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Appleā€™s new device fingerprinting rules send clear privacy message to developers

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Appleā€™s new device fingerprinting rules send clear privacy message to developers

NOT A ONE-TIME CHANGE Apple is no stranger to the privacy game, as this move is only the latest in a series of policy updates designed to strengthen data access and usage policies across its platforms and devices. The most significant of these changes was the introduction of App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5 in 2021. That update required apps to request end-user permission to track activity across other apps and websites. Opting in allowed developers to use Appleā€™s IDFA identifier to share activity with third party data brokers and marketing agencies. Opting...

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Developers take notes as Twitter rebrands as X ā€“ and kills the bird for good

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Developers take notes as Twitter rebrands as X ā€“ and kills the bird for good

THE POWER OF A BRAND Rebranding could very well be the most strategic decision an organization ever makes. Brand equity, after all, represents the sum total of how customers, end-users, and other stakeholders feel about the organization ā€“ and why they choose to interact with it in the first place. It canā€™t be bought, it must be earned and strengthened over time. Executed well, a rebranding can build on that foundation. It can keep the brand fresh and competitive ā€“ even relevant ā€“ amid the relentless pace of changing consumer trends, and of course shifting competitive pressures. A...

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Threads privacy policies reveal need for better development best practices

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Threads privacy policies reveal need for better development best practices

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPO Now that the first few heady weeks of Threadsā€™ existence are giving way to the cold, harsh reality of long-term use, we’re beginning to get a better look at what lies underneath. And what weā€™re seeing ā€“ at least from the perspective of end-user privacy ā€“ merits additional discussion, because Threads collects significantly more data than competing apps in the microblogging space. While apps like Twitter, Mastodon, Hive Social, and Bluesky all have their own privacy policies, all of them are far less aggressive in their data...

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Cybersecurity budgets fail to keep pace with intensifying threat landscape

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Cybersecurity budgets fail to keep pace with intensifying threat landscape

INFRASTRUCTURE INCREASINGLY UNDER THREAT The Suncor attack reflects the accelerating vulnerability of organizations in the infrastructure space ā€“ see Colonial Pipeline and JBS Foods for earlier examples of high-profile ransomware events that resulted in widespread consumer impact. It also comes on the heels of a warning from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) that the oil and gas sector is increasingly being targeted by opportunistic cybercriminals. Barely two months ago, the Globe & Mail newspaper reported on pro-Russian claims...

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Is Meta Threads a Twitter killer? The answer may surprise you.

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Is Meta Threads a Twitter killer? The answer may surprise you.

REWRITING THE LANDSCAPE Meta bills Threads as a new app ā€œfor sharing tech updates and joining public conversations.ā€ At first glance, it looks a lot like a mashup of Twitter and Instagram. The visual language is all Instagram, while the functions are reminiscent of early-days Twitter ā€“ before the bots, the trolls, and the Elon Musk-imposed daily usage limits. None of this is a surprise given how Meta itself describes Threads: ā€œInstagram is where billions of people around the world connect over photos and videos. Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram...

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Seize control as tech sector layoffs reshape talent management roadmaps

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Seize control as tech sector layoffs reshape talent management roadmaps

A POST-PANDEMIC RIGHTSIZING As we shared last year, none of this comes as a surprise. Much of the current layoff trend is less dire than it might seem. Rather than clouds gathering on the horizon, it is more akin to a structural realignment as the economy slowly emerges from the pandemic. As COVID first took hold in March 2020, many tech companies found themselves slammed by spiking demand for services from suddenly homebound customers. Amazon, for example, had to hire hundreds of thousands of new people to handle deliveries, and to staff their warehouses to manage the crush...

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Meta to end news in Canada after Online News Act becomes law

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Meta to end news in Canada after Online News Act becomes law

AN HISTORIC SHIFT – AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Itā€™s no secret that traditional media outlets have struggled in recent years as tech firms ā€“ largely web and social media giants like Google and Meta ā€“ have taken over the advertising market. Consumer habits have moved online, and revenues that once flowed exclusively to traditional newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations have shifted to digital platforms. Along the way, tech platforms have been indexing, linking to, and cross-posting news content, then selling ads against the resulting traffic. Media platforms pay to create the...

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Artificial Intelligence glossary: the top 15 definitions you need to know

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Artificial Intelligence glossary: the top 15 definitions you need to know

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DEFINITION Algorithm ā€œAn algorithm is a procedure used for solving a problem or performing a computation. Algorithms act as an exact list of instructions that conduct specified actions step by step in either hardware- or software-based routines.ā€ Source: TechTarget Artificial Intelligence (AI) ā€œAt its simplest form, artificial intelligence is a field, which combines computer science and robust datasets, to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning, which are frequently mentioned in conjunction...

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Apple Vision Pro wonā€™t break sales records ā€“ but it will still change computing

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Apple Vision Pro wonā€™t break sales records ā€“ but it will still change computing

THINKING – AND ACTING – BEYOND IPHONE Letā€™s be clear: Apple needs to wean itself off of its iPhone habit. Last year, 52% of Appleā€™s revenue of $394.3 billion USD came from iPhone sales. While this is down from previous years ā€“ as the company has successfully launched the Apple Watch, AirPods, and its growing ecosystem of services, among others ā€“ it still leaves the company vulnerable to slowing growth in smartphone-related revenues. And make no mistake: that growth is already headed south. IDC recently revised its global handset sales projections for...

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Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

Written by Carmi Levy on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Developers are already using ChatGPT to write code and save time. Should you?

JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF… In the months since ChatGPT was released to the public, millions of users worldwide have rolled up their sleeves to see what it can do. In addition to writing articles and term papers, it can compose music and poetry, play trivia games, update your resume, generate recipes, tweak your fitness plan, solve math problems, and even plan a birthday party. It can also generate code. Or tweak existing code. Or debug it. Which understandably makes software developers nervous. After all, if anyone can ask a bot to write code, what happens to the...

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