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The private chats of Bollywood actors discussing light drugs are on news TV. They satisfy the voyeuristic impulses of people. Who wouldnt like a peep into the private lives of Bollywood celebrities?

Yet,these alleged chats leaking into our living rooms have also horrified people. Is there no such thing as privacy? Are my WhatsApp chats also being accessed by every Tom, Arnab and Navika?

Also read: We dont share GPay customer data with third parties Google dismisses media reports

If you are worried about that, there are a few steps you can taketo safeguardyour privacy. The first step would be to start taking the issue of privacy seriously enoughdemand a privacy law in India.

A data privacy law has been pending before Parliament,but it isa poor draft. And soeven if it is passed,it wontactuallydomuch to safeguard the privacy of citizens. It is oriented towards enabling the government to access your data without much trouble.

Remember that we have been told in the past that privacy is theconcern of a few elites. Technology companies often wonder ifprivacyis justsomethinga bunch of activists make a lot of noise about orwhetherthe average consumer actually caresforit. Many say, Why should I be afraid when I have done no wrong? Well, then, why dont you have that nasty fight with your spouse publicly on Facebook. If you dont care about your privacy,then someone can putupthat fightyou hadwith your spouse on Facebook by accessing your private phone chats.

When you live in a country whose government told the Supreme Court that privacy is not afundamental right, and that people dont even have an absolute right over their own bodies it is time to start taking phone privacy seriously.

Also read: Only recipient can see your texts, WhatsApp says as leaked chats flood media in Sushant case

The good news is that over the years, