ACLU asks court to release a secret order forcing Facebook to wiretap Messenger

Earlier this year, the U.S. government tried to force Facebook to secretly recode its Messenger app to allow the feds to listen into an encrypted, real-time voice call on suspected members associated with the notorious MS-13 gang.

It was only when reporters revealed that when Facebook declined, the feds pushed the court to hold the company in contempt. The case collapsed, but details of the case remain under seal and out of the public eye.

Now, the ACLU wants to know how the feds tried to pull it off.

The rights and civil liberties group filed a motion in California on Wednesday to ask the judge to unseal the case to reveal exactly what the government asked that was enough to convince the court to demand Facebook dismantle Messenger’s encryption in the first place. The motion also wants to know what legal grounds the Justice Department had to compel Facebook to undermine the security in its own product — and for what reason the court pushed back.

Jennifer Granick, ACLU’s surveillance and cybersecurity counsel, said the public “deserves to know why the government thought it could dismantle measures that protect their right to privacy online.”

“The outcome of this legal dispute between Facebook and the Justice Department has the potential to affect the private communications of millions of Americans who use communication services such as Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, and Microsoft Outlook,” she said.

It’s the latest in several attempts in recent years to compel a company to rework its products to help the government conduct surveillance. But because Facebook won its legal challenge in private, experts warn that other companies facing similar efforts to undermine their products will not be able to use Facebook’s legal precedent in their own defense.

“In a world constantly changing due to rapid advances in technology, the American legal system must keep pace,” said Kara Brandeisky and Kristin Mulvey, two law students at New York University’s School of Law, who helped write the motion. “That can’t happen if we don’t even know what the law says about our right to privacy and security.”

The ACLU’s motion was joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Stanford’s Riana Pfefferkorn.

Facebook declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Dept. also declined to comment.

US government loses bid to force Facebook to wiretap Messenger calls

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Google Fi now officially supports most Android devices and iPhones

Google is making a major move to expand the availability of its Fi wireless service.

It’s been a few years since Google launched Project Fi with the promise of doing things a bit differently than the large carriers. Because it could switch between the cell networks of multiple providers to give you the best signal, the service only ever officially supported a select number of handsets. You could always trick it by activating the service on a supported phone and then moving your SIM card to another (including an iPhone), but that was never supported.

That’s changing today, though. The company is opening up Fi — and renaming it to Google Fi — and officially expanding device support to most popular Android phones, as well as iPhones. Supported Android phones include devices from Samsung, LG, Motorola and OnePlus. iPhone support is currently in beta, and there are a few extra steps to set it up, but the Fi iOS app should now be available in the App Store.

One thing you might not get with many of the now-supported phones is the full Fi experience, with network switching and access to Google’s enhanced network features, including Google’s VPN network. For that, you’ll still need a Pixel phone, the Moto G6 or any other device that you can buy directly in the Fi store.

Fi on all phones comes with the usual features, like bill protection, free high-speed international roaming and support for group plans.

To sweeten the deal, Google is also launching a somewhat extraordinary promotion today: If you open a new Fi account — or if are an existing user — you can buy any phone in the Fi shop today and get your money back in the form of a travel gift card that you can use for a flight with Delta or Southwest, or lodging with Airbnb and Hotels.com. There’s some fine print, of course (you need to keep your account active for a few months, etc.), but if you were looking at getting Fi anyway, like to travel and want to get a Pixel 3 XL, that’s not a bad deal at all.

The fine print is below:

Travel on Fi with Any Device Purchase Promotion Terms (Google Fi)

Limited time, 24-hour offer applies to any qualifying device purchased from fi.google.com from 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT through 11/28/18 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last. When you purchase a qualifying device on fi.google.com, you can redeem a travel gift card in the amount you paid for the device, excluding taxes (details below).

To qualify for this promotion, a device must be activated within 15 days of device shipment and remain active for 60 consecutive days within 75 days of device shipment. The device must be activated within the same plan that was used to purchase the device. Activation must be for full service (i.e., activation does not apply to a data-only SIM).

