Fingerprint sensors are still better than facial recognition

Face unlock is great when you’re wearing gloves, but fingerprint sensors are good for more than just authentication.

Alongside the various Android phones I’ve tested, I’ve been using the iPhone X for about two months now. One of the most noteworthy changes to the iPhone X over previous models is the removal of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, now replaced with a high-tech face unlock function Apple calls Face ID. Some Android phones have similar features; the OnePlus 5T, Huawei P20 Pro, and the Galaxy S9 all feature facial recognition in some form, but all maintain the fingerprint sensor, too. Why?

Facial recognition is great for a lot of reasons. It’s completely effortless, since the only step you have to take is waking your phone’s display — though if you have raise to wake enabled, you don’t even have to do that much. Once your phone knows to look for you, it quickly authenticates you and unlocks to the home screen, without you ever having to type in a PIN or touch the fingerprint sensor. It’s almost like not having any lock screen security at all — until someone else tries to get into your phone, that is.

Face unlock feels almost like not having lock screen security.

It’s also nice to still be able to unlock your phone when the fingerprint sensor is out of reach. In today’s landscape of phones that try to maximize screen space, most fingerprint sensors are moving to the back to help trim down on the bezel below the display. While this is ergonomically convenient when you’re holding your phone, it makes it impossible to quickly unlock your phone on a flat surface like a table or wireless charger. Fingerprint sensors are no good in the dead of winter, either, since they can’t work through gloves. With facial recognition, as long as your display is facing you, you’ll likely have no trouble getting into your phone.

That’s not always a guarantee, though. If you’re in a bright environment like broad daylight, your phone may have some trouble seeing you. Likewise, facial recognition makes it hard to covertly check your phone in a movie theater or meeting (not that you should be doing that anyway) due to the angles required for your phone to identify your face. None of that is a problem for fingerprint sensors, which work in any lighting or angle.

Fingerprint sensors are also multifunctional. In addition to authenticating you, many fingerprint sensors are capable of recognizing swipes in different directions for carrying out navigational gestures. The most common of these gestures is a swipe down on a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor to pull down the notification shade, but some phones make even more use of gestures.

Huawei phones with rear fingerprint sensors, for example, allow you to swipe left or right on the sensor while in your gallery to scroll through photos. On the other hand, Huawei phones with fingerprint sensors beneath the display are able to entirely replace the software keys with taps and swiping gestures. The same goes for Motorola phones, though the exact gestures differ.

I think the best security solution is having both facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor. Samsung’s Intelligent Scan software on the Galaxy S9 combines both technologies, along with iris scanning, to give users the best of both worlds. But if I could only choose one option, I’d stick with a fingerprint sensor for now. In addition to quicker unlocking when I’m holding the phone, I love the convenience of swiping down to access my notification shade — especially as phones get increasingly tall aspect ratios and move the notification shade farther away from my fingers.

See at Amazon

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer fingerprint sensors or are you a fan of the more futuristic facial recognition? Let us know in the comments below!

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This WeMo dimmer light switch is down to just $50

Time to dim the lights!

The WeMo dimmer Wi-Fi light switch is $49.99 on Amazon. This is Black Friday pricing. We haven’t seen it go this low since last year and it usually sells around $70 or more.

You can control this switch from the wall, the WeMo app, and your Alexa or Google Assistant device. You don’t need anything special other than Wi-Fi. With this dimmer, you can schedule your lights to do what you want. Adjust them with the sunset or sunrise. Turn off your lights with your phone when you’re at work and realize you forgot to — or from bed when you’re like me and being extra lazy. Set your lights to turn on slowly and help you wake up. The dimmer switch has 3.9 stars based on more than 9,800 reviews.

See on Amazon

Speed to freedom in the action-packed PAKO 2! [Game of the Week]

Update, April 13, 2018: Outrun the cops in the ridiculous endless action driving game PAKO 2. Also be sure to check out Dissembler, your next puzzle obsession.

