Major Android mobile apps from companies including Yelp and Duolingo send data that could be used to personally identify you for ad tracking straight to Facebook immediately upon logging in, according to a new report from the London-based UK charity and watchdog group Privacy International (PI).
This data transfer happens even if a user isn’t logged into Facebook on that device and even in the event the user doesn’t have an active Facebook account at all.
Amazing.
Alfred Ng writing for CNET
Zuckerberg showed off a few of the creative possibilities that come with the new Oculus platform, like being able to draw and play with your creations in the social experience.
The demonstration was Facebook’s first dive into creating a social platform for Oculus, using VR to connect with your friends and family. The social network is one of many major tech companies pushing virtual reality as the next big trend. The company entered the VR business through its $1 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014.
Oculus is pushing for a more social environment on VR, with its Oculus Avatar feature, allowing users to create a digital version of themselves and interact with their friends from anywhere in the world.
“This is the first time that tech has made this level of social presence possible,” said Lauren Vegter, Oculus’ social product team leader.
She introduced Parties and Rooms, two new features that let people come together in a VR lounge, where they can watch videos, listen to music and hang out.
None of the things he showed seemed useful or better than the current way we do things (Playing chess, playing cards, taking selfies, and so on). It sounds more and more like Oculus Rift is a bust. It is more expensive than the Playstation VR and much less useful even though the tech behind it is better than the rest.
Playstation VR has a much better chance of succeeding since there are all those PS4s laying around and Sony has a history of making it’s own games.
The whole Oculus keynote demo was strangely awkward, and not something I’d expect out of Mark.
Cyrus Farivar writing for ArsTechnica
Facebook has begun rolling out its “Marketplace” feature to users, allowing people to buy and sell items locally through the app.
Marketplace has existed for some time as part of Facebook Groups. (I’ve bought and sold some items through a local parents’ group for the last few years, and it works well.) Delivery and payment is handled separately from the app, just like similar ads posted on Craigslist.
The company said in a Monday press release that the feature would be “rolling out to everyone over 18 years old in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand on the Facebook app for iPhone and Android.”
The new “shop” button will replace in-app real estate currently occupied by Messenger, Facebook’s standalone messaging app. On Sunday, the company rolled out “Messenger Lite,” a stripped-down version released to users in Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela, with more countries coming soon.
Facebook had a marketplace early on it’s life (almost 10 years ago), but decided to get rid of it.
From Wikipedia:
Marketplace
On May 14, 2007, Facebook launched Marketplace, which lets users post free classified ads.[196] Marketplace has been compared to Craigslist by CNET, which points out that the major difference between the two is that listings posted by a user on Marketplace are seen only by users in the same network as that user, whereas listings posted on Craigslist can be seen by anyone.[197]
If they would have kept it in 2007 I think Craigslist would never come to exist.