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Ars Technica
Android 15’s security and privacy features are the update’s highlight
Android 15 started rolling out to Pixel devices Tuesday and will arrive, through various third-party efforts, on other Android devices at some point. There is always a bunch of little changes to discover in an Android release, whether by reading, poking around, or letting your phone show you 25 new things after it restarts.
In Android 15, some of the most notable involve making your device less appealing to snoops and thieves and more secure against the kids to whom you hand your phone to keep them quiet at dinner. There are also smart fixes for screen sharing, OTP codes, and cellular hacking prevention, but details about them are spread across Google's own docs and blogs and various news site's reports.
Here's what is notable and new in how Android 15 handles privacy and security.
Categories: Technology News
Feds test whether existing laws can combat surge in fake AI child sex images
Cops aren't sure how to protect kids from an ever-escalating rise in fake child sex abuse imagery fueled by advances in generative AI.
Last year, child safety experts warned of thousands of "AI-generated child sex images" rapidly spreading on the dark web around the same time the FBI issued a warning that "benign photos" of children posted online could be easily manipulated to exploit and harm kids.
So far, US prosecutors have only brought two criminal cases in 2024 attempting to use existing child pornography and obscenity laws to combat the threat, Reuters reported on Thursday. Meanwhile, as young girls are increasingly targeted by classmates in middle and high schools, at least one teen has called for a targeted federal law designed to end the AI abuse.
Categories: Technology News
ULA is examining debris recovered from Vulcan rocket’s shattered booster nozzle
When the exhaust nozzle on one of the Vulcan rocket's strap-on boosters failed shortly after liftoff earlier this month, it scattered debris across the beachfront landscape just east of the launch pad on Florida's Space Coast.
United Launch Alliance, the company that builds and launches the Vulcan rocket, is investigating the cause of the booster anomaly before resuming Vulcan flights. Despite the nozzle failure, the rocket continued its climb and ended up reaching its planned trajectory heading into deep space.
The nozzle fell off one of Vulcan's two solid rocket boosters around 37 seconds after taking off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 4. There were some indications of a problem with the booster a few seconds earlier, as tracking cameras observed hot exhaust escaping just above the bell-shaped nozzle, which is bolted to the bottom of the booster casing.
Categories: Technology News
Meta fires staffers for using $25 meal credits on household goods
Meta has fired about two dozen staff in Los Angeles for using their $25 meal credits to buy household items including acne pads, wine glasses, and laundry detergent.
The terminations took place last week, just days before the $1.5 trillion social media company separately began restructuring certain teams across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, its augmented and virtual reality arm, on Tuesday.
The revamp has included cutting some staff and relocating others, several people familiar with the decisions said, in a sign that chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s recent efficiency drive is still under way.
Categories: Technology News
