What is Tasker and how does it work?

Tasker is the essence of Android.

Android is about customization and making your phone work for you, and nothing exemplifies that quite as well as Tasker… except maybe Nova Launcher. Tasker is an automation app that lets us mere mortals work a little Android magic. Yes, magic. Magic is science we don’t understand yet, and that makes it a perfect analogy for Tasker, as really the biggest obstacle the app faces is people not knowing what it is, how it works, and just what it can do for you.

So, let’s answer those questions and make a little magic.

What is Tasker?

Tasker is an automation app. You create a list of actions, called a task, which can then be executed according to a variety of contexts. You tell Tasker you want it to do A, B, and C when X and/or Y happens. You might be thinking that Tasker’s like IFTTT, and you’d be half right. Tasker tasks are similar to IFTTT applets, and both services have a wide variety of plugins. IFTTT has wider service support and cross-platform usability, but Tasker can do more on the Android devices it touches with more complex actions.

Actions in Tasker tasks can be as simple as turning on or off a setting like Bluetooth, or as complicated as sending app-specific media and control commands through third-party plugins. Contexts can be a variety of things, from automatic profiles or plugins, shortcuts, or simply opening the app and pressing play.

How does Tasker work?

When you open up Tasker, you have four tabs to work with: Profiles are contextual ways to trigger Tasks, which are the lists of organized Actions you want to perform. Scenes are visual interfaces that users can build to execute tasks, as well as Popups and other visual elements that can be used in Tasks various ways — such as waking up the screen on my phone without the use of root. Variables are values that can be assigned and changed over time. Tasker has a lot of global variables built in, and you can assign your own variables, should you desire.

To create a Task, you first give it a Name, and then you can begin assigning actions to that task. Actions are grouped according to type, but you can also search for actions by name, which makes things significantly easier for Tasker builders… so long as you know the proper name for the action you’re looking for.

Once you select an action, you configure it, such as telling Wi-Fi to turn off rather than on, or telling a plugin which app to direct commands to. Once you have your actions in order, you can execute the task by pressing play, or by adding it to a Profile, which can be launched at a certain time, when a certain app is open, or a number of other contexts.

Just what can it do for you?

Tasker can do a multitude of things to your phone, and it has done this for me over the years. Even before Android had automatic rules for Do Not Disturb, Tasker ensured my phone wouldn’t disturb me while I got my beauty sleep. At show time, Tasker would set my phone to silent, ensuring my Fantasmic ring tone didn’t blare out in a live broadcast. When I was getting in the car, Tasker recognized the Bluetooth head unit and executed a task that would turn off my Wi-Fi and turn on my music.

Before Google Assistant put so many commands at my fingertips, Tasker and AutoVoice — a third-party plugin that allows users to program specific voice commands for our tasks — combined to give me vital hands-free commands, and when it combined with Moto Voice on my Moto X, it felt like actual magic.

The Tasker use that keeps me around, however, is my Tasker + Google Play Music alarm clock. This alarm profile and task brings back the convenience and nostalgia of my old CD and iPod alarm clocks, turning back on my current Google Play Music queue rather than playing the old song or alarm tone day after day after day.

The limits of Tasker

Tasker can do so, so, so much, but the same time, there are some very grey, very hazy limitations to what Tasker can do. What you can do varies from phone to phone and some of the cooler examples you’ll see require a rooted phone. Beyond devices, the biggest limitation Tasker can face is your time — how much of it are you willing to spend to do this stuff? I’ve spent weeks fine-tuning my precious alarm after I switch phones, but that alarm also gives me something nothing else on Android can.

That’s the heart of Tasker. It can work Android magic, if you’re willing to take the time to understand the logistics and the programming behind it. That magic tests the limits of Android and the limits of user ingenuity, and if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, it can leave you in awe.

T-Mobile targets Baby Boomers with two unlimited lines for $60 promotion

T-Mobile is targeting Baby Boomers with its latest Uncarrier plan.

