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Amazon lets Prime members send gifts with only an email address or phone number
Amazon Prime members can now use the mobile Amazon Shopping app to send gifts to friends using just their phone number of email address.
Instagram's handling of children's data sparks EU investigation
Europe’s head regulator over Facebook is investigating Instagram over how it protects kids’ personal information.
AT&T customers can use Alexa devices to make phone calls
AT&T customers can now link their phone numbers to their Amazon account to make and answer calls through Alexa.
Now Twitter users can enable two-factor without linking a phone number
Twitter has finally made a change users have been waiting a long time to see. No, it's not editable tweets, but as of today everyone can enable two-factor authentication on their account without linking a phone number. While SMS-based two-factor can be a fallback for people who lose access to code-generating devices or don't have security keys, it's very vulnerable to SIM-swapping attacks. Twitter added code generator support a while ago, but still asked users to add a phone number if they wanted the extra verification and you couldn't remove the fallback. That's upsetting for those concerned about their privacy, they may not want to link a phone number to their account at all, and Twitter has already admitted that it used phone-numbers to target ads even for users who declined that. Attackers used SIM-swapping to send tweets from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account earlier this year, and while the exploit didn't use two-factor codes, it showed how vulnerable the SMS-based system can be. If you already have a phone number linked in your profile, then you can go ahead and remove it now. However, a security engineer noted that you can't remove the number and rely simply on a security key for access since that's only supported on the website.
Twitter admits your phone number may have been used for targeting ads
Twitter is only supposed to use phone numbers for two-factor authentication, but it appears to have been unintentionally used for more. The social network has learned that phone numbers and email addresses provided for safety and security (including two-factor authentication) might have "inadvertently" been used for ad purposes. Advertisers on Twitter can customize promos based on uploaded marketing lists, and Twitter may have matched people on those lists based on phone digits and email addresses that were supposed to be off-limits. "This was an error," Twitter said.
Google makes Assistant available via a free phone call in India
Getting fast and accurate answers to queries is still a big challenge in places where people don't have reliable access to the internet. To help the hundreds of millions of people in India who have a mobile phone but limited or no internet access, Google has announced the Vodafone-Idea Phone Line, a service which people can call to get answers from Google Assistant.
GrubHub is quietly replacing restaurant phone numbers on Yelp
GrubHub has once again been accused of hijacking restaurants' online presences in the name of revenue. Motherboard and the Underunderstood podcast have learned that some phone listings in the Yelp app have been replaced with GrubHub numbers so that the delivery service can collect a "referral fee" from resulting orders. You may get the restaurant's actual phone number if you tap the call button for "general questions," for instance, but an entirely different GrubHub-owned number if you tap "delivery or takeout."
Facebook won't keep your two-factor phone number truly private
Facebook is once again receiving bad press, for being a rapacious consumer of personal data. The company is under fire for its refusal to allow users to opt out of being found by their phone number when those digits were only supplied for two-factor authentication. TechCrunch is drawing attention to the annoyance, pointing out that some folks are now learning about the bait'n'switch.
Burner now lets Android users have disposable phone numbers, gives iOS app a refresh
Many months have gone by since we first heard about Ad Hoc Labs' Burner application, which brought a new kind of disposable digits service to folks with an iPhone. Well, starting today, those with an Android handset can also snag throw-away phone numbers via the newfangled app on Google's flavorful platform. Naturally, Burner for Android will perform in a similar fashion to its iOS counterpart, allowing users (that are in the US) to seamlessly choose from an array of different plans that'll determine how many minutes / texts any given number is good for -- don't worry, we're sure you'll come across one that's perfectly suited for your business. Customers on Apple's side, meanwhile, can expect to experience some improvements within the app thanks to a recent update. Burner says its iOS offering has been enhanced in a number of ways, including "smarter" notifications as well as the ability to keep easier track of conversations by way of favoriting and archiving. And although this particular sector may be looked upon with uncertainty, Ad Hoc Labs CEO, Greg Cohen, says his team is just happy to be able to provide "an important tool for users to protect themselves by adding an extra layer of anonymity to their phones." Craigslist, anyone?
O2 data breach potentially shares your cellphone number with the world (Updated)
There's an alarming rumor circulating that suggests that UK network O2 forwards your phone number to any website visited on a smartphone. Lewis Peckover built a site that displays the header data sent to sites you visit, finding a network-specific field called "x-up-calling-line-id" which displayed his number. Angry users who tested the site have flooded the company's official Twitter, which is currently responding with: "Security is our top most priority, we're investigating this at the moment & will come back with more info as soon as we can." The Next Web confirmed that Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone numbers are unaffected by the issue, but GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile (both MVNOs that operate on the same network) do. TNW's sources say it's most likely an internal testing setup, while Mr. Peckover suggests it's because the network transparently proxies HTTP traffic, using the number as a UID. Update: We received confirmation from O2, who said that it was "investigating with internal teams and it's our top priority." Slashgear and Think Broadband were unable to replicate the problem, but in our tests (pictured) it was sharing our data with the site. Update 2: Consumer magazine Which? contacted UK privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office which offered the following: "Keeping people's personal information secure is a fundamental principle that sits at the heart of the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. When people visit a website via their mobile phone they would not expect their number to be made available to that website. We will now speak to O2 to remind them of their data breach notification obligations, and to better understand what has happened, before we decide how to proceed." We'll let you draw your own conclusions from that one, but it's not shaping up to be a good day for the company (or its users). Update 3: Our tests have stopped working now, as it looks like the network is hurriedly trying to close the hole, but we've had no official word that it's over just yet. Update 4: O2 has issued a full statement and Q&A which we've embedded after the jump. Long story short, it's fixed the issue -- caused by accidental routine maintenance. 3G / WAP users will have shared your number with any site you visited since January 10th. The network has promised it will co-operate fully with the ICO and has reported itself to Ofcom.
