tracking
Latest
What you need to know about Apple’s war on ‘digital fingerprinting’
Most everyone is aware of how tracking cookies work (or if you're not, you should be). They're little pieces of data added to your browser that track your behavior on the web. Usually, you notice them when you search for something like basketball and every ad you get for the next few days is about basketball.
Skydio's R1 drone can autonomously follow your car, too
Skydio's AI-powered R1 drone can autonomously track subjects like a champ, but until now it's been limited to following humans. Now, the company has introduced a feature called Car Follow cinematic mode that can film you on four wheels and not just two feet. Skydio said it trained the R1's neural networks on large data sets of car images, helping the 13 cameras automatically follow your vehicle while ducking any obstacles.
Amazon's Map Tracking feature lets you stalk your delivery driver
If you absolutely need to know where your Amazon package is even though you got Prime's same-day delivery, check out the e-commerce giant's app to see if you already have access to its new Map Tracking tool. Amazon's new feature, which it launched last year, is now finally available to most (if not all) customers in the US, according to Android Police. It's not like any other tracking feature, which only gives you a vague idea of where your package is: this one actually allows you to monitor your driver.
Now MoviePass' CEO says the app never tracked customers
A week after MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe's comments that "we watch how you drive home" came to light, the exec is walking back those words. In an interview with Variety, Lowe said "I said something completely inaccurate as far as what we are doing...We only locate customers when they use the app." Now, the way Lowe describes the app matches its privacy policy, and the way its technology is explained in the company's patent that he referenced during his original statement. So, all good? Maybe, maybe not. While the service's iOS app has been updated to remove an "unused" permission to access location all the time, the title of Lowe's infamous presentation was "Data is the New Oil: How Will MoviePass Monetize It?" Even if it's not tracking user's location over an extended period of time yet, that's certainly a possibility for the future, not to mention what's possible when you combine that data with information from other clearinghouses. Remember, for many of the companies providing free or low-cost services, data greed is good.
MoviePass pulls 'unused app location' features from its iOS app
Two days after we started reporting on comments by MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe about his company tracking users after they leave the theater, there's an update for its iOS app. According to the notes, it contains "Theater & Movie Search performance improvements. Removed unused app location capability." The company hasn't provided a firm denial about whether tracking of regular customers extends beyond what's described by the privacy policy, but something has changed. We checked with MoviePass and received this statement from a spokesperson. Today, MoviePass released a new app update, including the removal of some unused app location capabilities. While part of our vision includes using location-based marketing to enhance the movie-going experience for our members, we aren't using some of that functionality today. Our members will always have the option to choose the location-based services that are right for them today and in the future. So, MoviePass users, are you satisfied?
MoviePass can't answer important location tracking questions
Yesterday it surfaced that MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe said -- during a presentation called "Data is the New Oil: How Will MoviePass Monetize It?" -- that his company could watch how subscribers drive home from the movie and see where they went. The setup sounds a lot like the post-ride tracking Uber added and then pulled last year. Media Play News included the quotes in the middle of an article about MoviePass projecting that it will pass 5 million subscribers, and the outlet has since posted a full quote showing exactly what the CEO said.
Amazon patent details hand-tracking wristbands for warehouse workers
Companies are all about making sure you're working, and they're using increasingly high-tech solutions to do so. One firm in London uses AI to analyze your daily behavior, while the FreshTeam messaging app can track employee locations. Now, Amazon was just awarded a patent for a wristband that tracks warehouse workers' hand movements.
Some mobile games are listening to what children watch
Just in time for the new season of Black Mirror, another report of a company using smartphones to listen in on users has surfaced. The New York Times reported this week that a number of apps are using software produced by a startup called Alphonso and it uses a smartphone's microphone to listen for particular audio signals in TV shows, advertisements and movies. In many cases, Alphonso then has Shazam identify what those audio snippets are and all of the collected data can then be sold to advertisers who can use it to better target their ads.
The big stores that track your every online move
A study by Princeton researchers came to light earlier this month, revealing that more than 400 of the world's most popular websites use the equivalent of hacking tools to spy on you without your knowledge or consent.
Researchers create a robot that can cling to shark skin underwater
Tracking sharks and dolphins in order to study their habits is tough. Doing so requires researchers to attach some sort of sensor or robot to the animal, but it has to be able to stay on underwater and withstand fast swimming speeds as well as twists, turns and bends. So far, that's been hard to accomplish. But researchers at Beihang University, Harvard University and Boston College have developed a robot that hang on to slick skin underwater and withstand high speeds and sharp movements. They did so by modeling it after an animal that does those things naturally -- the remora. Their work was published this week in Science Robotics.
iOS 11 forces Uber to loosen its location tracking
Uber has followed through on its promise to restore your ability to block the app from tracking your location even when you're not using it. More precisely, it had no choice but to do so, at least for iPhones and iPads. The latest version of Apple's mobile platform gives you the power to prevent apps from accessing location data when they're not active. That's why Uber has brought back an option marked "While Using the App" under its location settings, and you'll get it back even if you haven't updated to iOS 11 yet.