T-Mobile has announced a new plan that’s targeted at Baby Boomers, giving them the ability to pick up two unlimited lines for just $60. With the offer, those aged 55 and above can register for the first T-Mobile One plan for $50, with the second line costing just $10 — after factoring in a $5 per line Autopay discount.

Calling Boomers the “most loyal, long-term wireless customers in the world,” T-Mobile’s outspoken CEO John Legere said:

For years, the carriers have been patronizing the generation that invented wireless. They thank these mobile pioneers by selling dumbed down ‘senior’ plans with exactly zero data and — get this — night and weekend minutes! That’s not just idiotic — it’s insulting! Today, the Un-carrier ends this ridiculousness with T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+ — an offer that recognizes how Boomers and beyond actually use their smartphones!

When this generation was getting their first phones, AT&T and Verizon were the only real options—and the Duopoly has been taking advantage of them ever since! Where the Duopoly sees another group to patronize and monetize, we see an opportunity to bring the Un-carrier revolution to more people not getting the service or respect they deserve.

With T-Mobile One, the carrier is offering unlimited talk, text, and data, with 200MB of roaming data and unlimited roaming in Canada and Mexico. The Unlimited 55+ plan sees tethering being limited to 3G, and video streaming to 480p. Those that consume 32GB of cellular data in a billing cycle will see “reduced speeds” on the network.

Everything you need to know about the T-Mobile ONE unlimited plan

According to T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon control 81% of the postpaid wireless market for the 55+ demographic. T-Mobile serves 18% of all wireless customers in the U.S., but just 8% of the 55+ demographic. Over 74% of Baby Boomers own a smartphone, and spend around 149 minutes a day on their devices, only slightly lower than the 171 minutes consumed by millennials. And with over 93 million Americans aged over 55, that’s a huge market for the taking.

To be eligible, the primary account holder needs to be 55 or above — there’s no age restrictions for the second person on the line. Interested? You can walk into a T-Mobile retail store on or after August 9 to sign up, while existing customers can switch by calling 1.800.TMOBILE.

See at T-Mobile

Should you buy a Chromebook in August 2017?

While not for everyone, a Chromebook can be the best choice for a lot of things.

Whenever we talk about Chromebooks, this is one of the questions that always pops up. It’s understandable — you’ve got about half the internet telling you that Chromebooks are great and most folks can do everything they want to do on a laptop with Chrome, and most of the other half claiming that they are useless and you shouldn’t spend your money of “just a browser.”

As usual, I think the real wisdom comes from the people in the middle. Folks who will come forward and say a Chromebook is their only computer or the one they use all or most of the time, and why it works for them. I may be biased because I’m one of those people, but I really do think that for a good many of us, a Chromebook is the best computer you can buy.

What you can’t do with a Chromebook

I think the easy way to answer this question is by saying that there are people who shouldn’t buy a Chromebook and expect it to be able to do the things they want it to do. Chromebooks weren’t designed to do everything — they were designed to do the basics that most people need very well.

For most folks working with code a Chromebook isn’t the best choice

I know plenty of people who are programmers and developers. Some of them do web development using languages that don’t need to be compiled into a container and instead are interpreted by the browser, and a Chromebook is a great way to do that. You can build out a web app or website, then get everything running well either online or locally. Once it works as intended, you clean things up and upload to a development server where folks using other browsers — you can’t install Microsoft Edge or Firefox on a Chromebook. These two browsers tend to require small tweaks when compared to Chrome or Safari. Using a Chromebook is a great way to do webdev, but will require testing with other machines.

Other types of development just aren’t practical. Sure, you can install plugins and extensions that allow for a Ruby or Python interpreter, but usually, they aren’t able to do everything you’ll need to do. Compiling software — turning source code into a stand-alone application — whether it be apps for a phone or for any other computer certainly isn’t practical unless you put your Chromebook into developer mode and install another flavor of Linux. Of course, you can develop Chrome apps and extensions, but for most folks working with code a Chromebook isn’t the best “main” machine. It wasn’t designed to be.

