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DuckDuckGo Launches 3-in-1 ‘Privacy Pro’ Subscription With VPN and Personal Data Removal Tool

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DuckDuckGo today announced the launch of Privacy Pro, a new subscription service that bundles three privacy-focused features together.

duckduckgo privacy pro
Privacy Pro includes a VPN for anonymous browsing and secure connections regardless of location, personal information removal for removing personal data from data broker sites, and identity theft restoration should any DuckDuckGo subscriber suffer from an identity theft situation.

The VPN works on up to five devices simultaneously, so it can be installed and used on a Mac, iPhone, iPad, and other devices at the same time. It is turned on through the DuckDuckGo browser so a second app is not required, and it does filter traffic through all apps and browsers.

DuckDuckGo’s personal information removal tool regularly scans 50 sites that sell information, such as Spokeo. Personal information is stored on device, and removal requests are initiated using the information provided during setup. The process is automated, and there is a dashboard to monitor results.

Identity theft restoration includes the support of a dedicated advisor that will work with users to restore stolen accounts, replace bank cards and other identifying documents, recover financial losses, and correct credit reports.

Privacy Pro from DuckDuckGo is priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, and it is currently only available in the United States. Users will need to ensure they are using the latest version of the DuckDuckGo browser to take advantage of the features.

Popular Stories

When to Expect a New Apple TV to Launch

It has been nearly a year and a half since the current Apple TV was released, so the device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade. Below, we recap rumors about the next Apple TV, including potential features and launch timing. The current model is the third-generation Apple TV 4K, announced in October 2022. Key new features compared to the previous model from 2021 include a faster A15…

Alleged iPhone 16 Battery Details Show Smaller Capacity for One Model

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 lineup will feature bigger battery capacities compared to previous-generation models with the exception of the iPhone 16 Plus, which will have a smaller battery than its predecessor. That’s according to the Chinese Weibo-based leaker OvO Baby Sauce OvO, a relatively new source of supply chain leaks with an as-yet unproven track record for accuracy. The iPhone 16 …

When to Expect the Next iPad Mini and Low-End iPad Models to Launch

While rumors have been focused on new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, some Apple customers are wondering when the next iPad mini will be released. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said new iPad mini and entry-level iPad models will be released in late 2024 at the earliest. “The company is also working on new versions of the low-end iPad and iPad mini, but those…

iPhone 16 Plus Rumored to Come in These 7 Colors

Apple’s iPhone 16 Plus may come in seven colors that either build upon the existing five colors in the standard iPhone 15 lineup or recast them in a new finish, based on a new rumor out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker Fixed focus digital, Apple’s upcoming larger 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus model will come in the following colors, compared to the colors currently available for the…

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices Across Every 10th Gen iPad

Following a few notable discounts on MacBooks yesterday, Best Buy today introduced a sale on the 10th generation iPad, including numerous all-time low prices on the tablet. Prices start at $349.00 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model, and include $100 markdowns on both Wi-Fi and cellular devices. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may…

Microsoft Says Windows Laptops With Snapdragon X Elite Will Be Faster Than M3 MacBook Air

Microsoft will advertise that its upcoming Windows laptops with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor are faster than the MacBook Air with Apple’s latest M3 chip, according to internal documents obtained by The Verge. “Microsoft is so confident in these new Qualcomm chips that it’s planning a number of demos that will show how these processors will be faster than an M3 MacBook Air for CPU…

Apple Event for New iPads Still Considered ‘Unlikely’ Following Delays

Apple is “unlikely” to hold an event to announce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, according to sources cited by Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman already said Apple was not planning to hold an event for the new iPads, but he made this claim back in early March, before it was reported that the devices were postponed due to manufacturing delays. With the…

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Computers

How to Delete Your Google Account—After Downloading All of Your Data First

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Deleting digital accounts that you rarely or never use not only reduces the amount of clutter in your online life—it keeps you safer too. Every extra account you’ve got is an extra target for a hacker, an extra database that might leak, and an extra way that someone might get access to some of your bigger, more important accounts. If you want to minimize your exposure, keep open only the accounts you need.