PAKO 2

You know the crazy car chase scene in The Blues Brothers where the cop cars just keep crashing into each other? That’s essentially the core gameplay of PAKO 2, an intense arcade driving game that features the most outrageous car chases you’ve ever seen on mobile.

You play as a getaway driver for hire picking up crews from heist spots and escorting them to their drop point. Sounds simple enough — until you factor in the endless barrage of cop cars trying to take you out. If they’re closing in, use Turbo to get some breathing room. Just don’t drive off a cliff or let the cops ram your car too many times or it’s game over.

There are a ton of vehicles available for purchase in the game — either using money earned from your heists or via in-app purchases — and each features unique stats for hit points, speed, and weaponry. There are also five maps to play, but those, too, require a lot of in-game cash to unlock (or an in-app purchase with real money).

The good news is that this game is fun to play without spending any money, and despite the grind of collecting money to unlock new cars, the manic gameplay and randomized upgrade system makes every play-through feel unique.

Download: PAKO 2 (Free w/IAPs)

Dissembler

Who doesn’t love a good puzzle game? Dissembler is a colorful and abstract game that has you flipping tiles to match three — pretty standard stuff. Except, unlike other match-three games you may have played before, you don’t get new tiles dropping in replacing the ones you’ve cleared. Instead, you’re tasked with clearing the whole board.

It all starts out nice and easy as the game lays out the basic principles before gradually presenting you with more complex puzzles — check out the trailer above to see what I mean.

With over 120 puzzles to play with no time limits, move limits, or in-app purchases or ads to deal with this just might be your next puzzle obsession!

Download: Dissembler ($2.99)

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List of available apps for Daydream, and upcoming releases

Just go ahead and install all of them. You know, for fun.

With the second iteration of the Daydream View now available, Google has really pushed the Daydream ready Apps in the Play store, though it is still difficult to find them in the Play Store itself. That’s why we took it upon ourselves to make as an exhaustive list as possible of all the games you download for the Daydream View, free and paid.

To make it a little easier, we’ve tracked down all of Google Daydream apps that are available to install now, so you can load up your Pixel with VR goodness and see what this experience is all about. If you’re a regular visitor to this page, the listings that have been bolded like this are the newest entries!