Another area where Chromebooks aren’t going to be your best bet is media creation. You can find all sorts of Chrome apps for audio and video production or image editing, but for people doing anything like this full-time, the apps and their features just aren’t powerful enough. Here at Android Central, we have a crew who handles video production and audio production, but we still need to do some of the “smaller” things ourselves, and I’ll be honest — doing some of it on a Chromebook just isn’t practical. Even something as simple as cleaning up a photo using RAW imaging editing software can be a bit difficult unless you go the extra mile and install another Linux environment onto your Chromebook, and for many, a full-fledged Linux desktop has it’s own big learning curve. For serious editing, most Chromebooks also don’t have the hardware under the hood to make it practical, either. Again, nobody selling Chromebooks is implying they were designed for this sort of work, and that’s because they just aren’t.

AAA games just aren’t going to run on a Chromebook

The biggest problem for many is gaming. Most of us aren’t programmers or media professionals, but plenty of us like to fire up a computer and play some games. None of those AAA titles you’re interested are going to run on a Chromebook for two reasons — none of them are built to run in a Chrome OS environment (even if there’s a Linux version available) and Chromebooks don’t have the disk space, the video card or the memory to run them anyway. There are some really good browser based games out there, and most of them run really well on Chrome OS and the limited hardware Chromebooks usually ship with, but you’ll never be able to play the Fallout series or Skyrim or CoD on your Chromebook. Don’t expect this to change anytime soon, either. A quick look at Steam for Mac or Linux shows developers are focused on building games for Windows using things like Direct X and special support for AMD or NVIDIA GPUs, or for the PlayStation and Xbox. We don’t blame them — that’s where the money is.

For everyone else

We’ve looked at things a Chromebook doesn’t do well, and if any of these things are important to you, I think you’ll be better served with a laptop running another operating system. But the good news is that Chromebooks do the things they were designed to do very well, and might be the best choice for you.

Chromebooks are built to run anything and everything on the web. You can visit your bank, or spend time on Facebook, or watch YouTube and Netflix and anything else you type into a browser bar. If you use a recent model, like the Samsung Chromebook Plus, you’ll have a much better web experience than you will with any similarly priced laptop.

Chromebooks are built to run anything and everything on the web.

This is because Chrome OS was designed to be light and manage resources far better than their Windows and Apple counterparts. On OS X or Windows, Chrome uses a bunch of memory to sandbox processes outside of the operating system as a security precaution, but on a Chromebook, they don’t have to do that — the operating system manages the processes at the platform level with isolation in mind from the minute you turn your Chromebook on. Chrome the operating system is efficient very smart at multitasking between tabs or running applications.

More: Best apps for Chromebooks

You also have everything Google does available, with full access to your Google account if you like. The same way Android connects to Google and synchronizes your mail, your contacts, your online credentials and all your other Google data is how things work with a Chromebook. With apps, web interfaces and extensions from folks like Microsoft, or the native Google Docs and Google Drive combination, even office work is a breeze. Once you sign in, and only when you sign in, you have access to all your Google “stuff”. If you want to be Google free, you can also log in as a guest and share none of this with Google. And just like Chrome the browser on any other computer, you can mix up both ways using incognito tabs and windows.

And now that Chromebooks can run Android apps, there are even more options for getting things done. In fact, I think the best Android tablet is actually a Chromebook. Android apps and Google Play on your Chromebook really changes things for the better.

Security

Security is also well-managed on a Chromebook. You still need to check what data you’re sharing with Google or any other service and look after your privacy, but only you’ll not have to worry about the actual security aspect of it all — Chrome OS does it for you.

We already talked a little bit about sandboxing, but the way Chrome works means that no matter what you’re doing in one tab or application window, none of it can affect any of the others. Any potential threat is contained, and disappears once you close it.

