near-human' level of understanding

With over a billion users regularly posting content, Facebook has a lot of information to sift through.

The social network has therefore built a new artificial intelligence (AI) program that is tasked with scanning ALL the text on the site .

The idea is that it will help catch spam and other unwanted content while, at the same time, generating the right results for search queries and requests.

Called 'DeepText', the AI can understand text in various different languages with 'near-human accuracy'.

"DeepText leverages several deep neural network architectures, including convolutional and recurrent neural nets, and can perform word-level and character-level based learning," Facebook said in a blog post .

Facebook's is scanning ALL your posts with a 'near-human' level of understanding

The software is currently being tested with Facebook Messenger and has emerged from the company's move into chatbot-based messaging .

It will soon move out across the entire network.

"Text understanding includes multiple tasks, such as general classification to determine what a post is about — basketball, for example — and recognition of entities, like the names of players, stats from a game, and other meaningful information," the company said.

"But to get closer to how humans understand text, we need to teach the computer to understand things like slang and word-sense disambiguation. As an example, if someone says, “I like blackberry,” does that mean the fruit or the device?"

Eventually, Facebook says it will be able to use the software to improve your experiences on the site.

Facebook's is scanning ALL your posts with a 'near-human' level of understanding

It would, for example, detect if you were posting about selling an old possession and offer built-in tools that might make the transaction easier to complete.

Or it could help remove spam posters automatically if you run a particular page or group.

It's just the latest in a series of developments at the ever-growing social network to better understand how and why people use it.

Facebook is also believed to be experimenting with the idea of letting users customise their own news feeds .


Source: Mirror UK

Facebook might be about to copy WhatsApp's best new feature

FACEBOOK is preparing to roll-out end-to-end encryption for its popular Messenger app, months after WhatsApp implemented the same feature.
Facebook might be about to copy WhatsApp's best new feature

ENCRYPTION: Facebook Messenger will get end-to-encryption across its app later this year

Facebook Messenger could be about to introduce end-to-end encryption to its hugely-popular messaging app.

Sources close to the US social network have suggested Messenger is almost ready to roll-out encryption to its 900 million users worldwide.

The move comes two months after WhatsApp enabled end-to-end encryption by default within its app.

End-to-end encryption means any text messages, pictures, videos, or files sent via the app are scrambled until they are indecipherable to any criminals or law enforcement agencies that intercept your communications.

Facebook might be about to copy WhatsApp's best new feature

SAFE: WhatsApp has already rolled out encrypted messages, files, and voice calls

Speaking at the time, a spokesperson for WhatsApp said: “The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to.

“No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us."

Encryption has become increasingly popular amongst messaging apps.

It provides users with a peace of mind since it means the app developer is not trawling through their conversations.

It also prevents the host company, like Facebook or WhatsApp, from handing over the contents of messages to any outside sources or governments.

Senior director at encryption company Echoworx, Jacob Ginsberg told the Mirror Online: "It seems that the large players in the technology industry are taking more notice of people’s right to communicate privately.

"Facebook is taking another step towards securing users data and being more aware of privacy.

"As email threats get greater, it’s prudent to have another solution in place to handle sensitive information.

"WhatsApp, Google and now Facebook have been instrumental in 'consumerising' encryption to educate the public about the improper attempts from law enforcement to weaken the technology and snoop on our conversations in the interest of national security."

Encryption was recently thrown into the spotlight when the FBI requested Apple access data on an iPhone owned by radical California gunman Syed Farook.

In an open letter posted online, Apple explained that it believed encryption was “the only way” to keep its customers’ data secure and private.

But while end-to-end encryption is popular with technology firms and customers, the latest WhatsApp update is unlikely to be popular with many governments.

David Cameron last year spoke-out against end-to-end encryption, warning: "In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which we cannot read?

"My answer to that question is no we must not."

"I will make sure it is a comprehensive piece of legislation that makes sure we do not allow terrorist safe spaces to communicate with each other."

Facebook might be about to copy WhatsApp's best new feature

BAN: David Cameron has spoken out against encrypted messaging services, like WhatsApp

Prime Minister Cameron later denied that he would seek to ban WhatsApp in the UK.

Across the pond, the US Department of Justice recently expressed a similar concern over "unreachable" information held in smartphones and other devices.

WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage are not the only messaging apps to use end-to-end encryption to keep messages and data safe.

Telegram is another app that prides itself on its privacy.

The popular mobile messenger is known to have been used by the so-called Islamic State to share information.

WhatsApp was bought by Facebook for an eye-watering $19billion (£13billion) in February 2014.

The cross-platform messenger now boasts an impressive one billion users.