Free Apps and Games

• Exo – Free
• Plex VR – Free
• Swish – Free
• Into the Blue – Free
• Hidden Fortune – Free
• Comets! VR Space Adventure – Free
• VR Abyss: Sharks & Sea Worlds HD – Free
• Bowling Mania – Free
• The Path to Luma – VR – Free
• VR Puzzle Room – Free
• VR Dead Target: Zombie – Free
• Avem33 VR – Free
• Spacewalk VR Experience – Free
• Underwater VR – Free
• BBC Earth: Life in VR – Free
• Poker VR – Free
• Reflekt 360 – Free
• Justice League VR – Free
• Fishing Star VR – Free
• Oz Chicken Slayer – Free
• Gunship Battle2 VR – Free
• Ace Fishing VR – Free
• Inmind 2 – Free
• Merry Snowballs – Free
• WDR 360 VR – Free
• Rez Infinite – Free
• AMC VR – Free
• Frostbound – Free
• Amusement Planet VR – Free
• Fruit Slicer VR – Free
• Action Bowling 2 – Free
• Pop Styly – Free
• Vera Bradley VR – Free
• Montana VR – Free
• Gubbie Arena – Free
• Storm Shelter – Free
• Capsule Commander – Free
• Pixel Zombie Fight VR – Free
• Can You Survive – Free
• Saint Motel – Free
• ComixV VR – Free
• AurorA Videos – Free
• Cinema Variety VR Lite – Free
• Time Rider – Free
• Boom Boom Slash – Free
• Fidget Spinner VR – Free
• Skyvu Places VR – Free
• VR Flight Dash – Free
• Spheres – Free
• Economist VR – Free
• MEL Chemistry VR – Free
• Gun Hacker – Free
• The Breakpiece – Free
• Shoot the Cans VR – Free
• GrooVR – Free
• Daydream Elements – Free
• MLB.com At Bat VR – Free
• Bandit Six: Salvo – Free
• Dragon VR – Free
• VR Run! – Free
• Spotlight Stories – Free
• Audio Factory – Free
• RT360 – Free
• Voxelus – Free
• Coastiality – Free
• Ocean Rift – Free
• Vicarious – Free
• VR Music Visualizer 360 – Free
• The Lost Future – Free
• Slingshot Shenanigans – Free
• Sliver.tv – Free
• King Arthur VR – Free
• theViewer 360 – Free
• SkyVu Social World Builder – Free
• 871VR – Free
• Unimersive – Free
• Vravo! – Free
• Twilight Pioneers Chapter Two – Free
• Digital Domain VR – Free
• Vision Maker – Free
• Confucious Was a Foodie – Free
• InMind 2 – Free
• VeeR VR – Free
• VR Flight Dash – Free
• AltSpaceVR – Free
• TinyWar VR – Free
• Domino VR – Free
• Rave VR – Free
• Sky VR – Free
• The Reaction Room – Free
• Magnetique – Free
• Agelore’s Fantasy FPS – Free
• Wizard Stole My Goose – Free
• Frisbee Frolics! – Free
• VR Battle Grid – Free
• Damnfields – Free
• VR Water Bottle Flip – Free
• myVR – Free
• Exo – Free
• NFL VR – Free
• NBA VR – Free
• Art Plunge Preview – Free
• 405 Road Rage – Free
• Gala360
• SKYBOX VR Player – Free
• OZ Chicken Slayer – Free
• Labster: World of Science – Free
• VR Wifi Discovery
• Inception: VR and 360-degree videos – Free
• Gravity Pull – Free
• Coloring VR – Free
• Avakin Life – Free
• vTime – Free
• Space VR Beta – Free
• New York Times VR – Free
• Asteroids! – Free
• Horizons – Free
• LittleStar VR – Free
• Moatboat – Free
• Playground – Free
• Fulldive VR – Free
• Netflix VR – Free
• LEGO Brickheadz Builder VR – Free
• HBO GO VR – Free
• HBO Now VR – Free
• Jaunt VR – Free
• NextVR – Free
• Hulu – Free
• INVASION! – Free
• BBC The Turning Forest – Free
• YouVisit VR – Free
• Within – Free
• Graveyard – Free
• PolyRunner VR – Free
• USA Today VR Stories – Free
• Wonder Glade – Free
• VR Karts: Sprint – Free
• Street View – Free
• Wall Street Journal VR – Free
• Guardian VR – Free
• Play Movies – Free
• YouTube – Free
• CNN VR – Free
• UE4 Demo – Free
• ZDF VR – Free (German language only)
• ARTE360 VR – Free
• Arts and Culture VR – Free
• Photos – Free
• Rose – Free
• Wayfair Ideaspace – Free
• realestate VR – Free
• 8ninths Enterprise Demo – Free