Automatic updates and Verified Boot make Chromebooks the safe way to get online

Automatic updates and Verified Boot also play a big part here. Chrome OS is updated monthly without any user intervention, and the update process is seamless and you won’t notice it. Every time you start your Chromebook is checks for a new version, and if one is available it’s downloaded and the next time you start up you’re running it. And every time you start your Chromebook Verified Boot checks to make sure nothing has changed in the operating system, and if it thinks anything has been tampered with, it starts from the last verified copy you downloaded from Google instead. You won’t have to worry about malware, spyware or viruses on Chrome OS. If something does go wrong (people who want to break into your laptop are smart) you would be dumped into a recovery screen that tells you which keys to press to wipe the copy of the OS and download it fresh. As long as you haven’t turned off security features by flipping the developer mode switch (think of it as unlocking the bootloader), you’ll not have to worry about anything you didn’t say was OK to do on a Chromebook.

These features are what makes me (and plenty of other folks) think that a Chromebook really is the best laptop for a lot of people. I moved my mom from a Dell laptop that was about $600 more expensive yet didn’t do the things she wanted to do as well as her new Chromebook does, and she couldn’t be happier. Come Christmas, she’s getting a newer model. A Chromebook is perfect for her.

If you don’t need to do the things a Chromebook wasn’t designed to do, I think you’ll like it just as much.

Ready to buy a Chromebook? Here are the best ones you can buy right now

Update August 2017: Added information about the latest models, better Android app support and fresh links.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Galaxy S8 Active goes official, is exclusive to AT&T ‘for a limited time’

The Galaxy S8 Active offers a rugged design and a large 4000mAh battery.

After numerous leaks and rumors, the Galaxy S8 Active is now official. Dubbed the “toughest Galaxy smartphone yet,” the rugged phone features a frame that’s shatter-, dust-, and water-resistant.

The S8 Active offers a 5.8-inch shatter-resistant Quad HD Super AMOLED display with the same 18.5:9 screen ratio as the Galaxy S8 and S8+. The phone lacks the curved Infinity Display, but the added durability more than makes up for it. The back of the phone is textured for a better grip, and a bumper on all four sides offers added resistance from tumbles.

The S8 Active is powered by a Snapdragon 835 chipset, and there’s 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, 12MP f/1.7 rear camera, and an 8MP front shooter. The highlight — aside from its rugged exterior — is the battery, which at 4000mAh is a sizeable bump from the 3500mAh battery on the S8+. The phone will be available in Meteor Gray or Titanium Gold.

Early leaks of the Galaxy S8 Active revealed that it won’t have AT&T branding, and there’s a good reason for that. The carrier has exclusive access to the device “for a limited time,” but the phone will be available to non-AT&T customers at a later date. There’s also the possibility that Samsung will sell it unlocked directly.

The S8 Active will be up for sale at AT&T via its Next plans, which start at $28 per month for 30 months. Pre-orders kick off August 8, and the device will be available for sale at AT&T stores across the U.S. starting August 11.

See at AT&T

These are coolest things we’ve seen from the HTC Vive Knuckles controllers

With developers getting hands-on with the upcoming SteamVR “Knuckles” controllers, these are the coolest implementations we’ve seen so far.

Valve’s upcoming “Knuckles” are now in the hands of developers – finally providing a sneak peek at what the motion controllers are capable of. While a consumer release date is yet to be decided, in recent months, some prolific VR studios have already received pre-release prototypes of the devices. Some of the biggest HTC Vive games are now being adapted with support for the new input method, teasing what’s to come for these motion-controlled titles.

With a few studios already posting demonstrations of their experiments, we’ve started to round up some of the best (and coolest) uses of the Knuckles controllers so far.

Read more at VRHeads

Best Places to Buy a Used Phone

Buying a used phone doesn’t have to be overly complicated or stressful.

