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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain We have reached a key juncture in the debate about online privacy, following Meta's recent decision to offer some users paid-for ad-free access to Facebook and Instagram. The time has come to decide how much we value keeping our data, tastes and whereabouts to ourselves. The main and often only way that free-to-use online services such as Google, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok make money is by selling data about user preferences to advertisers. And since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in the EU and the UK in 2018, firms have been allowed to track and sell this data to third parties, so long as they seek your explicit consent beforehand. Most companies complied with GDPR by introducing those annoying pop-up windows that we've all come to know and hate when we open up a website. Popups are not explicitly required by the regulations, but they make clicking "OK" for tracking the easy choice, so they have been widely adopted by companies.  » Read More

Half a million hopefuls waiting for a check from the massive $725 million Facebook privacy settlement received a rejection letter over the past ...  » Read More

On a December afternoon in 2020, Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz drove to Redwood Regional Park, just east of Oakland, Calif., for a mysterious meeting. For months, he’d been working on a story about Facebook, albeit with little luck finding anyone from the company willing to talk. But then he reached out to Frances Haugen. On paper, she didn’t seem like the most obvious candidate for a whistleblower. A mid-level product manager on Facebook’s Civic Integrity team, Haugen, 35, had only been with the social network for a little less than a year and a half. But she was eager. “People needed to understand what was going on at Facebook, she said, and she had been taking some notes that she thought might be useful in explaining it,” Horwitz writes in his new book, “Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets” (Doubleday). Haugen didn’t want to talk by email or even phone, insisting it was too dangerous.  » Read More

Nov. 14, 2023, 10:45 PM UTC Christopher Brown Staff CorrespondentKroger Co. allegedly invaded the privacy of online pharmacy patients by sharing their health information with Meta Platforms Inc. and other third parties without their consent, a proposed federal class action said.Jane Doe alleged that Kroger installed the Facebook “pixel” and other tracking technologies on its website, allowing Meta and other third parties to collect information about patients’ interactions with the sites, including their prescriptions, medical appointments, procedures, treatment options, and health care providers and facilities.The lawsuit is the latest in a wave of litigation against website operators over their use of tracking technologies that transfer consumers’ information ... Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading: Learn About Bloomberg Law AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news. Already a subscriber? Log in to keep reading or access research tools.  » Read More

BLOOMINGTON — Local Facebook group, "We're in this Together Bloomington-Normal," will be giving away free gifts ahead of Christmas. Connect Transit to collect donations for 21st annual Stuff-the-BusThe group is working with YouthBuild McLean County, 360 Wylie Drive in Normal, to help hand out free gifts from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 2. WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL All McLean County residents are eligible to attend and will be asked to provide their name and proof of residency with either an ID or a piece of mail. Gifts will be offered to every person in each household.To learn more about the event or group, visit www.tinyurl.com/WITTBloomingtonNormal. 'Shark Tank,' Redbird style: Inside Illinois State University's annual Startup ShowcaseDonations can also be made through Venmo at @suz103 with a phone number ending in 0374 or by contacting the group's moderators on Facebook.  » Read More

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — The Pima County Sheriff's Department launched its new Spanish-language Facebook Page.The page is called Pima County Sheriff's Department En Español."The goal of this page is to reach more of Pima County’s Spanish-speaking community and be a resource for a growing piece of our diverse population," PCSD said.You can find the Facebook page here.  » Read More

12 Nov, 2023 08:45 PM3 mins to readWillie Jackson's two Facebook posts attracted millions.Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On AirLabour MP Willie Jackson has found a new niche calling - rarking up South African fans about their Rugby World Cup final victory.Jackson posted on social media that the better side lost the final in the Stade de France last month when the All Blacks came up short in a 12-11 win for the Springboks. He then posted that the England women’s team were better than the Black Ferns and should have won last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.Jackson’s two Facebook posts have attracted reactions from all over the world, millions of views and thousands of comments.His first post attracted 75,000 likes or emojis, 62,000 comments, 18,500 shares and had a total reach of a staggering 6.4 million people.A second, a few days later, received 16,000 likes, 14,000 comments, 1000 shares and a reach of 1.4 million.  » Read More

An Australian woman has pulled at the heartstrings with a witty ad for the “best bin to ever exist” - declaring the new owner will “legitimately fall in love”.Casey, from Sydney, was bombarded with amusing messages from “smitten” buyers shortly after she listed her “smart as she is stylish 40L beauty” on Facebook Marketplace for $100.“You will legitimately fall in love with this bin. No, I’m not joking,” the ad reads.For more Lifestyle related news and videos check out Lifestyle “Before we met, I didn’t think it was possible to love anything related to rubbish. But here I am, feeling emotional at the thought of parting ways with an inanimate object.“This compact 40-litre beauty has a unique vertical design for easy sorting of waste and recycling.“The two 20-litre removable compartments feature liner retaining holes and carrier bag hooks for easier emptying.”An Australian woman has pulled at the heartstrings with a witty advert for the ‘best bin to ever exist’.  » Read More

There has almost been no hotter topic in the last few months than the EPA cracking down on emissions violators. Folks looking to modify their trucks have been hit with fines, and the companies making the parts have been even more aggressively admonished for selling non-compliant parts. So when the Sharp County, Arkansas Sheriff posted an emissions-deleted truck for sale, you can guess what happened.According to the Arkansas Times, Sharp County Sheriff Shane Russell posted a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 HD to Facebook marketplace with the description clearly stating that it is “deleted and tuned.” In all fairness, the Sharp County Sheriff didn’t write the EPA laws on emissions, but they certainly are empowered to enforce them. The leader of the local sheriff's department owning an illegal truck while simultaneously enforcing the law is a bit rich, if we’re being honest.Deleted and tuned simply refers to the fact that truck’s factory emissions equipment has been deleted and the truck was tuned to a different specification from factory.  » Read More

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Selection Committee announced Saturday (Nov. 11) that the Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams have each earned at-large selections to the 2023 NCAA Championships set to be run at the Panorama Farms Cross Country Course on Saturday (Nov. 18). The selection comes following the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships where the Cavalier women placed third overall while the Virginia men finished fifth. Two weeks prior, both teams placed third at the ACC Championships. The Cavalier men earn their first at-large selection to the NCAA Championships since the 2017 season while the UVA women earn their second consecutive at-large bid. The last time both Virginia teams qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships via at-large selections was in 2006. Panorama Farms and XC23 Virginia will host the 2023 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Nov. 18). The championship meet will mark the second time UVA has hosted the event and the first time since the 1987 championships. The meet will be broadcast live on ESPNU beginning at 10 a.m.  » Read More