Paid Apps and Games

• RocketCop 2045 – $0.99
• Alien Shot VR – Surrender – $11.99
• IT: Escape from Pennywise VR – $0.99
• Colossal Quest – $1.49
• Fantastic Beasts – $4.99
• Rangi – $4.99
• Dragon Flight – $3.99
• Turret Attack – $2.99
• Dinosaur Hunter – $1.99
• Magna Brave – $2.99
• Recall – $3.49
• Lithium – $1.99
• Nyoro The Snake & Seven Islands – $4.49
• Tank Commander – $3.99
• Volkan – $1.49
• VR Duck Hunting – $1.99
• 2 Star Resort – $2.99
• Overtake VR: Traffic Racing – $0.99
• The Rabbit Hole – Escape the Room – $2.99
• In the Dark – $0.99
• SBK VR – $3.99
• Disc League – $4.99
• Daedalus – $5.99
• Skylight – $9.99
• Tactera – $9.99
• Samurai Chef – $2.49
• Dreadhalls – $4.99
• Radial-G: Racing Revolved – $6.49
• Virtual Minigolf – $2.99
• Orbital Loop – $1.99
• Flutter VR – $4.99
• Hunters Gate – $5.99
• Elevator… to the Moon! – $5.99
• Narrows – $9.99
• Paint VR – $1.99
• Onyx: Quest for the Midnight Stone – $5.99
• Daylight Dojo – $1.99
• Relic Seeker: Hypogeum – $4.99
• Ultrawings – $4.99
• So Let Us Melt – $3.49
• Beartopia – $14.99
• Need for Speed No Limits VR – $14.99
• The Other Room – $4.99
• Faye & Elsa Part III – $4.99
• Cosmos Crash VR – $2.99
• Baskhead – $2.99
• Demon Grade VR – $3.99
• Untethered – $4.99
• MLB.com Home Run Derby VR – $4.99
• Virtual Rabbids: The Big Plan – $4.99
• Virtugo VR – $0.99
• Raptor Valley – $2.99
• Spark of Light – $4.99
• Relax River – $0.99
• Cyber Paint – $4.99
• SONAR – $0.99
• WE COME IN PEACE – $2.99
• VR Music Visualizer – Spectrum – $3.49
• Floor Plan – $4.99
• Belt Miners – $8.99
• Zombie Elevator – $1.99
• West Gangs – $5.49
• Relic Seeker: Hypogeum VR
• Onyx: Quest for the Midnight Stone – $5.99
• Hungry Shark VR – $4.99
• Feasible Food – $4.99
• Unimersiv – $9.99
• Cinema Variety VR Pro – $1.99
• Haunted House – $1.99
• House of Meditation – $6.99
• Mysteries of China: The Great Wall – $1.99
• Solar Eclipse 2017 VR – $0.99
• Zombie Rush Coaster – $0.99
• Jing Yang Ridge 2 – $2.49
• Darknet – $9.99
• City Traffic Control VR – $0.99
• Pull Out Block – $2.49
• Sisters: Faye & Elsa Part II – $6.99
• Babel – $4.99
• Kismet – $3.99
• Ghosts in the Toybox – $3.99
• Shoot Fireworks! VR – $3.49
• Feed The Cat VR – $.99
• Boberboard VR – $3.49
• Unicorn Happy Place – $2.99
• Access Code – $4.99
• Poker VR – $4.99
• Balloon Shooter VR – $1.49
• Farmer vs Evil 2.0 – $1.49
• Hungry Shark VR – $4.99
• Lola and the Giant – $10.99
• Apnea – $2.99
• Cubed – $.99
• Last Z Killer – $5.99
• My Cube – $1.99
• Baskhead Training – $5.99
• Terror Cave HD – $.99
• Body VR for Beginners – $4.99
• Eclipse: Edge of Light – $8.99
• Along Together – $8.99
• Virtual Rabbids: The Big Plan – $5.99
• Toy Clash – $4.99
• Polaris – $4.99
• The Other Room – $4.99
• Solitaire VR – $2.99
• Flushy Fish – $3.49
• SculptrVR – $4.99
• Building Panic – $4.99
• Walk Man – $1.99
• TacoFace – $.99
• Raptor Valley – $2.99
• Tipsy Bat – $2.99
• Pirates Shooter – $1.99
• Virtual Virtual Reality – $8.99
• Air Hockey VR – $1.99
• Baseball – $2.99
• Vendetta Online – $2.99
• Vaporwave – $1.99
• Sky Fighter: Training Day – $5.49
• Battle Planet – $10.99
• Audio Arena – $2.99
• Walking in clouds – $1.99
• Bandit Six – $2.99
• Virush – $2.99
• Splash VR for Reddit – $2.99
• WE COME IN PEACE… – $2.99
• Relax VR: Rest & Meditation – $5.99
• Bait! – $7.99
• Speech Center VR – $4.99
• Baskhead – $2.99
• Cerevrum – $6.99
• Cosmic Chef – $9.99
• AFFECTED – The Manor VR – $3.49
• Floor Plan – $4.99
• Untethered – $4.99
• Hello Mars – $.99
• Sherlock VR – $1.99
• Need for Speed: No Limits VR – $14.99
• Archer E. Bowman – $3.99
• Layers of Fear: Solitude – $9.99
• Wands – $5.99
• Underworld Overlord – $7.99
• Evil Robot Traffic Jam – $9.99
• Daydream Blue – $4.99
• MLB.com Home Run Derby VR – $4.99
• Action Bowling – $3.49
• Sisters: Faye and Elsa Part I – $6.99
• Gunjack 2: End of Shift – $12.99
• Claro – $4.99
• Frostbound – $4.99
• Star Chart VR – $4.99
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes – $9.99
• Danger Goat – $5.99
• Hunter’s Gate – $5.99
• Mekorama – $3.99
• Earthshape – $4.99
• The Arcslinger – $7.99
• Drift – $10.99

