Thursday, April 6, 2017
Twitter has launched its Lite mobile service for the data-deprived
Twitter has announced the launch of a more streamlined and less data-hungry version of its mobile website which it’s called Twitter Lite.
In its official announcement of the lighter service, Twitter said that despite smartphone adoption growing to “3.8 billion connections by the end of 2016, 45 percent of mobile connections are still on slower 2G networks.“
As a result, Twitter Lite is largely geared to these emerging mobile markets without 4G connectivity and slow and unreliable wireless networks.
I can't believe it's not Twitter
The service will provide all the main features of the Twitter app including timeline, Tweets, Direct Messages, trends, profiles, media uploads, notifications, and more but it'll take up less than a megabyte of space. It also features a further data-saving mode that will blur out any images or videos until the user taps on them to view them.
It’ll also work offline so users will be able to continue using the app even if their connection drops out, though obviously they won’t get access to new tweets.
According to Twitter, the 'Lite' version of the site will be able to load to a usable level in under 30 seconds on most 3G devices, and says that as well as loading faster, it will use around 40% less data in normal use, and up to 70% less when the data-saving mode is turned on. Being less power hungry than the official app, we imagine it could also be a battery-saving method of using Twitter too.
This should, Twitter says, make it “more affordable for you to use Twitter in areas where mobile data is expensive.”
Though it's geared towards emerging markets, Twitter Lite is currently available globally so it's likely that at some point you'll find yourself using it without even realizing.
Of course, Twitter isn’t the first social media service to set up a more streamlined version of its app, with Facebook and YouTube having had versions of their own for a while now. This could be a pretty key move for Twitter in terms of attracting more users to its service – something it’s struggled to do as of late.
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Microsoft clarifies exactly what personal data is collected in Windows 10
Ahead of the Creators Update, which will officially begin to roll out next week, Microsoft has opened up even further about Windows 10 and privacy. The company has published full details of the diagnostic data collected by the OS when telemetry is set to the ‘basic’ level.
Yes, this is Microsoft taking another step in coming clean regarding the data it collects from users’ PCs, addressing previous accusations of a lack of transparency in terms of the details Windows 10 pipes back to the software giant’s servers.
So, to make things clear, Microsoft has published an exhaustive list of all the data Windows 10 relays back to the mothership when diagnostic data collection is set to ‘basic’ (which is one of two options, the other being ‘full’). And, boy, is it exhaustive – it’s tiring just scrolling through the thing, let alone reading it. Have a look for yourself here, if you’re brave enough.
In practice, to the average user, this sprawling point-by-point breakdown won’t mean much, and won’t be particularly useful. But the point, really, is that Microsoft is happy to lay its cards out on the table, so those with a deep interest in Windows 10 privacy issues can see what’s going on under the hood.
In the blog post outlining all this, Terry Myerson, EVP of the Windows and Devices Group, noted that, on a broader level, Microsoft's "commitment to you is that we only collect data at the basic level that is necessary to keep your Windows 10 devices secure and up to date.”
What about those with diagnostics on full? He further explains: “For customers who choose the full level, we use diagnostic data to improve Windows 10 for everyone and deliver more personalized experiences for you where you choose to let us do so.”
Microsoft hasn’t, however, provided a complete list of everything collected for those who are running with the full setting. Although the company has provided a broad overview of the types of diagnostic data collected with this option (perhaps on the grounds that an exhaustive list would have taken them until the end of the year to compile).
Clear signal
So, the upshot of all this? It’s clearly another signal that Microsoft wants to shed the image of being at fault on the privacy front, even if the actual information revealed isn’t going to be all that interesting to the average Joe or Jane.
That said, there will doubtless be folks out there who want another option apart from ‘basic’ or ‘full’ when it comes to diagnostic data hoovering – and that would be ‘none’. That’s not likely to happen, though.
As you may be aware, with the Creators Update, Microsoft has already made some big changes to Windows 10’s installation process, highlighting privacy settings more clearly, and giving the user simple sliders to turn off elements such as usage of location data or targeted ads.
The screen shown above is where you’ll choose between basic or full diagnostic data, with the default being the former.
Despite this move, back in February, EU data protection bigwigs told Microsoft it still wasn’t doing enough with privacy, and that the company needed to clearly explain what kinds of personal data are processed, and to what end.
And this blog post is a direct reaction to that demand, as Myerson notes: “This feedback – in line with the feedback we have received from the European Union’s Article 29 Working Party and national data protection authorities that have specifically engaged us on Windows 10 – was essential for Microsoft to identify and implement improvements in our privacy practices.”
Although we’re not sure that the EU authorities were really asking for a point-by-point list, but rather, more useful and detailed clarifications given to the user in the installation process. Still, the full details and transparency shown here will no doubt be welcome in Europe (and elsewhere, for that matter).
One final thing: it’s not just those running with a fresh installation of Windows 10 who will get the benefit of the new privacy settings being introduced with the Creators Update. Anyone upgrading to this version will also be presented with a slightly different menu – but featuring the same simple sliders – allowing them to review their privacy settings.
- How to fix Windows 10 privacy issues right now
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