The used phone market is an iceberg; you can only see the tip sticking out of the water, but it goes far deeper than you can imagine. This bears out in a recent Deloitte report that claims the used phone market grew to 120 million units in 2016, generating $17 billion for their owners. That number is only going to get bigger faster, too: IDC believes that by 2020, over 220 million used devices will be sold or traded in annually.

That’s a lot of gear, and similar to how a new car loses its value once it’s driven off the lot, phones immediately become cheaper once they’re removed from the plastic wrapping. For a seller — even one who treats his or her phone with the utmost care — that can be problematic. For a buyer, though, that becomes an opportunity to pick up a gently-used device for a great deal.

Things to consider before you buy a used phone

We’ve already written of the most important considerations you need to take into account when buying a new phone — do a visual inspection if possible; always purchase from a reputable seller; be patient; be aware of carrier locks or other roadblocks; look into insurance, especially if the phone is out of warranty — but there are a few other things to think about.

The first is what kind of used phone you’re looking to buy:

• A used phone purchased directly from a seller (eg. Craigslist)
• A used phone purchased through an intermediary that has verified its condition (eg. Gazelle)
• A refurbished phone that has been through a “touch-up” directly from the manufacturer or a partner (eg. Samsung)

Know what kind of used phone buying experience you want before you start shopping around.

You can probably get the best deal buying directly from someone else because there is no intermediary taking a fee, but you also run the risk of the phone having issues that the naked eye can’t see. If you know exactly what you want and know what to look for, you’re probably going to be comfortable buying a used phone from a direct marketplace like Craiglist, Swappa or one of many buy/sell forums.

If you don’t want to take any chances with the quality, but still don’t mind a bit of wear and tear, buying through an intermediary marketplace like Gazelle could work really well. The phones often come with (admittedly limited) warranties and money-back guarantees which, as a buyer, offers considerably more peace of mind than the average “meet up at the nearby 7-Eleven and hand over a wad of cash” type deal.

Finally, buying a certified refurbished phone is your safest bet, but comes with the least discount over a new product. Both Samsung and Apple sell refurbished phones directly on their websites, and though the savings are not substantial, they’re at least guaranteed to work, and well properly. For example, Samsung sells an AT&T-locked 32GB Galaxy S6 for $399. The same phone can be had for between $239 and $309 at Gazelle, which inspects but doesn’t refurbish the products, and between $130 and $225 at Swappa, which merely connects buyers and sellers. But Samsung sells its refurbished models with a 12-month warranty, a charger and cable, and brand new headphones. Gazelle throws in a charger but no headphones, and Swappa just ensures a clean exchange (for a small fee).

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The best places to buy a used phone

This is not an exhaustive list. There are innumerable places to buy a used phone on the internet, and depending on your country, this list may not be as applicable (though we tried to highlight international marketplaces as much as possible).

Craigslist

Craigslist tends to set up “meet up at the nearby 7-Eleven and hand over a wad of cash” type phone deals, which can be hit-or-miss depending on how adept you are at identifying scams — of which there are many.

The main thing Craigslist has going for it is size and scale — it’s practically everywhere, and has communities for almost every city in the world. You will be able to find a used phone on Craigslist, that’s not the problem; the problem is sifting through the thousands of listings to find something worth pursuing and ensuring that the phone you decide on does not have underlying damage or, worse, that its IMEI (a unique number that helps identify individual devices) hasn’t been blocked due to theft.

• Good Good prices, excellent availability, and plenty of choice, with the option of buying local to check condition
• Bad Hard to verify sellers or the quality of the phones

Learn more at Craigslist

eBay

eBay is enormous, and today continues to be one of the top places to purchase a used phone. It has the advantages of Craigslist, scale, with few of the disadvantages, especially since it uses PayPal to ensure that payments can be recalled should there be a problem.