As you can see, that list is growing fast and it’s full of great experiences. Google promised there would be 50 Daydream apps available by the end of 2016, and delivered a great deal more! We’re Just starting 2018 and there are already well over 200 apps and games to choose from, over 50 apps in the last month!

This train isn’t slowing down, either. There are a lot more apps coming! Here’s a complete list of the apps Google says are coming to Daydream soon, but so far most of these app developers have been a little shy about a release date for their new VR apps.

Daydream apps planned for the future

• Island Bombers
• Flocklore
• Classroom Aquatic Demo – Here
• Loco Motors
• SuperVektroids!

This post was last updated on 4/12 to add new apps! Be sure to check back regularly for more updates.

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Xiaomi’s $480 Black Shark gaming phone is designed to take on the Razer Phone

Xiaomi’s Black Shark gaming phone offers liquid cooling to keep thermals in check.

The introduction of battle royale games like PUBG and Fortnite has catalyzed the mobile gaming market, and manufacturers are now starting to roll out products aimed at gamers.

Razer got in on the action early with the Razer Phone, and now Xiaomi is making its foray into this segment with the Black Shark phone. The device in question has an aggressive black-and-green color scheme and an X-type layout at the back that’s designed to make it easier to hold the phone.

Coming to the hardware side of things, the Black Shark gaming phone has a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with 97% DCI-P3 color gamut, and is powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset. There’s a liquid cooling system that is claimed to reduce the temperature by up to eight degrees Celsius, allowing you to play for a prolonged duration of time without having to worry about the phone overheating.

There’s also a dedicated button on the left hand side that kicks the phone into high-performance mode, essentially delivering the maximum performance. You get dual stereo sound — with the earpiece doubling up as the secondary speaker — but oddly enough, it doesn’t look like the Black Shark phone has a 3.5mm jack, as there’s no cutout for the analog port at the bottom and no indentation at the top.

Other specs include a dual 12MP + 20MP camera configuration at the back, 20MP camera up front, and memory variations that include 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The phone doesn’t come with a microSD slot, but the 128GB option should be more than adequate for mobile gaming. There’s a 4000mAh battery, and you also get Quick Charge 3.0.

On the software side of things, the Black Shark phone is running Android 8.0 Oreo based on Joy UI, a custom skin that includes a few apps from MIUI. Another interesting feature is a Nintendo Switch-style controller that can be attached to one side of the phone. The Black Shark Gamepad has its own 340mAh battery that’s touted for 30 hours of playing time, and it connects to the device over Bluetooth. The first 50,000 orders of the phone will get the controller for free, and following that it will retail for ¥179 ($30).