When it comes to deleting a Google account, the process isn’t difficult or long-winded, and Google will even let you download your data first. Bear in mind that deleting a Google account wipes out everything associated with your Google username, from the emails in Gmail, to the places you’ve saved in Google Maps, to the files you’ve saved to Google Drive.

It’s also worth noting that Google shuts down accounts automatically if they haven’t been used for two years, primarily for the security reasons that we’ve already mentioned. If you go to delete a Google account and find that it’s already gone, this might be why—though Google does send plenty of warnings in advance. You can read more about Google’s inactive account deletion policy if you think this has happened to your account.

Downloading Your Data

Screenshot of Gmail settingsa

Select the types of data you want to export from your account.

Google via David Nield

Head to your Google account page on the web, and you’ll see a Data and privacy link on the left: Click on this to get an overview of all the data Google has on you (which might be more than you realized). To get your data off Google’s servers and on to your local computer, follow the Download your data link toward the bottom of the page.

The next screen lets you select the types of data you want to export. It includes data from across all of Google’s apps and services, including browsing history saved in Chrome, your Google Calendar appointments, photos and videos in Google Photos, videos you’ve uploaded to YouTube, and your Google Chat logs. It shows you the full scope of all the data that’ll be wiped when you delete your Google account.

For busier Google accounts, there can be a daunting amount of material here. Use the checkboxes to select the categories of data you’d like to download: The Select all and Deselect all options at the top might help. Some entries in the list have options beneath them to let you pick between different export formats, and to select particular subsections of data (such as activity categories in Google Fit) to download.

When you’re happy with your selection, click the Next step button. You then have to choose how you want to get your download. You can get a download link over email, or have the archive sent straight to a cloud storage account. You’re also able to set up recurring downloads of the selected data, which you’re not going to want to do if you’re deleting your Google account.

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Entertainment

ISPs roll out mandatory broadband ‘nutrition’ labels that show speeds, fees and data allowances

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You can now ensure that you’re not going to be hit by hidden fees and taxes before you sign up with an internet service provider (ISP). Starting today, big ISPs with more than 100,000 subscribers will be required to display “nutrition labels” both in store and online under a new FCC rule. Those labels have to show the companies’ plans, fees and any additional costs, such as activation fees and upfront or rental fees for modems and other equipment.

They also have to show whether a particular amount that’s being advertised is an introductory or a discounted rate and how long you can enjoy that lower rate. Plus, the labels have to indicate each particular plan’s download and upload speeds, as well as any early termination fee associated with it. ISPs can’t hide these labels behind multiple clicks or camouflage them with other elements that make them hard to see. They have to be accessible from your customer account portal, and ISPs should give you a copy if you ask.

The FCC first floated the idea of nutrition labels for ISPs back in 2016, but it wasn’t until 2022 that it formally introduced rules requiring them to be displayed at the companies’ points of sale. As you can see in the image below, it resembles the nutrition labels for food and will (theoretically and hopefully) account for every dollar you pay for a wired or wireless plan. Back when the rule was announced, FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel explained that the agency chose to approve and implement it as part of its efforts to “end the kind of unexpected fees and junk costs that can get buried in long and mind-numbingly confusing statements of terms and conditions.”

Based on the FCC’s website, providers with less than 100,000 subscribers will be given a bit more time to comply and have until October 10. And in case you come across any ISP that isn’t displaying any label even when they should or is showing inaccurate information, you can file a complaint with the commission through its official portal.

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FCC

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Computers

How to Stop Your Data From Being Used to Train AI

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On its help pages, OpenAI says ChatGPT web users without accounts should navigate to Settings and then uncheck Improve the model for everyone. If you have an account and are logged in through a web browser, select ChatGPT, Settings, Data Controls, and then turn off Chat History & Training. If you’re using ChatGPT’s mobile apps, go to Settings, pick Data Controls, and turn off Chat History & Training. Changing these settings, OpenAI’s support pages say, won’t sync across different browsers or devices, so you need to make the change everywhere you use ChatGPT.