Self-powered patch monitors glucose levels during exercise
Diabetics could soon have an effective, non-invasive way to measure glucose levels during exercise, thanks to a patch designed by researchers at the State University of New York. The paper-based patch sticks directly onto the skin like a Band-Aid, and wicks sweat into a reservoir where it's converted into electrical energy, powering a biosensor that monitors glucose without the need for external power.
Facebook knew about Snap's struggles months before the public
You may have only recently discovered that Snap isn't having much luck attracting new users, but Facebook knew months before -- and there's a chance you helped it find out. The Wall Street Journal has learned just how Facebook has been using app usage data from Onavo Protect, the VPN-based security app from its Onavo team, to see how Snapchat adoption has changed over time. The social network looked at aggregated info about the frequency and duration of app use to determine that Snapchat use slowed down soon after Snapchat-like Instagram Stories became available. In other words, Facebook knew it could double down on its anti-Snap strategy within just a few months.
Verizon's latest rewards program shares gobs of your data (updated)
Verizon has just fired up a new rewards program, but you might want to hold off if you're concerned about your privacy. Brandon Robbins and other customers have noticed that enlisting in Up requires enrolling in a Verizon Selects personalized advertising program that tracks an extensive range of voluntary and automatic data: it'll supply your app use, browsing habits, device location and personal demographics, among other details. Moreover, it shares that data with a wide circle of companies. Your info go to the newly formed AOL/Yahoo hybrid Oath (Engadget's parent brand) as well as Verizon's "vendors and partners."
SteelSeries says it’s nailed 'true 1-to-1' mouse tracking
Gaming peripheral brand SteelSeries has expanded its mouse lineup with an offering that could prove to be the Holy Grail for serious esports gamers: true "1-to-1" tracking. The company's new TrueMove3 sensor means your mouse movement will match up exactly with movement on-screen, regardless of the CPI setting (counts per inch, or the number of pixels your mouse moves in a single inch). Engineered in partnership with PixArt -- the team behind the Wii Remote -- the sensor is the product of the company's 15-year quest to make the perfect gaming mouse and is available exclusively in the newly-designed Sensei 310 and Rival 310 models.
Multiplayer VR is about to look much more realistic
Multiplayer VR is imperfect, especially on a large scale. Body tracking tends to be quite limited, so it's not uncommon to see generic animations and herky-jerky movements from your fellow players. OptiTrack hopes to fix that. It's launching body sensors that promise whole-body skeletal tracking in VR arcades and other multiplayer venues. Attach it to your hands and feet and you should get accurate positional tracking that reflects more natural movements, such as aiming a weapon or peeking around a corner.
Real-time tracking and projection mapping keeps getting better
Japanese creative studio P.I.C.S. have set a mindbending new standard for real-time tracking and projection mapping with their latest visual creation, EXISDANCE. The technology has been around for a while, although it arguably first captured the mainstream public's imagination at the Grammy's last year, when a red bright lightning bolt appeared on Lady Gaga's face during her David Bowie tribute.
Styr's system of health gadgets exists to sell you supplements
I'm the kind of guy who can always stand to lose a few pounds. The Styr Lab regimen seemed like a great way to do so. When I first saw it at TechCrunch's Disrupt event in San Francisco last September, I was genuinely excited to give the fitness-tracking system a try. After three months using the regimen, however, I find myself just as pudgy and unmotivated as I was beforehand. Maybe even more so.
Facebook buys data on users' offline habits for better ads
At this point, it's well-known that Facebook is as much an advertising company as it is a social network. The company is probably second only to Google in the data it collects on users, but the info we all share on the Facebook site just isn't enough. A report from ProPublica published this week digs into the vast network of third-party data that Facebook can purchase to fill out what it knows about its users. The fact that Facebook is buying data on its users isn't new -- the company first signed a deal with data broker Datalogix in 2012 -- but ProPublica's report nonetheless contains a lot of info on the visibility Facebook may have into your life.
USPS made an ornament that displays package tracking updates (updated)
Shipping presents to loved ones during the busy holiday months can be a stressful endeavor, but the US Postal Service is testing something new this year that puts a seasonal spin on the task. Officially called "The Most Wonderful Ornament," the Christmas decoration changes color as the the status of your package is updated. When your package is out for delivery, the ornament lights up blue. Red means the box has been dropped off and green will glow when the recipient has opened it.