This offer is available for new Google Fi customers as of 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT and existing, active Google Fi customers. If the customer is new to Google Fi, the customer must transfer (port-in) their current personal number over to Google Fi during sign up. The number being transferred must be currently active and have been active with the previous carrier and the customer since 8/28/18 12:00 AM PT.

After the terms have been satisfied, the customer will receive an email from Google Fi (around 75 – 90 days after device activation) with instructions on how to obtain a gift card from Tango subject to Tango’s terms and conditions. The user can redeem gift card amounts with select travel partners: Airbnb, Delta Airlines, Hotels.com, and Southwest Airlines. Gift cards may also be subject to the terms of the travel partners.

If Fi service is paused for more than 7 days or cancelled within 120 days of activation, the value of the gift card will be charged to your Google Payments account to match the purchased price of the device. Limit one per person. This offer is only available for U.S. residents ages 18 and older, and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts. Unless otherwise stated, this offer cannot be combined with other offers. Offer and gift card redemption are not transferable, and are not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Void where prohibited.

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Google Fi now officially supports most Android devices and iPhones

Google is making a major move to expand the availability of its Fi wireless service.

It’s been a few years since Google launched Project Fi with the promise of doing things a bit differently than the large carriers. Because it could switch between the cell networks of multiple providers to give you the best signal, the service only ever officially supported a select number of handsets. You could always trick it by activating the service on a supported phone and then moving your SIM card to another (including an iPhone), but that was never supported.

That’s changing today, though. The company is opening up Fi — and renaming it to Google Fi — and officially expanding device support to most popular Android phones, as well as iPhones. Supported Android phones include devices from Samsung, LG, Motorola and OnePlus. iPhone support is currently in beta, and there are a few extra steps to set it up, but the Fi iOS app should now be available in the App Store.

One thing you might not get with many of the now-supported phones is the full Fi experience, with network switching and access to Google’s enhanced network features, including Google’s VPN network. For that, you’ll still need a Pixel phone, the Moto G6 or any other device that you can buy directly in the Fi store.

Fi on all phones comes with the usual features, like bill protection, free high-speed international roaming and support for group plans.

To sweeten the deal, Google is also launching a somewhat extraordinary promotion today: If you open a new Fi account — or if are an existing user — you can buy any phone in the Fi shop today and get your money back in the form of a travel gift card that you can use for a flight with Delta or Southwest, or lodging with Airbnb and Hotels.com. There’s some fine print, of course (you need to keep your account active for a few months, etc.), but if you were looking at getting Fi anyway, like to travel and want to get a Pixel 3 XL, that’s not a bad deal at all.

The fine print is below:

Travel on Fi with Any Device Purchase Promotion Terms (Google Fi)

Limited time, 24-hour offer applies to any qualifying device purchased from fi.google.com from 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT through 11/28/18 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last. When you purchase a qualifying device on fi.google.com, you can redeem a travel gift card in the amount you paid for the device, excluding taxes (details below).

To qualify for this promotion, a device must be activated within 15 days of device shipment and remain active for 60 consecutive days within 75 days of device shipment. The device must be activated within the same plan that was used to purchase the device. Activation must be for full service (i.e., activation does not apply to a data-only SIM).

This offer is available for new Google Fi customers as of 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT and existing, active Google Fi customers. If the customer is new to Google Fi, the customer must transfer (port-in) their current personal number over to Google Fi during sign up. The number being transferred must be currently active and have been active with the previous carrier and the customer since 8/28/18 12:00 AM PT.

After the terms have been satisfied, the customer will receive an email from Google Fi (around 75 – 90 days after device activation) with instructions on how to obtain a gift card from Tango subject to Tango’s terms and conditions. The user can redeem gift card amounts with select travel partners: Airbnb, Delta Airlines, Hotels.com, and Southwest Airlines. Gift cards may also be subject to the terms of the travel partners.

If Fi service is paused for more than 7 days or cancelled within 120 days of activation, the value of the gift card will be charged to your Google Payments account to match the purchased price of the device. Limit one per person. This offer is only available for U.S. residents ages 18 and older, and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts. Unless otherwise stated, this offer cannot be combined with other offers. Offer and gift card redemption are not transferable, and are not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Void where prohibited.