Source: DailyStar UK

2016-05-29

Facebook and Microsoft to build 4,000-mile underwater internet cable from US to Europe

A massive data cable is to be built across the Atlantic running from Virginia Beach in the United States to Bilbao in Spain.
Facebook and Microsoft to build 4,000-mile underwater internet cable from US to Europe

Facebook working with Microsoft to lay transatlantic cable

The project, announced by Microsoft and Facebook, is the latest in a series of major cable projects which have become necessary because of the growing demand for internet bandwidth.

Known as MAREA, it will be the fastest cable ever to cross the Atlantic. Construction is due to begin in August, with the work being completed in October next year.

It will be operated by Telxius, a subsidiary of the Spanish telecommunications and broadband giant, Telefónica.

About the width of a garden hose, it will significantly increase the amount of data which can be carried across the Atlantic.

Around a dozen high capacity cables are being laid across the oceans by high-tech companies.

"We want to do more of these projects in this manner — allowing us to move fast with more collaboration," said Najam Ahmad, Facebook’s vice president of network engineering.

Facebook and Microsoft to build 4,000-mile underwater internet cable from US to Europe

Microsoft joining Facebook in cable project

Google, which in 2010 laid the first of these cables – Unity linking the US and Japan – is continuing to expand. Apart from Facebook and Microsoft, Amazon is also a major player in this industry.

Alan Mauldin, research director with telecommunications research firm TeleGeography, told USA Today, part of the cable’s function will be to guarantee a dependable link.

It would be unwise to rely on a single cable, he explained – “because if it breaks you are in trouble”.


Source: Telegraph UK

These are the 8 things you need to delete from your Facebook to stay safe online and protect your family

Here's how to crime-proof your profile and protect yourself online
These are the 8 things you need to delete from your Facebook to stay safe online and protect your family

Is your Facebook a goldmine for criminals? Here's how to protect your profile

FACEBOOK has become a staple in many of our day to day lives, but is your Facebook profile a gift for cyber criminals?

Most of us make the easy mistake of including too much detail on our social media profiles, but there are some things which you really should not be flaunting on Facebook.

With rates of cyber crime on the rise, it’s more vital than ever that Facebook users know how to stay safe online, especially since social media can represent a goldmine for hackers, thieves and fraudsters.

Here are the 8 things you would be wise to delete from your Facebook profile, in order to crime-proof your page and protect your family.

1. Your birthday

Receiving all those ‘Happy birthday!’ wall posts on the big day may be nice, but it’s actually not a great idea to display your birthday anywhere on social media.

Whilst it may seem like a harmless detail, your birthday represents an important piece of information for identity thieves and fraudsters.

Along with your name and address, a hacker with your birth date could use the information they’ve seen on your profile to access your bank account or other personal details.

2. Where your children or young family members go to school

There should be nothing on your page about where your child is at any time, and it’s especially dangerous to share any information which could identify their school.

According to the NSPCC, police recorded the highest ever number of sexual offences against children in the past decade, meaning parents should be taking no risks when it comes to broadcasting anything about their children on social media.

Even proud pictures of your kids in their new school uniform could help predators identify where they spend most of the day whilst you’re at work.

These are the 8 things you need to delete from your Facebook to stay safe online and protect your family

Hackers and thieves can use any location information on your page to plot a break-in or steal your identity

3. Photos of your children or young family members

It’s not advisable to share pictures of your children on the internet, as you never know who might end up in possession of those pictures.

According to Victoria Nash, acting director of the Oxford Internet Institute, another issue is to do with your child’s consent.

She asks: “What type of information would children want to see about themselves online at a later date?”

4. Location Services

When using the mobile version of Facebook on Android or iPhones, posts can come tagged with your current location automatically.

This not only means that anyone who wants to harm you knows exactly where you are, but it can also alert burglars when you’re not at home – making your house the perfect target for a break-in.

These are the 8 things you need to delete from your Facebook to stay safe online and protect your family

Smart phones can automatically broadcast your location for all to see

5. Where and when you’re going away

You may be rightly excited about spending some time away from home, but you should never broadcast this on social media.

By sharing when you’re out of the house, burglars know when they can safely strike, and how long it’ll take you to get home and realise your house has been broken in to.

According to financial website This is Money, travellers who are burgled while they are on holiday may get their insurance claim rejected if they posted their holiday plans on their social media accounts.

6. Location Tags

When you tag yourself as ‘at home’, this can reveal your address to anyone who has access to your profile.

Giving away your address online is dangerous in so many ways – partly because identity thieves can use it to piece together your profile, and partly because absolutely anyone who wants to come knocking at your door now knows exactly where to find you.

