news.buyenne.com

Enlarge / The Facebook iPhone app asks for permission to track the user in this early mock-up of the prompt made by Apple. (credit: Apple)

It seems that in the United States, at least, app developers and advertisers who rely on targeted mobile advertising for revenue are seeing their worst fears realized: Analytics data published this week suggests that US users choose to opt out of tracking 96 percent of the time in the wake of iOS 14.5.

When Apple released iOS 14.5 late last month, it began enforcing a policy called App Tracking Transparency. iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV apps are now required to request users' permission to use techniques like IDFA (ID for Advertisers) to track those users' activity across multiple apps for data collection and ad targeting purposes.

The change met fierce resistance from companies like Facebook, whose market advantages and revenue streams are built on leveraging users' data to target the most effective ads at those users. Facebook went so far as to take out full-page newspaper ads claiming that the change would not just hurt Facebook but would destroy small businesses around the world. Shortly after, Apple CEO Tim Cook attended a data privacy conference and delivered a speech that harshly criticized Facebook's business model.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | MirageC)

The average US home-Internet bill increased 19 percent during the first three years of the Trump administration, disproving former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's claim that deregulation lowered prices, according to a new report by advocacy group Free Press. For tens of millions of families that aren't wealthy, "these increases are felt deeply, forcing difficult decisions about which services to forgo so they can maintain critical Internet access services," Free Press wrote.

The 19 percent Trump-era increase is adjusted for inflation to match the value of 2020 dollars, with the monthly cost rising from $39.35 in 2016 to $47.01 in 2019. Without the inflation adjustment, the average household Internet price rose from $36.48 in 2016 to $46.38 in 2019, an increase of 27 percent.

The nominal increase in each of the three years was between 7.27 percent and 9.94 percent, while inflation each year ranged from 1.81 percent to 2.44 percent.

Enlarge / Elon Musk in 2020. (credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty)

In January's Tesla earnings call, an analyst asked Elon Musk about his belief that Tesla would achieve Level 5 autonomy—jargon for a car that can drive itself in all situations—by the end of the year.

"I'm confident based on my understanding of the technical roadmap and the progress that we're making between each beta iteration," Musk said.

But six weeks later, Tesla's director of Autopilot software, CJ Moore, contradicted Musk in a March meeting with California regulators. That's according to a memo obtained by transparency site Plainsite via a freedom of information request.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) on a Google account requires someone who is proactive about account security. Users have to log in, dig through the settings, and tick the right boxes. Of the billions of Google accounts out there, the uptake on 2FA is probably not that high, and Google is tired of it.

Yesterday, for "World Password Day," Google announced a very bold move for account security. "Soon," the company says, it will start "automatically enrolling" users in 2FA, provided their accounts are appropriately configured. Google doesn't go into detail about what "appropriately configured" means, but it sounds like anyone who can have 2FA enabled will have 2FA enabled soon. Google's preferred 2FA method is the "Google Prompt," a notification Google pushes to your phone when you're attempting to sign in. Rather than requiring you to type in a clunky code, the Google Prompt provides a simple "yes/no" check, making 2FA easier than ever.

On Android, Google Prompt is a full-screen pop-up built into every device as part of Google Play Services, so that's easy. On iOS, Google Prompt requests for your account can be received by the Google Search app, the Gmail app, or the dedicated Google Smart Lock app. It sounds like everyone meeting these requirements will soon be enrolled in 2FA.

Enlarge (credit: Getty | YinYang)

Pharmaceutical companies spend around $6.5 billion a year on advertising, and even though Facebook prohibits the use of “sensitive health information” in ad targeting, about $1 billion of that ad spending ends up in the companies' pockets. Big Pharma, it turns out, has found some creative ways to work within Facebook’s rules.

Facebook’s ad targeting allows drug companies to zero-in on likely patients by aiming not for their conditions but for Facebook-defined interests that are adjacent to their illnesses, according to a report by The Markup. The site used a custom web browser to analyze what ads Facebook served to 1,200 people and why, and it found that Big Pharma frequently used illness “awareness” as a proxy for more sensitive health information.

The range of treatments advertised to potential patients ran the gamut. Novartis used “National Breast Cancer Awareness Month” to sell Facebook users on Piqray, a breast cancer pill that lists for $15,500 for a 28-day supply. AstraZeneca ran ads for Brilinta, a $405-per-month blood thinner, based on whether Facebook thought a user was interested in “stroke awareness.” And GlaxoSmithKline shows ads for Trelegy, a $600-per-month inhaler, if someone was flagged by Facebook for “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] awareness.”