OpenAI is about a lot more than ChatGPT. For its Dall-E 3 image generator, the startup has a form that allows you to send images to be removed from “future training datasets.” It asks for your name, email, whether you own the image rights or are getting in touch on behalf of a company, details of the image, and any uploads of the image(s). OpenAI also says if you have a “high volume” of images hosted online that you want removed from training data, then it may be “more efficient” to add GPTBot to the robots.txt file of the website where the images are hosted.

Traditionally a website’s robots.txt file—a simple text file that usually sits at websitename.com/robots.txt—has been used to tell search engines, and others, whether they can include your pages in their results. It can now also be used to tell AI crawlers not to scrape what you have published—and AI companies have said they’ll honor this arrangement.

Perplexity

Perplexity is a startup that uses AI to help you search the web and find answers to questions. Like all of the other software on this list, you are automatically opted in to having your interactions and data used to train Perplexity’s AI further. Turn this off by clicking on your account name, scrolling down to the Account section, and turning off the AI Data Retention toggle.

Quora

Image may contain Page Text File and Webpage

Quora via Matt Burgess

Quora says it “currently” doesn’t use answers to people’s questions, posts, or comments for training AI. It also hasn’t sold any user data for AI training, a spokesperson says. However, it does offer opt-outs in case this changes in the future. To do this, visit its Settings page, click to Privacy, and turn off the “Allow large language models to be trained on your content” option. Despite this choice, there are some Quora posts that may be used for training LLMs. If you reply to a machine-generated answer, the company’s help pages say, then those answers may be used for AI training. It points out that third parties may just scrape its content anyway.

Rev

Rev, a voice transcription service that uses both human freelancers and AI to transcribe audio, says it uses data “perpetually” and “anonymously” to train its AI systems. Even if you delete your account, it will still train its AI on that information.

Kendell Kelton, head of brand and corporate communications at Rev, says it has the “largest and most diverse data set of voices,” made up of more than 6.5 million hours of voice recording. Kelton says Rev does not sell user data to any third parties. The firm’s terms of service say data will be used for training, and that customers are able to opt out. People can opt out of their data being used by sending an email to [email protected], its help pages say.

Slack

All of those random Slack messages at work might be used by the company to train its models as well. “Slack has used machine learning in its product for many years. This includes platform-level machine-learning models for things like channel and emoji recommendations,” says Jackie Rocca, a vice president of product at Slack who’s focused on AI.

Even though the company does not use customer data to train a large language model for its Slack AI product, Slack may use your interactions to improve the software’s machine-learning capabilities. “To develop AI/ML models, our systems analyze Customer Data (e.g. messages, content, and files) submitted to Slack,” says Slack’s privacy page. Similar to Adobe, there’s not much you can do on an individual level to opt out if you’re using an enterprise account.

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Featured

TextNow unlimited data plans start at just $0.99 now – yes, really

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Sick of paying for heaps of data you don’t even need? The mobile provider TextNow has recently introduced a flexible array of unlimited data passes that could be a fantastic option.

TextNow’s new unlimited data passes include an hourly pass for $0.99, a daily pass for $4.99, and a monthly pass for $39.99. Under the new system, all you need to do is pay for an amount of data upfront via the TextNow app and that’s it – you’ll immediately unlock your allowance of 5G data.

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Featured

Top yacht retailer MarineMax says cyberattack led to major online data breach

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MarineMax has confirmed suffering a cyberattack, thought to be ransomware, in which threat actors stole sensitive customer information.

In an 8-K form, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1, the company, one of the leading yacht sellers worldwide, said a third party “gained unauthorized access to portions of our information environment.”

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Featured

Google may have been storing your incognito browsing data and now they’ve agreed to delete it

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Bad news: Google‘s apparently been storing your Chrome incognito browsing data.

Good news. They’ve finally agreed to delete it.