These are the 8 things you need to delete from your Facebook to stay safe online and protect your family

Mobile apps can tag your location, meaning theives can find out when you're not at home

7. Your phone number

On a public page, revealing your phone number could prove to be a serious mistake.

Sharing your number with the world could lead to constant harassment if it ends up on a telemarketing database, or worse – if a stalker finds it.

8. Any credit card details

Hopefully, nobody out there thinks that this could ever be a good idea – you’re making things incredibly easy for thieves by sharing such sensitive information online.

2016-05-28

Facebook to start showing ads across the internet to everyone, whether or not they have an account

The site had kept its ads limited to people who were signed up to Facebook – until now
Facebook to start showing ads across the internet to everyone, whether or not they have an account

An employee writes a note on the message board at the new headquarters of Facebook in Menlo Park, California January 11, 2012

Facebook is going to stat tracking and showing ads to people across the internet.

The site had previously followed people around the internet to gather data and then use that to show them ads when they visited certain sites. But it will now be expanding those capabilities to everyone, whether or not they actually use Facebook, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It will use a combination of plug-ins and cookies to follow where people are going. It will then be able to show them ads when they visit sites in its “Audience Network” ad scheme – something that previously only showed if people were logged into Facebook.

The decision will help it take on sites like Google as a way for advertisers to show adverts across the internet. While Facebook is already a huge advertising force, it had previously been limited to Facebook users who visit pages within its ad network.

“Publishers and app developers have some users who aren’t Facebook users,” Andrew Bosworth, who runs Facebook’s ads and business platform, told the Wall Street Journal. “We think we can do a better job powering those ads.”

It hopes that it can beat out those other networks by harnessing the huge amount of data that it already holds to try and make more intelligent decisions about what people might be interested in. Since it already has such a huge amount of data about such a large number of people, it can guess what people who don’t actually use the site might be interested in by comparing them with people who do.

“Because we have a core audience of over a billion people who we do understand, we have a greater opportunity than other companies using the same type of mechanism,” Mr. Bosworth said.

Facebook uses the information that it collects about what people like to read, click on and talk about to show them the ads that it thinks will be relevant, which meant that it was previously only worth showing ads to those people who are members of the site. But now by tracking all users it will also be able to show them all targeted marketing, by looking for where else they’ve been on the web and using that information to try and decide what they might like.

Such technologies are now widespread across the internet, where small pieces of software called cookies are left on people’s computers to try and work out where people have been and what they might be interested in seeing ads about.

But the decision might still get Facebook in trouble with some regulators. The site has had ongoing problems with some European countries where authorities object to Facebook’s tracking and have forced it to stop using technologies like its Like button for people who aren’t signed up.

2016-05-25

9 features you probably didn't know exist in WhatsApp

There are features many users haven't yet discovered
9 Whatsapp features

There's currently over 1 billion groups on WhatsApp

WhatsApp, the app Facebook bought for $19 billion (£12 billion), is used by more than 900 million people around the world and has become one of the best ways to connect with people in different countries or have group conversations.

Unlike with text messaging, WhatsApp uses a data connection, which means sending a message is essentially free, especially for those with unlimited data plans .

While the app is reasonably simple, there are features many users haven't yet discovered.

Here are the top nine "hidden" features in WhatsApp that everyone should know about and use.

1. See how many messages you and your friends have sent to each other.

To find out whom you communicate with most on WhatsApp, go to Settings > Account > Network Usage.

A number appears next to each contact that represents the total number of messages sent back and forth. Selecting a person reveals more information, including how many messages have been sent by whom.


2. Mute group chats.

9 Whatsapp features

Group-chat notifications — especially in a big group — can become annoying, particularly if you aren't involved in the conversation. While muting group chat may seem drastic, sometimes these things have to be done.

Go to the group chat in question, click on its name and select “Mute,” where you will be presented with three options: eight hours, a week, and a year.

3. Hide your "Last Seen" time.

9 Whatsapp features

Hiding your “Last Seen” time is a useful feature if you don't want people to know when you last checked in to WhatsApp.

To switch it off, head to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. From here, you can select who gets to view your “Last Seen” time.

The feature does come with a trade-off: You won't be able to see anyone else's “Last Seen” time either.

4. Change your WhatsApp number if you switch phone numbers.

Setting up WhatsApp and then changing phones can be a pain. The service is not linked to your actual phone number, just the first number you enter and verify. This “number” will then follow you onto your next phone, creating confusion for everyone.

If you get a new number, you can change your WhatsApp number quite easily by going to Settings > Account > Change Number and following the steps from there.

5. Create custom group-chat notifications.

An alternative to muting group chat is having different notifications for each one, allowing you to check your phone only for the important ones.

As with the muting feature, head to the chat, click the name and go to “Custom Notifications,” where a different sound can be selected.

