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You can keep using GitHub but automatically sync your GitHub releases to SourceForge quickly and easily with this tool so your projects have a backup location, and get your project in front of SourceForge’s nearly 20 million monthly users. It takes less than a minute. Get new users downloading your project releases today! × 173862567 story Apple and Google Introduce Alerts for Unwanted Bluetooth Tracking 2626 Posted by msmash on Monday May 13, 2024 @06:00PM from the shared-battles dept. Apple and Google have launched a new industry standard called " Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers " to combat the misuse of Bluetooth trackers for stalking . Starting Monday, iPhone and Android users will receive alerts when an unknown Bluetooth device is detected moving with them. The move comes after numerous cases of trackers like Apple’s AirTags being used for malicious purposes . Several Bluetooth tag companies have committed to making their future products compatible with the new standard. Apple and Google said they will continue collaborating with the Internet Engineering Task Force to further develop this technology and address the issue of unwanted tracking.173836741 story Big Three Carriers Pay $10 Million To Settle Claims of False ’Unlimited’ Advertising (arstechnica.com) 3333 Posted by BeauHD on Friday May 10, 2024 @09:25PM from the false-advertising dept. Jon Brodkin reports via Ars Technica: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T will pay a combined $10.2 million in a settlement with US states that alleged the carriers falsely advertised wireless plans as "unlimited" and phones as "free." The deal was announced yesterday by New York Attorney General Letitia James. "A multistate investigation found that the companies made false claims in advertisements in New York and across the nation, including misrepresentations about ’unlimited’ data plans that were in fact limited and had reduced quality and speed after a certain limit was reached by the user," the announcement said. T-Mobile and Verizon agreed to pay $4.1 million each while AT&T agreed to pay a little over $2 million. The settlement includes AT&T subsidiary Cricket Wireless and Verizon subsidiary TracFone. The settlement involves 49 of the 50 US states (Florida did not participate) and the District of Columbia. The states’ investigation found that the three major carriers "made several misleading claims in their advertising, including misrepresenting ’unlimited’ data plans that were actually limited, offering ’free’ phones that came at a cost, and making false promises about switching to different wireless carrier plans." "AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile lied to millions of consumers, making false promises of free phones and ’unlimited’ data plans that were simply untrue," James said. "Big companies are not excused from following the law and cannot trick consumers into paying for services they will never receive." The carriers denied any illegal conduct despite agreeing to the settlement. In addition to payments to each state, the carriers agreed to changes in their advertising practices. It’s unclear whether consumers will get any refunds out of the settlement, however. These are the following changes the three carriers agreed upon, as highlighted by the NY attorney general’s office: - "Unlimited" mobile data plans can only be marketed if there are no limits on the quantity of data allowed during a billing cycle. - Offers to pay for consumers to switch to a different wireless carrier must clearly disclose how much a consumer will be paid, how consumers will be paid, when consumers can expect payment, and any additional requirements consumers have to meet to get paid. - Offers of "free" wireless devices or services must clearly state everything a consumer must do to receive the "free" devices or services. - Offers to lease wireless devices must clearly state that the consumer will be entering into a lease agreement. - All "savings" claims must have a reasonable basis. If a wireless carrier claims that consumers will save using its services compared to another wireless carrier, the claim must be based on similar goods or services or differences must be clearly explained to the consumer. The advertising restrictions are to be in place for five years.173826501 story Maryland Passes Two Bills Limiting Tech Platforms’ Ability To Track Users (theverge.com) 1919 Posted by BeauHD on Thursday May 09, 2024 @03:26PM from the despite-big-tech-lobbying dept. An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Maryland legislature passed two bills over the weekend limiting tech platforms’ ability to collect and use consumers’ data . Maryland Governor Wes Moore is expected to sign one of those bills, the Maryland Kids Code, on Thursday, MoCo360 reports . If signed into law, the other bill, the Maryland Online Privacy Act, will go into effect in October 2025. The legislation would limit platforms’ ability to collect user data and let users opt out of having their data used for targeted advertising and other purposes. Together, the bills would significantly limit social media and other platforms’ ability to track their usersbut tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Meta, have opposed similar legislation. Lawmakers say the goal is to protect children, but tech companies say the bills are a threat to free speech. Part of the Maryland Kids Codethe Maryland Age-Appropriate Design Code Actwill go into effect much sooner, on October 1st. It bans platforms from using "system design features to increase, sustain, or extend the use of the online product," including autoplaying media, rewarding users for spending more time on the platform, and spamming users with notifications. Another part of the legislation prohibits certain video game, social media, and other platforms from tracking users who are younger than 18. "It’s meant to rein in some of the worst practices with sensible regulation that allows companies to do what’s right and what is wonderful about the internet and tech innovation, while at the same time saying, ’You can’t take advantage of our kids,’" Maryland state Delegate Jared Solomon, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a press conference Wednesday . "We are technically the second state to pass a kids code," Solomon told The New York Times. "But we are hoping to be the first state to withstand the inevitable court challenge that we know is coming."173824327 story Dell Says Data Breach Involved Customers’ Physical Addresses (techcrunch.com) 1818 Posted by msmash on Thursday May 09, 2024 @11:27AM from the we-are-all-famous-now dept. Technology giant Dell notified customers on Thursday that it experienced a data breach involving customers’ names and physical addresses . TechCrunch: In an email seen by TechCrunch and shared by several people on social media, the computer maker wrote that it was investigating "an incident involving a Dell portal, which contains a database with limited types of customer information related to purchases from Dell." Dell wrote that the information accessed in the breach included customer names, physical addresses, and "Dell hardware and order information, including service tag, item description, date of order and related warranty...