For buyers, eBay has a robust filtering system, allowing you to search for exactly what you want, with filters for price, carrier — even color. Of course, eBay still has its roots as an auction house, and that is how some used phones are still sold, but far more of them are sold at set prices. eBay charges sellers, not buyers, to host their listings, so all you need to do is find the right listing and you’re off to the races.

eBay’s best feature is its Money Back Guarantee which, combined with the extensive seller profiles, make it easy to buy with confidence. If there’s an issue with the device, or the shipment, you can apply to get your money back and, within reason, eBay will either cancel the PayPal transaction or, if it’s already gone through, refund you. And seller profiles let you filter potential purchases based on trusted sellers that have been around the block once, ten, or ten thousand times.

• Good Lots of selection with verifiable sellers with a money back guarantee.
• Bad Potentially high cost of shipping, and you won’t be able to see the device before buying

Learn more at eBay

Swappa

Swappa began its life as a small Android-based phone buying and selling community, but it’s since expanded to include all mobile devices like iPhones, as well as tablets, Chromebooks and MacBooks.

Swappa works on a set fee structure that’s very different to most other platforms, and this is important: the buyer pays the fee. Most will pay under $20 for the privilege, and all payments are done over PayPal, which is incredibly convenient and secure. Why is a buyer fee better for both buyers and sellers? Because it encourages sellers to list their products on Swappa, adding inventory to a service that relies heavily on participation.

Swappa does not physically inspect devices, but it does do a few things to make sure the buyer is getting what he or she pays for: all listings are verified by a human, who ensures that the IMEI is valid and can be activated. All listings must have good quality photos that clearly show any damage, and the quality (fair/good/excellent) should match the photos. And the cost of shipping is included in the price of the listing, which should prevent post-sale price gouging. And because Swappa uses PayPal, all listings are protected, so if a device doesn’t arrive as advertised, buyers have recourse to get their money back.

Finally, Swappa’s prices tend to be lower than many curated services since, aside from the flat fee, the seller sets the price.

• Good Plenty of listings with clear quality guidelines and good prices
• Bad Buyer pays fee, no warranty or accessories

Learn more at Swappa

Gazelle

Gazelle uses an interesting model: it buys phones from sellers and resells some of them on its website just like a regular e-commerce store (the rest are either recycled or sold to third parties). The advantage is that once Gazelle receives the device it performs a so-called “30-point inspection process” to ensure that it is in working order, and puts a SIM card in it to make sure it can properly connect to a network.

As a buyer, that means you may pay slightly more than Swappa for the equivalent model, but you get a phone that is guaranteed to work, either unlocked on a number of carriers or the one that it is advertised to be locked to, and there is a 30-day return policy if you’re not completely satisfied.

Gazelle also offers financing options, which allows it to compete with carriers by offering flexible payment plans that don’t require a lot of money up front. At the same time, Gazelle doesn’t accept every type of Android phone because its inspection system is only optimized for a handful of models — all popular Galaxys are accepted, but it only recently started buying (and selling) the Google Pixel — which ensures a higher-quality buying experience.

• Good Seamless buying experience with plenty of choice, all phones come with a charger and are guaranteed to work, 30-day money back return policy
• Bad Doesn’t sell every type of phone, could be more expensive than other options

Learn more at Gazelle

Glyde

Glyde has an interesting business model, somewhere between Swappa and Gazelle. Like Swappa, it’s a user-to-user e-commerce portal but, like Gazelle, it asserts some control over the potential exchange by forcing the seller to use its secure shipping container, and doesn’t release payment to the seller until the buyer receives it. It also promises to refund a disappointed buyer within 72-hours.

All phones, from iPhones to Galaxys to Windows phones, are available to purchase on Glyde, and buyers pay no additional fee beyond what is shown on the site.