As for the phone itself, the Black Shark will go on pre-order in China starting April 20 for ¥2,999 ($480). That’s for the variant with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and the model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will set customers back ¥3,499 ($560). There’s plenty to like in the phone, and the pricing makes it one of the best deals in the market if you’re interested in a gaming-focused device.

The only issue will be availability, as it looks like this is yet another phone that will be limited to the Chinese market. We’ll let you know should that change, but what do you guys make of Xiaomi’s gaming phone?

Netflix will soon be included with Comcast Xfinity subscriptions

The bundles will be available this month.

Netflix and Xfinity are two of the biggest names when it comes to home video content, and now the two companies are joining forces to include Netflix subscriptions as part of certain Xfinity plans.

Comcast made this announcement on April 13 and described it as an extension of the partnership that already exists with the Netflix app on its X1 platform. Per Comcast’s Chief Business Development Officer, Sam Schwartz –

Netflix offers one of the most popular on demand services and is an important supplement to the content offering and value proposition of the X1 platform. Netflix is a great partner, and we are excited to offer its services to our customers in new ways that provide them with more choice, value, and flexibility.”

This promo sounds very similar to T-Mobile’s “Netflix On Us” one that launched last year, and as bad of a rap as Comcast often gets, free Netflix is always a good thing.

Xfinity plans that include Netflix will launch later this month and be available for both new and existing customers.

Download: Netflix (free)

Trump follows Amazon jabs by ordering US Postal Service review

President Trump recently tweeted that the US Postal Service’s deal with Amazon was bad for taxpayers, but he has now taken his complaints beyond social media, the New York Times reported. The White House has convened a task force to examine the service’s operations and “conduct a thorough evaluation of the operations and finances of the USPS,” the order states.

Trump has said that the USPS loses $1.50 for every Amazon package it delivers. However, experts have countered that the while the service does lose money delivering first class mail, e-commerce package deliveries are profitable. In 2017 they brought in $19.5 billion, up 11.4 percent over the year prior.

Trump ordered the task force to look at how the USPS does package deliveries with companies like Amazon, and also at declines in mail volume. “A number of factors, including the steep decline in first-class mail volume, coupled with legal mandates that compel the USPS to incur substantial and inflexible costs, have resulted in a structural deficit,” the order states. “The USPS is on an unsustainable financial path and must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout.”

Amazon also uses all major logistics companies in the US. Amazon does use USPS but, if an arrangement were to become uneconomic to Amazon, Amazon has plenty of options. What are the options for the USPS?

Trump’s Amazon Twitter tirades have often coincided with negative press from the Washington Post, a paper owned privately by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Experts have noted that its nearly unprecedented for a sitting president to criticize a US business, and some of those rants have actually caused the company’s stock to fall.

In any case, revenue the USPS makes from Amazon helps offset unprofitable parts of its business, so raising rates to gain more revenue may produce the opposite outcome, said financial analyst Scott Devitt. “Amazon also uses all major logistics companies in the US,” he wrote in a report. “Amazon does use USPS but, if an arrangement were to become uneconomic to Amazon, Amazon has plenty of options. What are the options for the USPS?”

Source: New York Times

Volvo’s first electric truck is built for city use

Today, Volvo announced its first electric truck for commercial use, called the Volvo FL electric. It’s specifically designed for use in cities, intended for distribution and waste management in urban areas. The truck weighs in at about 16 tonnes (17.64 tons) and has different battery options totaling 100 to 300 kWh, depending on the size and scope of the job. Its range is up to 300 km (186 miles).

These trucks will make their debut in Europe; sales and series production will both start next year. The 10 hour charge time on AC battery (1–2 hours on fast DC charging) seems to suit a city vehicle that will operate primarily during the day perfectly. It has 175 continuous horsepower, with 248 at its peak.