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Google faces GDPR complaint over “deceptive” location tracking

A group of European consumer watchdogs has filed a privacy complaint against Google — arguing the company uses manipulative tactics in order to keep tracking web users’ location, for ad-targeting purposes.

The consumer organizations are making the complaint under the EU’s new data protection framework, GDPR, which regulators can use to levy major fines for compliance breaches — of up to 4% of a company’s global annual turnover.

Under GDPR a consent-based legal basis for processing personal data (e.g. person’s location) must be specific, informed and freely given.

In their complaint the groups, which include Norway’s Consumer Council, argue that Google does not have proper legal basis to track users through “Location History” and “Web & App Activity” — settings which are integrated into all Google accounts, and which, for users of Android-based smartphones, they assert are particularly difficult to avoid.

The Google mobile OS remains the dominant smartphone platform globally, as well as across Europe.

“Google is processing incredibly detailed and extensive personal data without proper legal grounds, and the data has been acquired through manipulation techniques,” said Gro Mette Moen, acting head of the Norwegian Consumer Council’s digital services unit in a statement.

“When we carry our phones, Google is recording where we go, down to which floor we are on and how we are moving. This can be combined with other information about us, such as what we search for, and what websites we visit. Such information can in turn be used for things such as targeted advertising meant to affect us when we are receptive or vulnerable.”

Responding to the complaint, a Google spokesperson sent TechCrunch the following statement:

Location History is turned off by default, and you can edit, delete, or pause it at any time. If it’s on, it helps improve services like predicted traffic on your commute. If you pause it, we make clear that — depending on your individual phone and app settings — we might still collect and use location data to improve your Google experience. We enable you to control location data in other ways too, including in a different Google setting called Web & App Activity, and on your device. We’re constantly working to improve our controls, and we’ll be reading this report closely to see if there are things we can take on board.

Earlier this year the Norwegian watchdog produced a damning report calling out dark pattern design tricks being deployed by Google and Facebook meant to manipulate users by nudging them towards “privacy intrusive options”. It also examined Microsoft’s consent flows but judged the company to be leaning less heavily on such unfair tactics.

Among the underhand techniques that the Google-targeted GDPR complaint, which draws on the earlier report, calls out are allegations of deceptive click-flow, with the groups noting that a “location history” setting can be enabled during Android set-up without a user being aware of it; key settings being both buried in menus (hidden) and enabled by default; users being presented at the decision point with insufficient and misleading information; repeat nudges to enable location tracking even after a user has previously turned it off; and the bundling of “invasive location tracking” with other unrelated Google services, such as photo sorting by location.

GDPR remains in the early implementation phrase — just six months since the regulation came into force across Europe. But a large chunk of the first wave of complaints have been focused on consent, according to Europe’s data protection supervisor, who also told us in October that more than 42,000 complaints had been lodged in total since the regulation came into force.

Where Google is concerned, the location complaint is by no means the only GDPR — or GDPR consent-related — complaint it’s facing.

Another complaint, filed back in May also by a consumer-focused organization, took aim at what it dubbed the use of “forced consent” by Google and Facebook — pointing out that the companies were offering users no choice but to have their personal data processed to make use of certain services, yet the GDPR requires consent to be freely given.

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Apple launches app development program for female entrepreneurs

Apple is looking to better support female-identifying founders through its new Entrepreneur Camp, a technology lab that focused on app development.

The free two-week camp, which kicks off in January, will give female founders the opportunity to receive one-on-one coding assistance from Apple engineers, as well as attend sessions on design, technology and App Store marketing. The idea is to help teams shave off overall development time.

To be eligible to participate, the company must be female-founded, female co-founded or female-led, and have at least one woman on the development team. The program is inclusive to all who identify as women.

For companies that are currently Android-only, Entrepreneur Camp could be an opportunity for them to learn more about Apple’s ecosystem and get support directly from the technology’s creators. For Apple, it’s an opportunity to increase both the quantity and quality of apps in its store.

Apple’s App Store revenue nearly double that of Google Play in first half of 2018

“We wanted to focus on women who already have an app-driven business, and we don’t require them to have an iOS app,” Apple Senior Director of Worldwide Developer Marketing Esther Hare told TechCrunch. “This isn’t an incubator where you come with a good idea and we help you think through it. It’s about already having a good idea, Maybe they want to incorporate machine learning or augmented reality, or use some of Apple’s other technologies.”

