Internet

Infopackets Reader Bill W. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks so much for your article on Facebook blackmail . I also read your article on Instagram blackmail . Unfortunately, I have a similar situation. A few weeks ago, I received a random chat request ... from a female with a WhatsApp business account asking if I was affiliated with her company. She claims to work in the shipping department. I responded back stating she had the wrong number, but that didn't stop her from continuing to message me. A few days into it and we exchanged some photos of each other (clothed). She asked where I worked, what ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Franco I. writes: " Dear Dennis, Please help - someone is threatening to share a video of me (in the buff) on Facebook! A few days ago, I met a girl on Omegle (a chat website). We had lots of shared interests and seemed to hit it ... off pretty good. After some back and forth, things escalated to the point where she started sharing pictures of herself scantily dressed. She asked for my phone number, then wanted to do a video call using Google Chat . As soon as I answered, she was already unclothed with toys in hand. She claimed her microphone was broken, so I never got to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Shane J. writes: " Dear Dennis, Help - I'm being blackmailed on Google Chat ! Two days ago I received a friend request on Facebook from a woman who lives in my city. At first I didn't recognize her, but she says she went to my ... high school. Eventually we ended up chatting outside of Facebook using Google Chat (previously Google Hangouts), and that's when she sent me some revealing photos of herself. She asked me to reciprocate. As soon as I did, the video chat ended immediately. She texted me and said if I don't pay her money she would send the video to friends and family. ... (view more)

The head of controversial messaging app Telegram says it will now comply with some legal requests for information about users. Russian business owner Pavel Durov announced the policy change just weeks after being arrested in France and charged with ... enabling criminal activity. Telegram is a messaging app similar to WhatsApp in that the content of messages is encrypted, to the point that even the operators of the app can't read private messages. It has a couple of significant differences that likely affect the type of people that use it, however. One is that unlike WhatsApp's limit of 1,000 ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, Please help! I am being blackmailed on Instagram and I'm not sure what to do. A few weeks ago I signed up for Plenty of Fish (PoF) dating and matched up with a woman that I believed to be legit. We ... exchanged photos on Instagram and texted back and forth for about a week. Not long after, we exchanged raunchy photos. Fast forward to just a few days ago and she claims to have crashed her car and doesn't have enough to cover the costs. She's asked me to help. I declined. She said if I don't pay, she would share intimate pictures of me with all of ... (view more)

Google is to make it easier to find copies of pages that are no longer available on websites. The change comes several months after Google removed its own cache of web pages. Users will instead be able to follow a link to the archived copy at the ... Internet Archive's "wayback machine." Before this year, many Google search results included a link to Google's own cached copies of web pages. These were the copies that Google made when scanning a web page for content and links to help decide when and where it should appear in search rankings. The cached copy available in the search results would ... (view more)

Google staff have been accused of exploiting a loophole to target ads at children. The workaround reportedly broke company policy but not any existing laws. According to the Financial Times, the workaround was done in partnership with Meta, which ... wanted a way to advertise Instagram on YouTube and target 13 to 17 year olds. (Source: ft.com ) Normally that would be impossible under Google's rules for targeting, which don't let advertisers specify ages under 18 when selecting who does and doesn't see an ad. Known Unknowns However, the Financial Times claims Google staff not only knew Meta wanted ... (view more)

iPhones and iPads could soon let users permanently hide parts of web pages including pop-up windows. The move has proven controversial with suggestions it could also be used as an ad-blocker. The new feature is called Distraction Control and is in ... the development beta stages (i.e. test version) of the Safari web browser in the upcoming iOS 18 update. It also appears to be on the way in Safari for Mac computers. The feature lets users tap a page menu button marked "Hide Distracting Items". That will bring up a list of elements on a web page such as pop-up windows, autoplay videos and banners ... (view more)

Almost one in six Chrome extensions could stop working this summer thanks to a major Google update. They include one of the most prominent ad-blocking tools. An extension is a third party tool that integrates with Chrome to improve the user's ... experience when accessing websites. They can include tools as diverse as password managers, page translators and video downloaders, though ad blockers are perhaps the best known. Extensions are able to integrate with Chrome and access its data thanks for a platform called Manifest. Google has developed a Version 3 of Manifest and is phasing out support ... (view more)

Apple has launched a privacy-focused ad campaign for the iPhone. It's billed as a promotion of its Safari browser but is clearly an attack on Google's Chrome. The ad is loosely based on The Birds but with the creatures replaced by flying ... surveillance cameras that follow and attack phone users with an onscreen graphic reading "Your browsing is being watched." It then ends with users opening the Safari browser, at which point the flying cameras explode, with a new graphic reading "Safari. A browser that's actually private." Incognito Mode Dubiously Named Apple has previously highlighted ... (view more)