Volvo’s aim is to seamlessly integrate electric vehicle technology into existing urban environments. Volvo Buses has been operating since 2010 and has sold over 4,000 electric buses. The Volvo FL Electric has adapted similar technology. “From experience we know how important it is that cities, energy suppliers and vehicle manufacturers cooperate in order for large-scale electrification to become a reality,” said Jonas Odermalm, the head of product strategy for Volvo FL and Volfo FE. “With attractive incentives, agreed standards and a long-term strategy for urban planning and expansion of the charging infrastructure, the process can go much faster.”

Volvo isn’t the only car company interested in electric trucks in urban environment. Daimler’s eCanter is already making deliveries in the US and Japan for 7-Eleven and UPS, respectively.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Volvo

Anchor’s new Cohost feature matches podcasters with similar interests

Less than two months after the the DIY podcasting app Anchor underwent a major revision, the service is ready to announce another notable new feature: Cohosts. As the name implies, Cohosts lets Anchor users quickly match up with others who want to talk about similar topics — ideally, this will help facilitate group discussions, rather than forcing a podcaster to forge ahead on their own. Anchor was originally built as a community of users sharing audio, so letting those users get together to host a show fits with the app’s social audio roots.

To use the Cohosts feature, you start by either picking a topic from Anchor’s home screen or by adding your own custom topic, which can be as broad or specific as you want. Once the app finds you a match, Anchor basically puts both users into a shared call and gives you a scant 30 seconds to chat before a recording automatically starts. That recording is capped to 15 minutes, and bother users get a copy of the recording once it is finished — it can be published directly to a new podcast or add as part of a bigger episode later.

If you happen to hit it off with your Anchor match, the app will let you record with them again using a “record with friends” feature. That feature removes the 15-minute time limit that comes with a first match. Of course, people act horrible on the internet, so Anchor is putting some protections in place to help avoid abuse. According to TechCrunch, Anchor asks you to rate your cohost with a simple thumbs-up or down once you’re done recording. If you choose thumbs-down, the app will prompt you to tell it why so Anchor can investigate; if someone has abusive or otherwise troublesome on the platform, Anchor will ban them.

Anchor says that Cohosts is available today in its Android and iOS apps, and it’s free, like the rest of Anchor’s features.

Source: Anchor

Senators plan privacy legislation following Zuckerberg hearings

Following Mark Zuckerberg’s hearings earlier this week, two Senators have announced legislation they plan to introduce regarding the protection of consumers’ online data, 9to5Mac reports. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) will propose regulations that would increase transparency, give consumers more control after their data has been breached and make sure companies like Facebook are working within privacy policies that protect consumers and their data. “The data breach at Facebook showed the world that the digital promised land is not all milk and honey. We’ve discovered some impurities in the punch bowl,” Senator Kennedy said in a statement. “I don’t want to regulate Facebook half to death, but there are things that need to be changed. Our bill will help protect Americans’ online data fingerprint.”

The legislation, yet to be introduced, would give consumers the right to opt out of data tracking and collection, give them more control over their data, require terms of service documents to be written in plain language and allow consumers to see what information of theirs has been collected and shared. Additionally, the legislation would require companies to notify consumers of a data breach within 72 hours and ensure online platforms have an adequate privacy program.

Earlier this week, Senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the CONSENT Act, which stands for Customer Online Notification for Stopping Edge-provider Network Transgressions. It proposes a handful of requirements for companies like Facebook and Google, such as opt-in consent for data tracking and sharing, reasonable data security practices, notification of data collection and sharing and notifications when a data breach occurs. Enforcement of these regulations would fall to the FTC.

“Consumers have the right to know if their personal information is being sold and they have the right to easily see what data has already been sold or distributed,” said Senator Klobuchar. “And most importantly, consumers should have the right to keep their information private, be alerted when a data breach has occurred and be informed of the remedies available to them when their personal information is compromised. The digital space can’t keep operating like the Wild Wild West at the expense of our privacy.”

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: Senate