Additionally, Hare envisions this program serving as a bit of street cred, which could help women get more funding. This year, female founders have raised just 2.2 percent of all venture capital investment in the U.S., according to PitchBook.

More broadly, she said, “we believe we can have a role in bringing women into more leadership roles” and help keep women in the workforce.

That’s why the program enables the core participant to bring up to three members from their team to the lab.

“Even if they’re not the most advanced, they get to come to the workshop to get support, network and skill development,” Hare said.

Apple has done similar workshops, talks and accelerators in the past, but this is the first that’s focused on women-founded companies. And while this is female-specific, Hare said “we designed this program with all underrepresented minorities in mind — particularly women of color.”

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Apple to host free coding sessions at stores, rolls out new material for teachers

Apple today opened registration for thousands of free “Hour of Code” sessions taking place at its Apple Store locations around the world from December 1st through the 14th. The sessions are one of several programs the company has underway focused on helping more people learn to code both inside and outside the classroom.

For the sixth year, Apple says it will host daily Hour of Code sessions through “Today at Apple.” These take place during the first two weeks of December and will focus on teaching aspiring coders core concepts. For those ages 6 to 12, the sessions will involve coding with robots, while attendees 12 and up will use the educational app Swift Playgrounds to learn coding basics.

Apple today also introduced new material for teachers participating in Computer Science Education Week – the educational campaign held in early December which aims to introduce computer science and coding to K through 12 students.

The company created an Hour of Code Facilitator Guide that helps educators host sessions where students learn to use Swift Playgrounds along with other iPad apps.

Related to this, Apple also introduced a new Swift Coding Club kit for teachers and students that provides the materials needed for them to start their own coding clubs at school.

This kit is designed for students ages 8 and up, and will see them collaborating, prototyping and learning about how to code an app.

The Swift Playgrounds educational app, launched just over two years ago, is today available in 15 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese, Apple noted. The app has been expanded since launch to include more courses, like those for programming toy robots or building apps that use AR, for example.

Now, Apple is turning mastery of the app into an AP (Advanced Placement) high school course, too.

The company says it will launch a free AP Computer Science Principles course syllabus and curriculum for the next school year, which will give students the chance to earn AP credit for learning to code in Swift. Students will also be able to take a certification exam – the App Development with Swift Level 1 exam – following their completion of the class. These will be held by Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide, and will test students’ knowledge of Swift, app developer tools and core components of apps.

Swift Playgrounds has been a significant part of Apple’s educational efforts over the past couple of years. In 2016, the company launched Everyone Can Code, which teaching coding to students from kindergarten to college and beyond. That program is now running at over 5,000 schools and colleges worldwide, says Apple.

 

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Last minute Cyber Monday deals

Listen, I know you’re tired of deals. I get it. You already woke up at 1AM on Black Friday to head to Best Buy in your pajama pants. But if we just stick together and follow the rules, we’ll get through the holiday gift season in one piece. We got this.

What follows is far from a comprehensive list of the deals you’ll be able to find online today, but should help you get started on your holiday shopping — or just pick up a little something for yourself, if you’re so inclined.

–Ring Video Doorbell 2 ($60 off) – As always, Amazon’s flooding Cyber Monday with deals on its own devices. At 30-percent, with a third-gen Echo Dot thrown in, the Ring doorbell just might be the best of the bunch.

–Buy a Samsung Galaxy, get an Echo Show free – Amazon’s also got some deep discounts on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, S9 and S9+, with bundled Echo devices thrown in for good measure. Sorry Bixby.

–Apple iPad ($80 off) – Walmart’s got a bunch of deals on Apple products — while supplies last.

–Apple Watch Series 3 ($50 off) – Sure it’s not the latest version — but it’s still a solid deal for the holidays.

–Fitbit Ionic ($70 off) – The Versa is admittedly the better of Fitbit’s new smartwatches, but $70 off is a solid deal for the larger device. 

–GoPro Hero7 ($70 off) – A solid discount for the leading action cam. 

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