“An intelligence agency has just confirmed that the US government does indeed buy location data collected by its citizens’ smartphones. In a memo sent to Sen.”
FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021
“The FCC announced today all carriers and phone companies must adopt the STIR/SHAKEN protocol by June 30th, 2021. The regulatory requirement is designed to combat robocalls, specifically those that try to hide their phone numbers by allowing carriers to authenticate caller IDs.”
T-Mobile and Sprint may be cleared to merge, but users are left with unclear signals
“Recapping the week’s biggest tech stories. It’s only fitting that T-Mobile and Sprint would get final judge’s approval for their massive merger during the week of Valentine’s Day.”
Google is rolling out RCS messaging without waiting for carriers – here’s what that means
“Almost two years after showing off the first glimpse of its Rich Communication Services (RCS), Google is rolling it out without waiting for carrier support.”
PSA: Don’t give out your phone number for Facebook 2FA, use an app instead
“It’s no secret that Facebook doesn’t respect your privacy in the least: we learned last October that the company used the phone number you provided for two-factor authentication to enable advertisers to target you.”
Google wants to make your landline phone useful again
“Google is adding home phone service to a bundle of services that also includes ultra fast broadband. On Tuesday, the company announced Fiber Phone, a service that will be sold alongside its 1Gbps broadband service and its video offering in cities where Google has deployed its all-fiber network.”
Android Lollipop’s WebView Un-bundled From To Improve Device Security
“In the last couple of years, we’ve seen something of a sea change with Android devices. Google and some of the device manufacturers, most notably HTC and Motorola, have started un-bundling certain applications from the operating system and allowing them to be updated from the Play Store.”
Senate passes phone unlocking bill
“The Senate has passed a bill legalizing phone unlocking, following a favorable House vote on a companion bill this spring.”
ZTE is selling the Firefox OS phone direct via Ebay for $100 shipped
“Firefox OS is a new Smartphone operating system from the makers of the Firefox browser. ZTE out of China is manufacturing the phone that will be running the Firefox OS. Specs of the phone aren’t going to blow anyone away but for $99.”
Confirmed: Snapchat Hack Not A Hoax, 4.6M Usernames And Numbers Published
“A site called SnapchatDB.info has saved usernames and phone numbers for 4.6 million accounts and made the information available for download.”