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News

Google to Delete Chrome Incognito Browsing Data to Settle Lawsuit

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Google has agreed to delete data that was collected from customers who used the Chrome browser’s Incognito mode, settling a class action lawsuit that started in 2020, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Chrome Feature 22
The lawsuit claimed that Google misled users about the data collected while in Incognito or private browsing mode, tracking their website usage without their knowledge. Google was keeping data that included websites viewed, but the Incognito tab did not make this clear.

Browsing in Incognito mode said that browsing was “private” and that people won’t see browsing activity, and while it was stated that websites could still collect data, the warning said nothing about Google’s data collection. Google updated the wording of Incognito mode in January 2024 to clarify that Google collects the same data in Incognito mode and standard browsing mode.

Google plans to destroy “billions of data points” that were improperly collected, in addition to updating the wording in Incognito mode and disabling third-party cookies by default when using the feature (Google plans to get rid of cookies entirely later this year). The settlement does not include damages for Chrome users, but individuals do have the option to file their own lawsuits.

A Google spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that Google does not have an issue with deleting “old technical data” that was not associated with individuals or used for personalization. The agreement still needs final approval from the judge overseeing the case.

Google is wrapping up several smaller lawsuits as it faces off with the U.S. Department of Justice over its search and ad businesses. Google has been accused of making preferential deals that have harmed the search industry and of having too much control over advertising tools. The search battle has been ongoing since last September, while the ad lawsuit will proceed in September 2024.

Popular Stories

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will…

Google Reveals When to Expect RCS Support on iPhone for Improved Texting With Android Users

In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting “later” in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the “fall…

Top Stories: WWDC 2024 Announced, New iPads Delayed, and More

Apple’s WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company’s next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and…

Criminals in Montreal Using AirTags to Steal Vehicles

Thieves in Montreal, Canada have been using Apple’s AirTags to facilitate vehicle theft, according to a report from Vermont news sites WCAX and NBC5 (via 9to5Mac). Police officers in Burlington, Vermont have issued a warning about AirTags for drivers who recently visited Canada. Two Burlington residents found Apple AirTags in their vehicles after returning from trips to Montreal, and these…

First iPhone 16 Cases Outline New Rear Vertical Camera Bump

Photos of the first iPhone 16 cases have been shared online, offering another preview of the rumored new vertical rear camera arrangement on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Image credit: Accessory leaker Sonny Dickson Over the last few months, Apple has been experimenting with different camera bump designs for the standard iPhone 16 models, all of which have featured a vertical …

$3 App Shoots Better Quality Spatial Video Than iPhone’s Camera App

A $3 third-party app can now record spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro models in a higher resolution than Apple’s very own Camera app. Thanks to an update first spotted by UploadVR, Spatialify can now record spatial videos with HDR in 1080p at 60fps or in 4K at 30fps. In comparison, Apple’s native Camera app is limited to recording spatial video in 1080p at 30fps. Shortly after Apple’s Vision …

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News

AT&T Notifying Customers About Massive Data Leak

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AT&T this week is letting customers and former customers know about a major data leak, and it is sending out emails and resetting passcodes to prevent unauthorized account access.

ATT Banner
7.6 million customers and 65.4 million former customers have had their passcodes stolen and have had sensitive data leaked. AT&T claims that there was no unauthorized access to its systems resulting in the theft of the data set, with the information obtained several years ago.

Back in 2021, a hacking group said that it had stolen information on 70 million AT&T customers. AT&T at the time said that it had not suffered a breach, and the company still insists that the data did not come from its systems. Customer information leaked includes names, addresses, birth dates, AT&T account numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and social security numbers, along with passcodes.

The data was not made public until March 2024, but now that it is out in the wild, AT&T has initiated passcode resets and says that it is working with external cybersecurity experts to further analyze the situation.

The company says leaked data does not include financial information or call history, and it will be providing complimentary identity theft and credit monitoring services for those who had their personal information compromised.