6. Stop photos from being saved to the camera roll.>

9 Whatsapp features
Phone storage space is a precious thing, and WhatsApp can consume a lot of it. To avoid this, head to Apple Settings > Privacy > Photos and then un-select WhatsApp from the list, banning the app from saving new pictures to the camera roll. Pictures do still download, however, so you won't be missing out.

7. See when someone has read your message.

9 Whatsapp features

Checking when someone read your message is useful for all kinds of reasons, especially in a group-chat setting.

<>To check, select the message and drag it left, revealing the time it was delivered and the time it was read. In a group chat, a list of whom the message has been delivered to and who has read it shows instead.

Note: If you uncheck Read Receipts to prevent people from seeing when you have read their messages, you also won't be able to see when other people have read your messages (explained next).

8. You can switch off Read Receipts — just like iMessage.

9 Whatsapp features

Reading someone's messages without replying is, in 2015, considered the height of bad digital etiquette. Luckily, WhatsApp can help.

By going to Settings > Account > Privacy and switching off Read Receipts , your friends will never know that you are ignoring them.

9. You can access WhatsApp on the web.

WhatsApp Web, accessed via web.whatsapp.com, brings the phone experience to your computer and is available in all major browsers.

To access it, go to the website and scan the QR code with the WhatsApp app and you will be logged in. From here you can start, continue, and end conversations with all the usual features that are in the app.


Source: Business Insider & Independent UK

Twitter just announced big changes to its 140-character limit

Twitter has unveiled a major overhaul of how its 140-character limit will work.
Twitter just announced big changes to its 140-character limit

Pictures, video and @names will no longer eat into Twitter's 140-character limit

Users will be able to add multimedia to tweets including pictures and video without eating into the character post limit.

And when replying to a tweet, @names will be omitted from the character count.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said: "We're always going to look for opportunities to make tweets a lot more expressive, and enable people to say what they want to say.

"As long as things are fast, easy, simple and expressive, we're going to look at what we can do to make Twitter a better experience."

Users will be also able to retweet and quote tweet themselves, allowing them to recirculate their old tweets with new comments.

And any new tweet that begins with a username and is not a reply to someone else’s tweet will now be seen by everyone else.

Users have previously had to add a full stop to a tweet tagging another person so that it can be read by all of their followers.

Twitter has launched a handful of new features in recent months in an attempt to draw in new users, including re-designing the site's timeline so that tweets no longer appeared in chronological order.

Instead, those posts Twitter believed to be of interest to users based on their activity are pushed to the top of the timeline.

Twitter said the new updates will be rolled out over the coming months.

2016-05-24

How to stop Facebook ruining your day with one quick trick

IF YOU'VE had a Facebook account for a while, chances are, the hugely-successful social network has a few memories and photos you'd rather not see plastered across your News Feed.
How to stop Facebook ruining your day with one quick trick

Facebook could kickstart your day by dragging up a painful memory

Facebook knows a lot about you.

And the more times goes by, the more dirt the US-based social network collects on you.

Facebook introduced its On This Day timehop feature back in March 2015.

The nifty tool pulls in past status updates, photos, posts from friends and other things you’ve shared or been tagged in – from one year ago, two years ago, and so on.

It can be a convenient way to stroll down memory lane and fondly remember some of the times you've spent with friends and family.

How to stop Facebook ruining your day with one quick trick

You cannot disable the app, but you can turn off any notifications

Unfortunately it can also resurface some painful memories from your miserable past.

Facebook does offer some customisation tools, as well as the ability to turn off the feature altogether.

To switch-off On This Day completely, you'll need to login to the Facebook website.

When your News Feed loads, click on On This Day, which is listed in the rundown of apps on the left-hand side of the screen.

How to stop Facebook ruining your day with one quick trick

Alternatively, you can filter the On This Day notifications for certain people or dates

When facebook.com/onthisday loads, you will be presented with a list of your social media memories. In the top right hand-corner, there is a button marked Notifications.

Click this and chose the option marked Off.

Unfortunately Facebook does not let you remove the app altogether, so you'll always be able to navigate to facebook.com/onthisday and scroll through your past posts.

But at least Mark Zuckerberg's social media behemoth won't pester you with cringe-inducing past statuses every time you login.

And if its just a few select memories you're looking to avoid, you can customise the On This Day alerts from the same menu.

Tap the Preferences button, next to Notifications on the On This Day page. This presents you with two filters, which allow you to purge a particular date or person from your memories.

You don't need to be friends with people to ditch them from the On This Day app, so you can easily get rid of a terrible ex you're no longer friends with.

The news comes as police warned social media users to avoid certain new features on Facebook.