• Good Lots of choice and buyers have leverage if unhappy with a sale
• Bad Phones are not inspected beforehand so what you see may not be what you get

Learn more at Glyde

Your choices

What are your favorite places to buy used phones? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung’s rugged Galaxy S8 Active launches this week

Samsung is officially releasing the Galaxy S8 Active on Friday, August 11. The rugged sibling to the company’s all-conquering flagship will come in two colors (meteor gray and titanium gold). For a limited time, the phone will be exclusively available through AT&T — that includes pre-orders, which start tomorrow.

The new handset’s specs match those that were leaked around two weeks ago. Internally, it carries all the high-end hardware from the standard Galaxy S8, including a Snapdragon 835 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. It also packs a 12-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The Active’s main perk is its battery, which at 4,000mAh, is larger than the 3,000mAh and 3,500mAh batteries found inside the S8 and S8 plus, respectively.

Its other main differentiators are its design and durability. All the clumsy phone-droppers out there will be glad to learn the Active is shatter-, water-, and dust-resistant. That means you can submerge it in up to 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes or drop it from up to 5 feet on to a flat surface. Honestly, give it hell (or a drunken night on the town) and see if it survives. On top of that, it’s made with military-grade materials — which should hopefully stop it from leaking like its predecessor. The handset’s exterior boasts a metal frame and bumper to protect against shock, and the rugged back cover we’ve come to expect. Judging from the pics, it also deviates from the original Galaxy S8 by ditching the flagship’s curved Infinity Display.

You can grab the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active from AT&T, starting from $28 per month. There’s no word yet on additional pricing, and when the phone will land on more carriers.

New data privacy laws will let Brits erase childhood social posts

The UK’s Data Protection Act began looking long in the tooth some time ago. It was introduced in 1998 when the internet was a very different place, after all, and today the government has published more details on the upcoming Data Protection Bill, which will update laws to ensure they’re fit for the hyper-connected era. Delivering on a Conservative Party manifesto pledge, the bill will introduce a new right for people to instruct social networks to delete anything they posted before the age of 18.

This has been called the “right to innocence,” and will mean you can more easily purge social media activity that’s embarrassing or no longer reflects you as an adult. The power is part of a bigger expansion of existing “right to be forgotten” laws. Currently, you can only request that personal information be deleted — removed from Google search results, for example — if it causes significant distress, such as details of a petty crime you committed as a kid that are still following you decades later.

This right will be extended to any personal data you deem irrelevant or outdated, giving you much more control over your digital footprint. The definition of ‘personal data’ is also being widened to include IP addresses, internet cookies and DNA. The Data Protection Bill should also cut down on how much data you are producing and companies are collecting in the first place.

The bill introduces the concept of “privacy by default and design.” The idea is that online services like social networks mustn’t assume consent and enable the strictest privacy settings as a matter of course. Instead of having to dig through menus and opt-out of data collection schemes, or finding out after the fact you agreed to something undesirable buried in complex terms and conditions, you are offered the right to privacy “by default.” In other words, companies must be transparent about collecting and processing data, and get your explicit consent to do so.

In a similar vein, social networks will be required to seek the consent of parents/guardians before allowing anyone under the age of 13 to register an account, and make the process of withdrawing that consent simple. New rules also mean an individual can ask any company what data they hold on them and be provided that information free of charge. Where the automated processing of data builds a personal profile — such as a credit rating, for instance — people will be entitled to request that the data be reviewed by a human.

While it’s still unclear how this will work exactly, the Data Protection Bill introduces a requirement for “data portability.” This will mean companies have to create mechanisms by which you can ‘export’ all your personal data so you can use it elsewhere. Say you wanted to swap email provider. In that example, Yahoo will have to let you transfer all your emails, contacts and such to another service like Gmail — kind of how it’s pretty easy to move bookmarks between browsers.

The same will be true for cloud storage services, or fitness tracking apps that record heart rate data. Again, this concept hasn’t been fully fleshed out, but the idea is you shouldn’t be locked into using a specific service just because you’ve built up a data history with that service. By making it easy to move your data elsewhere, companies will be put under greater competitive pressure to retain users and customers by building the best or most affordable services.