AT&T has determined that AT&T data-specific fields were contained in a data set released on the dark web. While AT&T has made this determination, it is not yet known whether the data in those fields originated from AT&T or one of its vendors.

With respect to the balance of the data set, which includes personal information such as social security numbers, the source of the data is still being assessed. Based on our preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier, impacting approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. Currently, AT&T does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in theft of the data set.

Impacted current and former customers will be receiving a letter or an email from AT&T.

Popular Stories

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will…

Google Reveals When to Expect RCS Support on iPhone for Improved Texting With Android Users

In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting “later” in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the “fall…

Top Stories: WWDC 2024 Announced, New iPads Delayed, and More

Apple’s WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company’s next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and…

Criminals in Montreal Using AirTags to Steal Vehicles

Thieves in Montreal, Canada have been using Apple’s AirTags to facilitate vehicle theft, according to a report from Vermont news sites WCAX and NBC5 (via 9to5Mac). Police officers in Burlington, Vermont have issued a warning about AirTags for drivers who recently visited Canada. Two Burlington residents found Apple AirTags in their vehicles after returning from trips to Montreal, and these…

First iPhone 16 Cases Outline New Rear Vertical Camera Bump

Photos of the first iPhone 16 cases have been shared online, offering another preview of the rumored new vertical rear camera arrangement on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Image credit: Accessory leaker Sonny Dickson Over the last few months, Apple has been experimenting with different camera bump designs for the standard iPhone 16 models, all of which have featured a vertical …

$3 App Shoots Better Quality Spatial Video Than iPhone’s Camera App

A $3 third-party app can now record spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro models in a higher resolution than Apple’s very own Camera app. Thanks to an update first spotted by UploadVR, Spatialify can now record spatial videos with HDR in 1080p at 60fps or in 4K at 30fps. In comparison, Apple’s native Camera app is limited to recording spatial video in 1080p at 30fps. Shortly after Apple’s Vision …

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Bisnis Industri

Google forced to delete data by Chrome Incognito mode lawsuit

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The Google Chrome logo with the caption:
A lawsuit revealed that Google allowed users of Chrome’s Incognito mode to think the app wasn’t tracking them.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google is reportedly being required to delete the data it gathered while millions of users of its Chrome web bowser were in Incognito mode as part of settling a lawsuit.

Moving forward, the company will continue to track Chrome users in Incognito mode while making it clearer that is what is happening.

Chrome Incognito mode lawsuit is an expensive back eye for Google

Chrome collecting user data isn’t an accident — it’s the whole purpose of the application for Windows, macOS, iPhone, etc. That’s because Google is an advertising company. It creates software purely to gather personal information about users so it can sell targeted ads.

Google’s practice of gathering user data while they were online in Incognito mode resulted in the company paying $5 billion to resolve a class-action lawsuit. Users mistakenly thought Incognito mode in the browser prevented Google from tracking them — a misconception the company was apparently aware of and didn’t try to remedy.

Further details of their settlement were revealed on Monday, including that “Google has agreed to destroy billions of data points that the lawsuit alleges it improperly collected,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The advertising giant is also required to modify the description of Chrome Incognito mode to make it clear that Google still tracks people who use the web browser, a change that’s already begun.

The class action settlement also reportedly requires the company for the next five years to allow users to configure Incognito mode so that it always blocks third-party cookies.

Note that the settlement does not require Google to cease tracking users while they are in Chrome Incognito mode. The company will continue to do so — it need only make it clear to users that’s what is happening.

Tips for more private browsing

Chrome is very popular, even with Mac users who can use Safari instead. (Privacy is just one of the reasons Apple fans should use Safari instead of Chrome.) But if there are certain websites you want to go to that you’d prefer didn’t get added to the profile Google has filled with your private information, switch to Safari Private Browsing. Apple doesn’t use Safari to track users.

Even better, use DuckDuckGo when you want to go off the grid. This privacy-focused search engine and browser won’t save your searches or try to track you in any way. Its whole reason for existing is to protect your privacy on the internet.



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