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Monday, 30 March 2020

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Which Superstitions Are Based on Facts?

Superstitions—passed down through generations, or developed spontaneously on certain online forums—gobble up thousands of productive hours yearly. But it would be wrong to say that all that time spent avoiding ladders or cracks in the sidewalk is wasted. For one thing, we’d probably just be spending that time on some…

U.S. Government Using Mobile Ad Location Data to Track Compliance With Curbs on Movement

The U.S. government is using smartphone location data from the mobile ad industry to track people's movements amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Local governments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received the anonymized data about people in areas of "geographic interest," with the aim being to create a portal of geolocation information for 500 cities across the country.

The information will be used to learn how well people are complying with stay-at-home orders, according to WSJ. Citing an example, the report says researchers discovered large numbers of people were gathering in a New York City park, which led them to notify local authorities.

Even though the data is anonymized, WSJ says that privacy advocates want "strong legal safeguards" to limit how it can be used, in order to prevent its use for other purposes. Cellular carriers told the news outlet they have not been asked by the government to provide location data.

The development follows reports of other countries using cellphone data to monitor citizens and see if they are complying with curbs on movement to defeat the viral outbreak.

European mobile carriers have reportedly been sharing data with health authorities in Italy, Germany and Austria, while at the same time respecting Europe's privacy laws. Earlier this month, Israel passed emergency measures that allow security agencies to track the smartphone data of people with suspected COVID-19 and find others they may have come into contact with.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: privacy, COVID-19 Coronavirus

This article, "U.S. Government Using Mobile Ad Location Data to Track Compliance With Curbs on Movement" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2vXARzZ

UK Telecoms Providers Remove All Data Caps on Home Broadband Services

Britain's big telecoms providers have agreed to lift the data caps on all fixed-line broadband services to help people isolated at home following the coronavirus epidemic, reports Reuters.

The companies, which include BT, Virgin Media, Sky, O2, Vodafone, Three, and TalkTalk, committed to support and protect vulnerable customers during the pandemic following talks with the government and telecoms regulator Ofcom.

The ISPs are introducing additional measures, which include helping customers who find it difficult to pay bills because of the viral outbreak, improving mobile and landline packages, and prioritizing repairs for vulnerabile customers.

"It is essential that people stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives. This package helps people to stay connected whilst they stay home," Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said in the government statement.

The U.K. government last week imposed strict measures on public movement, including social distancing, a ban on gatherings of more than two people, and the closure of all shops selling non-essential goods.

People have also been told they should only leave the house to shop for basic necessities, exercise, medical needs and traveling to work if they can't work from home. The measures are expect to remain in place for at least 13 weeks, and possibly longer.

Tags: United Kingdom, COVID-19 Coronavirus

This article, "UK Telecoms Providers Remove All Data Caps on Home Broadband Services" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2UKK5YR

DOJ Reviewing Stock Trades Made by Lawmakers Before Covid-19 Market Crash: Report

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have started to review the sale of stock by lawmakers like Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina before the markets crashed over concerns about covid-19, according to a new report from CNN. Burr and other Republican senators received a…