Since the start of 2021 Apple has made it mandatory for all new apps and updated apps to include details on what data on a user that app collects, how that app collects it and what it does with it, so that info can be published in App Store to make Apple look good/give customers a bit of transparency. Google, king of the sneaky data thieves, would normally update their apps every two weeks - they haven't updated their apps at all since December 8th 2020. A coincidence, I'm sure. It's been so long since their apps were updated, Google's servers have been flagging its own iOS apps as out of date and giving users a warning despite being the latest version available.
The Productivity Commission is currently soliciting feedback for right to repair regulations in Australia and one of the entities that submitted its two cents is the ACCC. Their valued opinion is that while the current Australian Consumer Law is good, more could be done to stop "businesses not disclosing that a product will be obsolete in an unreasonably short period of time; and a business not providing security updates for smart products for a reasonable amount of time". Even LG agrees, so all manufacturers compete on an even playing field, but still want "product technical data" protected "to reduce the risk of potential counterfeit production and product safety". Even just making it mandatory for businesses to release service manuals and making parts available without needing a trade account or similar would be a game changer.
The draft Online Safety Act is currently in review before it gets made into a law and the local sex industry hates it. Whilst the Online Safety Act is supposed to be all about protecting children online, like most laws of this type it has way more impact than its noble, albeit misguided aim of preventing little Jimmy or Jane from being groomed into a child sex slave ring. Part of the law mandates that certain types of content must be taken down, accounts deleted or removed from search engines within 24 hours of the eSafety Commissioner telling a platform or host to do so. The content categories are so broad that legitimate and legal sexual images fit the description for immediate removal. The government is basically trying to sanitise Australian internet by stealth and placing its puritanical morals on us.
For All Mankind has been one of my favourite TV shows of late, so I was excited to find an augmented reality app to promote the upcoming second season on Apple TV+. For the unitiated, For All Mankind is set in an alternate world where the Russians got to the Moon first and the US keeps trying to catch up, whilst both nations start to militarise the lunar surface with bases and espionage. Probably not for everyone but I love it. This AR app is set between the first and second seasons and makes use of the LIDAR sensors on the latest iPhones and iPads. I gave it a quick shot and it looks nice but damn it made my phone hot.
📻 Say To Please - Warish
😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.
💬 Did you know that The Sizzle has a Slack group? Join in and chat with other subscribers like you.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info? Visit the customer portal.
🌐 Use my affiliate link to purchase a subscription to NextDNS. It's basically all the ad-blocking and logging of Pi-Hole, combined with the fancy protocols and security of Cloudflare's DNS service all rolled into one! I don't use the internet without it.
The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.