They’ve done it again! Just when you thought the latest privacy debacle with Facebook was over, they come back with another one. This time, Facebook says it “accidentally uploaded” the email contact info of about 1.5 million of its users. This, of course, was done without their permission, which is exactly what you would expect from Facebook at this point.

The reason for this latest breach of its users privacy was because of an update of an older security feature. In the past, Facebook used to ask users if they wanted to upload their email contacts to Facebook in order to connect with people more easily, which users had the option to decline. Now, Facebook no longer has this prompt. The feature itself, though, still exists. However, users often have no idea that the feature itself still exists and that they can opt out of it because the screen explaining that feature no longer exists. This caused the accidental uploading of 1.5 million users’ contact information without them even realizing it.

All of this just adds to the overall public distrust in Facebook for once again being irresponsible with its users’ private information. If things continue this way for Facebook, they may find their consumer base to be less and less loyal going forward. I mean, would you trust a tech giant who repeatedly is involved in scandals regarding your personal information?  How many scandals would it take?

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-says-it-unintentionally-uploaded-1-5-million-users-email-n995741

Everyone has most likely heard of Samsung’s new phone, the Galaxy Fold, notorious for its ability to go from a small tablet to a smart phone by folding the screen in half. While definitely an innovative concept, early consumers of this product have been quick to find its flaws. Journalists who received their Folds earlier than most have been experiencing a range of problems, including the hinge mechanism not working properly and the screen breaking after being folded and unfolded. These are problems that potential consumers raised concerns about earlier on, and now it seems as though their concerns were justified.

Now, just days after reports such as these have been released, Samsung allegedly postponed the launch of the Galaxy Fold in China, most likely in an attempt to tighten up the product before launching it on such a wide scale, or give themselves a chance to perform some damage control. They did not really have much of a choice, especially with their consumer base making as much noise as they were about the issues. It’s definitely much better that they postpone the big launch, because it shows their willingness to work to serve the needs of consumers to make their experience with their product as good as possible. The American launch of the phone seems to be unaffected by this, however, as Samsung has said they are not changing that date from April 26th. Hopefully by then Samsung will have figured out how to solve the issues early consumers identified, or else they will be answering to a very irritated consumer base very shortly.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/21/18509919/samsung-reportedly-postponed-the-galaxy-folds-launch-china-shanghai-hong-kong

On Friday, California proposed a rule allowing testing of certain autonomous vehicles on public roads. This would only apply to smaller vehicles that weigh less than 10,001 pounds, meaning this would not apply to large vehicles like semi trucks and buses. Several companies who have begun testing autonomous vehicles are keeping an eye on these rules as it would affect them directly, like Waymo and Uber.

I am very interested to see how this testing will go, because I am still very skeptical about self-driving vehicles. We learned in class that autonomous vehicles have problems that human drivers do not have, such as when they are faced with unique situations that their software is not equipped to deal with. This can lead to accidents and injuries, which have already happened with these companies’ autonomous vehicles.

At the same time, allowing testing on a smaller scale could greatly help improve the quality of autonomous vehicles. If they can continue testing these vehicles, they can continue to find out how to best tackle any problems that may come up with the software, and ultimately improve the quality of autonomous vehicles everywhere. What do you think?

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/12/18308136/california-dmv-self-driving-trucks-light-duty

Apple recently announced that they will be releasing a new credit card, “Apple Card”, with the help of Goldman Sachs. Perks of the card include 2% cash back every day. The idea seems to be to convince more American consumers to start using mobile transactions, specifically Apple Pay. As of right now, Apple Pay is not really widely used by the American public, and is greatly overshadowed by PayPal and Venmo. On top of that, not many stores currently are compatible with Apple Pay. Hopefully for Apple, this card would change that. However, it does not really seem that different from currently existing credit cards, such as the Citi Double Cash card and the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards card, which provide users with very similar rewards. Other cards boast even better rewards. Some speculate that this card might actually just be a convoluted way for Goldman Sachs to access consumer data. Overall, consumers should be wary when considering whether or not they want to buy into Apple’s new credit card.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-consumers-need-to-know-about-the-upcoming-credit-card-from-apple-and-goldman-sachs-2019-02-23

In about a month, Samsung will be releasing a new phone with an impressive new feature–a foldable screen. The phone at first glance looks like a normal smartphone, until you unfold it. It then becomes a small tablet! This is not a brand new idea, as Royole released a phone earlier with the same technology but faced some issues. Samsung, however, seem to have perfected it. They promised app continuity, which is something that Royole was not able to accomplish in their design. This means the app the user had open will seamlessly shift formats when the phone is being folded or unfolded. Samsung said they will also include several cameras all over the phone to make sure that you can still take a picture no matter what shape the phone is in. The phone can handle an extremely high amount of folds due to a durable internal hinge mechanism. Unfortunately, the phone costs almost $2,000, so if you want one, you better start saving up from now!

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-47305417/first-look-at-samsung-s10-and-fold-phones