chat

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)

A new online chat service costs one cent for every character in a message. It appears to be both a business idea and a social experiment. The site has the straightforward name called "Expensive Chat," and has the equally to-the-point description of ... "Spend money to chat with strangers who spend money to chat with strangers." Users can register to pay with their bank card or through third-party payment site "Stripe." Once they are setup, every time they write a message, they'll see a reminder of the price based on its length. They'll have to confirm the message and their willingness ... (view more)

Facebook messages are being sold online for the equivalent of 10 cents per user. It comes as the company unveils an "unsend" feature for messages sent in haste. The message for sale follows a breach of Facebook last year when hackers were able to ... take advantage of a security flaw to gain access to 50 million accounts. Ironically the hack took advantage of a 'View As' feature that's meant to protect privacy by allowing users check which parts of their account and data are publicly viewable. 81,000 Users Hit By Message Leak The offer on a hacker forum claims to include details of some ... (view more)

Facebook has created a special version of its Messenger tool for users aged under 13. Those are kids that are too young to use the main Facebook site (officially, at least). The core functions of Messenger Kids will be the same as the main Messenger ... app: users can exchange written messages in real time, or carry out video calls. There'll also be a range of "comedic" filters and effects to overlay on the video. One difference is that there will be no form of advertising whatsoever. There will also be some automated moderation tools that block users from sharing abusive content. Parents Must ... (view more)

Several of the world's most popular messaging applications have failed a security test carried out by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping defend civil liberties in the digital environment. In ... essence, the EFF found that messaging apps like Facebook Chat and Yahoo Messenger just don't do enough to protect user data. The EFF, which published its findings earlier this week, studied 39 messaging applications. The list included voice and video calling programs, mobile texting applications, and instant messaging services. Only Six ... (view more)