Your Tech News Digest via the DGiT Daily Tech Newsletter for Thursday, November 12th, 2020.
1. Mozilla’s creepy tech list is growing
Mozilla’s Annual * Privacy Policy Not included buying guide has reached its fourth edition, and tech is getting … worse? Type of?
- Mozilla’s guide, published before Black Friday, gives us a glimpse into 136 products that mix safe and private products with products that might surprise you with how little privacy there is.
- The Mozilla team continues to offer detailed instructions for common devices and has useful Creep-O-Meter queries for devices ranging from “Not Creepy” to “Super Creepy”, which unfortunately are still many products.
- 37 products on the list were marked with the “* Privacy Not Included” warning label, but some good news: 22 products were named “Best Of” for excellent privacy and security practices – without selling them and getting the basics and more advanced Details right.
- New this year: a section on products that use artificial intelligence to make consumer decisions.
- “Christmas gifts are getting smarter every year, from watches that collect more and more health information, to drones with GPS, to cloud-connected home security cameras,” said Ashley Boyd, vice president of advocacy at Mozilla.
- “Unfortunately, these gifts often get scary too.”
Best:
Worst:
- Some of them surprised me. Roku devices have been described and appear to be a privacy nightmare. The Moleskine writing set is mind-boggling, while as a new pet owner, smart pet toys are interesting, but the Wickedbone interactive dog toy (pictured above) has some problems. More importantly, why does your dog’s toy need to track your phone’s GPS location? Bizarre.
- The Amazon Halo, which we’ve already moved, is an obvious take.
- And Hamilton Beach’s smart coffee maker, which might be eavesdropping and doesn’t seem to meet minimum standards, is pretty sad.
- Mozilla pointed this out to me when I asked about their least favorite, “The Dogness iPet Robot also stands out. Put a mobile internet-connected camera and microphone in your house Not Using encryption just seems like a really terrible idea. “
New AI concerns and missing smartphones in the list:
I met with Jen Caltrider, Mozilla’s “Lead of the Privacy Not Include” project, to ask about the new AI realm and why smartphones aren’t in the lies.
Here is an excerpt from that interview:
Q: Why is there an Artificial Intelligence department this year and what does it show?
Jen Caltrider: AI is becoming more common in consumer devices. When I researched this guide, I saw everything from children’s toys to dog toys that were marketed “with built-in AI!” At least a third of the products in the manual use your personal information to make decisions for and about you. For example, smart speakers talk to you, thermostats learn your preferences, and cameras recognize your face.
We are just beginning to learn what all of this means for consumers and it is important that consumers know this as AI technology does not always put their interests first. Sometimes this technology benefits the consumer, sometimes it benefits the manufacturer – for example, when Roku can target advertisements.
Q: We all have a smartphone – but there is no breakdown of the smartphones here! Can you tell us what decisions are being made about why smartphones are not included and how Mozilla from there determines which devices are on the list of 136?
Caltrider: We only have the research capacity to focus on a certain number of products. So we look at what’s most popular, and also strive to choose products from a wide variety of categories (e.g., Smart Home, Toys & Games, Home Office). Since smartphones are often bought out of the box and not given away as gifts, we decided not to include them.
However, two major smartphone players – Apple and Google – have other products in this year’s guide. Readers can familiarize themselves with these products to better understand how these companies work in the smartphone space.
Final comment:
- This is a great list, even better than last year.
- I wouldn’t say I’m totally convinced why Mozilla leaves smartphones out here.
- Is it just an enormously difficult area to get involved?
- Or have smartphones already survived an intensive test, which was more about the selection of apps and the water was too cloudy?
2. Wow, Google has taken a big step After five years of unlimited free photo backups, Google Photos free unlimited storage will end on June 1, 2021. After that date, there is now a hard 15 GB limit on all new photos, but existing photos and documents that were previously uploaded do not count towards the limit. I think a lot of people are upset or even more angry, but there is also an understanding that Google can’t keep everything free forever. Pixel phone users can still be uploaded in unlimited high quality even after the cutoff (Android Authority).
The scale is insane: Google said that there are 4 trillion photos stored in Google Photos (probably much more than 4 exabytes of space) and 28 billion new photos and videos are uploaded every week. Still, one of Google’s best products is less attractive. My solution? I’ve been paying for Google One for a while now to keep my photos in their original quality without compression (and to increase my Gmail storage). (Android Authority).
Great insight: Google’s unlimited free offer to store photos has destroyed the competition, made startups uncompetitive and especially when the market is completely together with Google, a fee is charged: Google Photos has just ensured that Big Tech (OneZero) is dissolved.
3. YouTube, YouTube TV and Google TV are back online after a worldwide failure for about an hour (@teamyoutube).
4. Introducing the Samsung Exynos 1080: flagship performance in a midrange chipset (Android Authority).
5. Oppo announces Inno Day 2020: what can we expect this time? (Android Authority).
6. PUBG Mobile Announces Return to India: New Game, $ 100 Million Investment, India-Only Version with Changes (Android Authority).
7. A browser extension from The Markup shows Google Search without any associated Google services. Why? Well, you find your search results like 2009 or so and not just show up on another Google property (Engadget).
8. Apple’s TestFlight finally added automatic update support with version 3.0 and finally eliminated manual installations for updating (MacRumors).
9. The new electric scooter concept from BMW should be your perfect cyberpunk mount (The Verge).
10. The Strange and Twisted Story of Hydroxychloroquine: The much-touted drug sparked a battle between power and knowledge. Let’s not repeat it (wired).
11. “What is severely out of date, but you still love it (assuming you could theoretically replace it)?” (r / askreddit)
DGiT Daily delivers a daily email that keeps you updated on all the technical news, opinions and links on the most important developments on the planet. You get all the context and insight you need, all with a fun touch. Plus! Daily fun change for every day of the week, like Wednesday weirdness. Join in!