Internet

Chrome users on Android devices may soon have an "emergency" button to delete the last 15 minutes of browsing history. It's a simplified version of existing settings and follows a similar tool for search history. The search delete tool has been ... available for nearly a year now, but doesn't appear to be widely known about. It's not on the Chrome browser app but rather the dedicated search tool that's accessible on many devices by swiping right from the home screen. Users simply need to click on their profile picture and then select the "Delete last 15 minutes" option. Now it appears a ... (view more)

Facebook's oversight board says it should rethink its rules on topless images. Tech experts believe the current rules can't be effectively enforced with automated moderation anyway. The ruling comes from the independent body that looks into cases ... where people believe Facebook has wrongly moderated content. The idea is to concentrate on cases where Facebook's rules may need clarifying. In this situation, the board looked at two connected cases. Both involved posts on Instagram, which is owned by the same company as Facebook. The two services share content rules set by parent company Meta. The ... (view more)

Facebook's oversight board says the site was wrong to delete a post protesting against the government in Iran. It's another example of the difficulties of moderating content online. The ruling came from an independent body that reviews a selection ... of decisions made by Facebook moderators. In a very loose sense, the body works a little like the Supreme Court in that it looks at specific cases but its rulings set wider precedents. In this case, a user had made a post which included the phrase "marg bar Khameni." Literally translates, that means "death to Khameni" and refers to Iran's Supreme ... (view more)

Windows 11 may soon show whether or not users are connected to a VPN. It's a simple feature, but it's significant since the technology is getting such mainstream acknowledgement. VPN stands for virtual private network, a feature that has three main ... benefits. The first is that it creates an "encrypted tunnel" for data going back and forth between the user and the Internet. One analogy is that ordinary Internet traffic works like a glass tube, while a VPN is more like a totally enclosed road tunnel. In simplistic terms, it means nobody else can see what is happening as data is sent and received ... (view more)

Nine in ten Americans are now online according to new figures. But it's the United Kingdom that is "most online" and least subject to Internet restrictions. The figures come from Proxyrack, a company with a clear interest in places where users may ... want to disguise their identity of location. It wanted to see if there was any connection between how widespread Internet use was and how freely people could use the Internet. (Source: proxyrack.com ) The usage figures came from Statista and shows 99,231 out of every 100,000 people in the UK had used the internet recently. That was followed by Japan ... (view more)

Internet users who find themselves distracted online can pay up to $9 a month to block certain websites. The service has some obvious limitations but does prompt debate about Internet addiction. The Freedom service offers users four types of block: ... block all Internet access, block specific websites, block specific apps, or block all sites except those the user has specifically listed. It can cover computers, phones and tablets. After a free trial of seven "block sessions" users must pay for some features. This includes use on an unlimited devices and scheduling. This carries a subscription ... (view more)

Fujitsu has proposed an "endorsement layer" on top of the Internet to tackle bogus information. It's an idea that would certainly face both technological and societal challenges. The idea comes in a white paper (a report designed to provoke ... discussion) written alongside Keio University in Japan. It explores the idea of a "trustable Internet in which people can use information securely." (Source: kaeio.ac.jp ) The concept is simple, if abstract. The writers propose a system that "overlays a layer on the Internet, which has a mechanism to confirm the credibility of the ... (view more)

A US official has beaten a Russian opponent to become head of a major Internet body. The result could make a big difference to online technology, particularly on the issue of blocks and censorship. Doreen Bogdan-Martin beat out Rashid Ismailov to ... lead the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). She prevailed 139-25 in an election where every country had one vote. (Source: politico.eu ) The ITU is a United Nations agency that started in 1865 as a way to make sure telegraph systems in different countries could use a compatible system. It now oversees many cross-border tech issues, ... (view more)

"Privacy-focused" web browser Brave will block cookie consent banners that annoy some users. Its makers say the move will still protect users from unwanted tracking. Cookie consent banners appear on many sites affected by a series of privacy laws, ... most notable Europe's General Data Protection Regulation. The laws require explicit, active consent from users to handle personal data, including through creating cookies that can track online activity. To comply with such laws, sites will often put up a banner or pop-up window whenever somebody first visits a site, asking them to give or ... (view more)

LinkedIn has admitted it ran experiments that may have affected a user's chances of getting a job. The business networking site says everything it did was covered by its user agreement. The New York Times revealed that the experiments involved more ... than 20 million users over five years. The core of the testing was the way LinkedIn picked who appeared in the "People You May Know" section that automatically suggests potential contacts. The experiment, run alongside three major universities and later published in the journal Science, meant some users got a higher proportion of ... (view more)