ENUM: it's the new telephone number, but it's going nowhere fast
We've heard (ever-so-briefly) about ENUM before, which is generally described as an IETF-sanctioned standard for converting traditional phone numbers into IP addresses. But for the most part, even techies would say that they aren't exactly up to speed on what the protocol offers and / or promises. ArsTechnica has spent a good while underneath the mire, and it has arisen with an in-depth article that spells out how the standard can neatly collate a variety of contact options (email address, mobile number, home line, Facebook account, ICQ name, etc.) into a single address that's recognizable by the internet that we so dearly love. In fact, user ENUM even has the capability to rank contact options by priority, so you could hit someone up via the mobile first and their Twitter account second should they not answer. The issue, however, is that the '"ENUM standard (RFC 3761) demands that ENUM is a public service and that the control of the telephone number lies in the hands of the end-user," and it doesn't take an economist to understand why ISPs and carriers wouldn't be fond of this. Indeed, just nine nations have an ENUM registry in production, and the future isn't looking too bright for the rest of us. Don't fret, though -- chances are Google will have this whole "multiple contact" thing ironed out before the next decade rolls around.
Mac 101: Two things I love about Address Book
More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice Mac users. It's so easy to take Address Book for granted, and yet that simple utility has two absolutely killer features: big phone numbers and simple envelope printing. These features do exactly what their descriptions suggest: display phone numbers in Very, Large, Type -- and print envelopes, complete with your personal return address. To zoom a phone number, control-click or right-click the number you want to see and choose Large Type from the contextual pop-up. Address Book zooms that number way out, allowing you to see it while dialing, even if you're not standing right next to the computer. I find that it's a lot easier just to show the number to my husband than try to read it out to him. Your spousal success rate may vary. To print a properly formatted envelope, just insert a standard envelope into your printer. Make sure the address side (and not the flap side) faces the toner cartridge. For me, that is flap side down. My printer, which is pretty darn standard, has an envelope feeding clamp in the single sheet feed. I pop open the single sheet access, adjust the clamp inward to match the envelop size and feed in the envelop flap side down. In Address Book all I need to do is select a contact and print it. (File > Print). Make sure you've chosen Envelopes from the Style (it's my default), and that Print my address is selected so the return address is properly added to the envelope. If you're using an envelope that's not a standard business layout, choose the proper layout. Address Book supports most common envelope styles used in North America, Japan, and "International." Address Book can also print out mailing labels, lists, and a pocket address book. See the Style pop-up for details. For the free contact manager that comes with the OS, it's got moxie.
Fallout 3 Vault-Tec phone number decoded
Pete Hines from Bethesda shattered our crystalline dreams yesterday when he told us that the Vault-Tec 800 number for Fallout 3 means... absolutely nothing. He and Todd Howard had argued about it, and Pete wanted it to actually have something hidden inside for fans, but he got vetoed.Although Bethesda would love for rabid Fallout fans to kick down the door of a 68 year old woman's house in Texas in search of hidden editions of the game, it just ain't happenin'. Listen to the actual audio dialogue below which busted up our hopes for a Rain Man level math secret hidden in the phone message.
Online mobile number directory shuts down in a flash
Intelius, a firm that appears to make a business out of trolling for private information and providing it to whomever has the appropriate coin, has shut down its online directory of mobile phone numbers -- a directory that contained some 90 million entries -- allegedly "in response to consumer feedback" after boatloads of people responded in anger to the service's very existence. The biggest problem for folks was that the directory wasn't opt-in, it was opt-out -- and opting out required jumping through ridiculous hoops like faxing (yes, faxing) your driver's license to the company. For its part, an Intelius spokesperson says that the company is simply "ahead of [its] time." If by "ahead of its time" they mean that in the future any nutjob with a few bucks will be able to look up your private cell number by name, then we're just fine with staying in the present, thankyouverymuch.
World's most evil phone number is also most expensive
We understand the value in having an easy-to-remember phone number. We also understand the perceived value, for some, in having a number containing "666." But for 10 million riyals? That's what Qatar's national carrier Qtel netted for the number 666 6666 in a charity auction Monday, which works out to about $2.7 million by our rough calculation. Seems an awful lot to pay for the privilege of making a dark pact with the demons that rule the cellular underworld. There's enough black magic involved keeping our smartphones running smoothly as it is -- we don't need the added stress of fire, brimstone, and sacrificial lambs. Call us superstitious, we won't be making any prank calls to this guy (or girl, or beast). But if you do -- Qatar's country code is 974 -- let us know you're safe, m'kay? [Via The Register]
Fill in your Address Book with GoogleFill
In an eerie example of just how much information Google can access and what users can do with it, GoogleFill is a handy plug-in that can fill an Address Book contact's address by using a Google reverse search on their phone number. The latest 1.1 version update brings UniBin goodness along with a smarter lookup process.GoogleFill is donationware and available from Longhound.com.
