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Apple Addresses Privacy Concerns, Says Siri Will No Longer Send Requests To Main Servers 

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Apple announced this week that they will no longer be using Siri to send requests to its servers as a means of speeding up how quickly the AI voice assistant is able to respond, as well as addressing multiple privacy concerns from users. 

It was revealed a couple of years ago that Apple’s staff regularly listens in on confidential details spoken to Siri while carrying out quality control for the assistant. The company made the announcement at their worldwide developers conference.

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“From this autumn onwards, Siri will proces audio on device, meaning that a majority of the queries won’t be recorded or uploaded to any of Apple’s servers.” 

“With on-device speech recognition, the audio of users’ requests is processed right on their iPhone or iPad by default. This addresses one of the biggest privacy concerns for voice assistants, which is unwanted audio recording. For many requests, Siri processing is also moving on device, enabling requests to be processed without an internet connection, such as launching apps, setting timers and alarms, changing settings or controlling music,” an Apple spokesperson said. 

Back in 2019 the Guardian published an investigative report that revealed “Siri ‘graders’ regularly heard confidential information as part of their job assessing the voice assistant’s responses for quality. The company apologized and, after a three-month pause to the grading program, allowed users to opt out of having their speech analyzed by humans.”

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Apple also announced that they would be introducing a slew of new privacy featured across all of its products to make users feel more secure in their experience using these devices. Mail Privacy Protection is being implemented to block emailers from tracking whether or not users open up an email and consume the content within it. 

Apple will also be making improvements to their FaceTime app as a means of competing with Zoom, Google Meet, and other digital forms of communication that are thriving in this pandemic world. 

Apple recently released a software update as well that forces every third-party app to ask for a user’s permission to be able to track what they do on their device. These tracking features are traditionally used by social media applications to track what kind of products you like so that they can make your advertisements more personalized. 

The goal of all of these updates is to give smart device users the comfort of knowing they are not constantly being tracked and watched by these major corporations. 

France Is Testing Digital Covid Travel Certificates For Vaccinated Individuals

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France has become the first member state of the European Union to begin testing a digital Covid-19 travel certificate as a part of Europe’s larger plan to allow people to travel between countries more easily once they’re vaccinated.  

The TousAntiCovid app is a part of the nation’s overall contact tracing program, which has recently been updated to store negative Covid-19 test results on travelers’ mobile phones. The app is now being trialed on flights to Corisca and overseas to accommodate for vaccinated individuals as well. 

The trial is being extended from April 29th in order to include vaccination certificates as more citizens receive them. If the trial runs end up being successful, the application could eventually be used for entry into public events like concerts, festivals, and sporting events; officials did mention that the technology would not be used for entry into bars and restaurants. 

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Cedric O, the minister for digital transition discussed how the trial in France will become one part of a larger more standardized system to be used all throughout Europe. Several other EU member states are already in talks with France over expanding the technology to reach more countries. 

The European commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders, said last week he expected “the EU’s digital green certificate to be operational by June 21st because the certificate is an urgent priority for southern European member states whose economies have been devastated by the pandemic.”

The program has not been referred to as a “vaccine passport” so that citizens know its not being created to discriminate against those who haven’t been vaccinated yet, especially since it’s original purpose was to carry negative Covid tests for travelers. 

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Ideally, those who have a certificate of approval will be able to travel without quarantining, and will have proof of vaccination, negative testing, or antibodies all on their phone. Those in France being vaccinated this week, and the weeks after this, will receive a text message or email that will give them access to a state-certified online document that can be downloaded or printed out, or stored in the TousAntiCovid app. 

According to reports “the app will generate a secure QR code containing a range of information including the traveler’s name, the date and type of their test or vaccine, and details of the relevant doctor or laboratory, all of which can be checked against a national database.”

Several EU member states are already working on similar programs for their citizens, which has some experts concerned over how well multiple systems will work together. Data security and privacy is also being viewed as top concern. 

So far every app and digital proof of vaccination/negative Covid tests is in its trial phase, and they will likely continue to advance as vaccinations continue throughout the world.

Disinfect Cellphone

How To Properly Disinfect Your Smart Phone

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With the way things currently are, it’s important to be disinfecting the surfaces we touch everyday as much as we’re maintaining good hygiene for our own bodies. One of the surfaces we touch the most every day includes our cell phones. Whatever we touch, ends up on our phones, which we bring to our faces and touch with our hands daily. So here are some of the best ways to make sure your personal devices stay clean and germ-free. 

First thing you need to do is take off your phone case and change it periodically. Your phone case is what you touch arguably more than the actual back of your phone, so you need to be disinfecting it as often as you are your phone itself, which should be at least once a day. Be very careful and delicate when removing certain cases, such as an Otterbox, as they are designed to adhere and protect your phone for long periods of time. Improperly removing them could cause your phone to break, so if you need, look up your specific cases removal process to be safe. ‘

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The same concept goes with any kind of screen protector. While taking a disinfectant wipe to your phone’s screen protector daily will ensure that it’s clean, after a while certain dirt and bacteria can build up underneath the surface and get stuck. So frequently removing and replacing your screen protector will make sure that those particles are also removed. 

Before you disinfect your phone, it’s important to wipe down the surface with some sort of microfiber cloth. This will lift off any larger dust particles before you take a more wet disinfectant wipe to the surface, once you do so there’s less of a chance of these bigger particles being left behind after you’re done cleaning. 

Make sure you’re actually using a microfiber cloth of some sort, as traditional paper towels can be really abrasive to the glass on your phone’s screen and cause little scratches on the surface. It’s also important to note that during this entire cleaning process, your phone should be unplugged. If a charger is present, dirt and debris will only build up around the charging port of your phone and likely slip into the crevices and remain there indefinitely. 

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Anytime you’re cleaning around the charging port, speaker, or headphone jacks on your device, make sure you’re being very careful and mainly using dry cloths to clean those areas. Even if your device is waterproof, wet substances seeping into the phone itself will cause particles of dirt to build up and stay there. 

One thing you should make sure you’re not using is a compressed air can. Compressed air is typically used to clean keyboards and desktop computers, but when they’re used on smaller personal devices, they just push particles deeper into the crevices of your phone. These dust, dirt, and bacterial remains can cause germs to build up rapidly and therefore adhere to something you’re touching with your hands constantly. 

When it comes to choosing an actual disinfectant to use on your phone, steer clear of any Lysol aerosol-based cleaners, as they can be too harsh and abrasive. Simple disinfecting wipes will do, in fact, it’s what’s recommended. 

Apple officially recommends a “pack of 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (if you can find either). Use that to wipe down your iPhone and its case (but only if it’s hard plastic). Try not to let your device get too wet and definitely don’t scrub around openings where you could introduce lint or moisture buildup.”

Finally, make sure you’re repeating this process often, especially during times of a worldwide pandemic, keeping surfaces clean and germless is of the utmost importance right now, and will give you a greater peace of mind while playing Candy Crush during times of self-quarantine.