As businesses will have all these new rules to play by, so will the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have to provide greater oversight. There’s a new requirement for companies processing large volumes of personal data to notify the ICO of any breach within 72 hours. Any business that doesn’t adhere to the tighter data protection laws could also face much higher penalties. The ICO can currently issue a maximum fine of £500,000. The Data Protection Bill raises that up to £17 million, or 4 percent of global turnover. A new offence will also be introduced in order to punish those “intentionally or recklessly re-identifying individuals from anonymised or pseudonymised data.”

While the Data Protection Bill is specific to UK law, it’s mostly intended to reflect the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was approved last year and comes into force in May 2018. The UK is still an EU member state at this point, of course; but post-Brexit, the new Data Protection Act will ensure our laws are on par with the rest of Europe. Having the same privacy standards across the region means there shouldn’t be any barriers to the movement of data, whether that be between businesses, services or law enforcement agencies.

Via: BBC

Source: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (1), (2) (PDF)

Slooh’s stargazing telescope livestreams now free to view

If you enjoy watching nature livestreams (and let’s face it, who hasn’t put on a panda cam at least one or twice while toiling away), then you may love today’s announcement. Slooh, an online astronomy community that has a network of telescopes, is now making virtual viewing free.

Slooh’s aim is to bring outer space to your fingertips; it owns two telescopes in Chile and seven in the Canary Islands. It allows its paid members to book time to control these telescopes. You can secure 5 reservations per month (5–10 minutes in length) for $5 per month or an unlimited number of reservations for $25 per month. Other Slooh members can sit back and watch online, but until today, they were required to pay for the privilege. Now the organization has opened up viewing for free; all you have to do is register to view live streams of outer space.

Right now, some of Slooh’s telescopes are offline due to dust in the air, and obviously when it’s daylight at a telescope’s location, it will be dormant. To join Slooh’s community, you can register on their website. You’ll be taken to a payment page, which offers a 30-day trial of the $5/month tier, but you can move ahead with a free account by clicking the “Continue Exploring the Community” option. You can’t control the telescopes, and the number of photos you’ll be able to take is limited, but hey, it’s hard to complain about a free account.

Via: The Verge

Netflix acquires Mark Millar’s comics publishing house (updated)

Mark Millar is a well-known name in the world of comics, which is why today’s announcement is such a big deal. Netflix has revealed that it’s acquired Millarworld, Millar’s comic book empire, and will be creating original movies and TV shows from the content. It’s Netflix’s first acquisition.

The terms of the deal haven’t yet been disclosed, but presumably Millar and his wife, Lucy Millar (who co-runs Millarworld), will be involved in production. Kingsman, Kick-Ass and Wanted have already been turned into feature films (the second Kingsman movie releases on September 22), so it’s unclear how the deal will treat these existing properties.

Note that this doesn’t include Millar’s seminal work at Marvel, including storylines such as Old Man Logan, Civil War and The Ultimates, or at DC Comics. These remain the property of the comic book companies. This deal covers only Millar’s creator-owned work.

Netflix has been identifying less as a streaming service and more as a powerhouse for TV and movie production, and adding Mark Millar’s properties (and his name, which is arguably more valuable) to their roster is no small achievement. Millar has penned some now-classic comics, and it will be interesting to see what Netflix does with them. All in all, it’s a pretty good time to be a comics fan with a Netflix subscription.

Update: According to a statement from Mark Millar on the Millarworld forums, the Netflix deal does not include the Kingsman or Kick-Ass properties: “Kingsman and Kick-Ass have unique Hollywood deals elsewhere and aren’t a part of this particular acquisition, but those two fine men are toasting us in spirit from London and California respectively.” The headline of this post has been updated to reflect the clarification.

Dreams were how we got started. pic.twitter.com/5w2DOVykji

— Netflix US (@netflix) August 7, 2017

Source: Netflix