The EU’s data protection agency has launched a formal probe of Microsoft’s new policies, IDG reports. In a statement to the news agency, Microsoft confirmed that it was notified by the Article 29 Working Party, which investigates and gives advice on compliance with the EU’s data protection laws. The probe is meant to determine whether October changes to Microsoft’s services agreement created privacy risks for users, something Microsoft has consistently denied. “In updating the Microsoft Services Agreement we did not change our privacy policy,” Microsoft spokesman Robin Koch now tells IDG: “We are confident they will find Microsoft’s long-standing commitment to privacy has not changed. And we’re happy to answer any questions the officials…
Although businesses have had their wares spread out on Pinterest for some time now, the web-based collection repository has officially invited businesses to create their own accounts. Until now, commercial use was frowned upon in the site’s terms of use, but merchants can convert those personal accounts to the newfangled status — should they choose to take the plunge. Doing so enables access to buttons, widgets verification badges and other tools that won’t be available to normal users. If you’re hankerin’ for more details, consult the source links below for the full rundown.
Filed under: Internet
Pinterest adds business pages, tacks on separate terms and tools originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Related Posts:Question by : What is haptic research in terms of robotics? I get that it has to do with grasping…but thats about all I know. What are applications of work done in haptics?
Best answer:
Answer by sectrixHaptics is using a computer to communicate a sense of touch. If graphics are a computer communicating visual information, haptics are a computer communicating tactile information.
It is not the same as a a human communicating to a computer a tactile information.
Now think, if we could use computers to communicate physical sensations – how could that be useful?
Add your own answer in the comments!
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Vehicle assistance service OnStar has always struck me as slightly creepy, but I can appreciate its utility unfamiliar locations and emergency situations. And the notion of a company tracking your location constantly is apparently as reassuring to some as it is disturbing to me.
But I doubt even those optimistic souls would find it reassuring to learn that OnStar now reserves the right to record your location, speed, and so on “for any purpose, at any time” to “any third party” provided the information is anonymized.
The changes to the TOS (noted by Jonathan Zdziarski, and also reported at Reuters) were announced this week and, to be fair to OnStar, sent to their subscribers in full. And the major changes are right there on top (PDF). But that’s cold comfort to anyone concerned with their privacy.
Sharing anonymized information isn’t anything new for users of online services. Unless you actually opt out, it’s likely that most of the stuff you use online is being tracked, and that data sold in some way or another. Most companies are careful about anonymizing data, but not all data can be anonymized. A GPS record is rather hard to decouple from identity, since an intact record of a day or a week will plainly yield home and workplace locations, among other things.
Cross reference that with the data they now sell to “credit card processors and/or third parties we contract with who conduct joint marketing initiatives with OnStar,” and you’ve got a nice little database of easily identifiable individuals going.
It should be noted that there’s some tension here regarding what’s private and what’s public information — certainly it can easily be found out from voting, property, and tax records where someone lives and works. And the make and model of your vehicle is easily discernible by anyone nearby.
But that’s a misleading way to think about it; customers agree to the TOS with the implicit understanding that their location and speed would be used for the services they pay for, and if necessary shared with law enforcement. Not only now does the TOS essentially say that as long as they take your name off it, they can sell your data to literally anyone who wants it, but they now will also continue to collect that data even if you don’t use OnStar.
Again, to give OnStar credit, they say right away that you can totally deactivate their data connection by telling a representative that you want to. Hopefully the opt-out process is as easy as they say. But it’s a little odd that a company with whom you have no connection other than a piece of hardware in your car should want or be able to access that information. If you’re really intent on being invisible to them, search for OnStar and your vehicle make and model to find where the GPS unit is, and simply disconnect it.
To be honest, this really isn’t such a big deal, but it’s always discouraging to see companies with sensitive data taking the route of companies like ISPs and carriers, whose data handling practices are highly suspect. Furthermore, the legitimacy of the data sharing relies on the effective anonymization of this GPS data, and they have not convinced me that they are doing this effectively. If you have OnStar, this might be a good time to question whether the utility of the service really outweighs the potential for abuse.
Update: five minutes after posting this, I was contacted by OnStar, who wishes to make clear that “OnStar has and always will give our customers the choice in how we use their data. We’ve also been very open with our customers about changes in services and privacy terms.” I agree with the latter, but clearly the former is not true. Customers appear to have a choice between using the service and not using the service; subsequently what data is collected and how it is used appears to be entirely OnStar’s decision.
We’re seeing a heavy surge in Microsoft’s relentless pursuit of licensing deals in light of recent patent-infringement claims. Wistron Corp, a spinoff of Acer, is the latest company to make an agreement with Microsoft in a string of lawsuits and royalty clashes that’s spanned the course of two months. While we’ve seen Android suppliers such as Itronix and Velocity Micro come to agreements with the folks in Redmond, as well as others like Motorola and Barnes & Noble becoming courtroom fodder, this is the first time Chrome OS has been targeted. Wistron’s an ODM (original design manufacturer) that supplies other companies with computers, tablets and e-readers using either Google OS, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that it signed up for the Microsoft lawsuit prevention plan. Scant details are available aside from the fact that royalties will be collected as a result. Now that Chrome is involved, it not only shows that Team Ballmer isn’t backing down, it appears to have even more companies in its crosshairs — we just wonder who’s next on the list. Full (albeit brief) PR after the break.
Continue reading Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted
Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Look, we know you know all about LED backlights, light diffusion, subpixels, and the things that turn them on, but not everybody does. The humble LCD you’re most likely reading this on still retains a level of mystery about the nitty gritty details of how it works for the vast majority of its users, so here’s a terrific video breakdown of both its component parts and method of operation. Bill Hammack, a self-appointed Engineer Guy, takes us from the LED arrays that provide the light for most current LCDs, through all the filters and diffusers designed to make that light uniform, and into the ways thin film transistors make it possible for us to show moving color images of cats diving into boxes on such displays. It’s exciting, deeply nerdy stuff, and it awaits your audience after the break.
Continue reading LCD technology torn down and explained in the most lucid and accessible terms yet (video)
LCD technology torn down and explained in the most lucid and accessible terms yet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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…speed, responsiveness, meta data support, reliability, and codec support?
*.mkv with h.264 and/or VC1 video with AC3/DTS sound. do either support HD lossless codecs in *.mkv embedded and/or external subtitles in *.Mkv and *.mp4/*.m4v -*.srt subtitles -*.idx & *.sub subtitles *.m4v with h.264 video and ac3 sound
In terms of WAF, which of these 2 work…
gdgt – new in gadgets
It looks like Fring’s recent decision to block Skype access to its iPhone 4 video app was the final straw for Skype, who charges that VoIP network was in breach of the Terms of Use and EULA for the Skype API. “Over time,” writes General Counsel Robert Miller, “Fring’s mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers.” Although they’ve “been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably,” Friday’s action is being called “disappointing [for] our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience.” He goes on to say that “Skype will rigorously protect our brand and reputation, and those developers that do not comply with our terms will be subject to legal enforcement.” Meaning, presumably, that in the case of more Fring shenanigans there will be some sort of red-hot legal action. For its part, Fring CEO Avi Shechter had this to say: “We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users.” Which is all well and good, but we can hardly see how Skype is the problem here when you were the ones who locked out its users in the first place.
Skype says Fring violated its Terms of Use, ‘damaging our brand and reputation’ in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Props to Engadget
Related Posts:I’m also wondering If there’s any information on the new OLED displays and if I should just wait for that, It will probably be a few months before I buy anything, depending on the price of the recommended TV, thanks for your help!
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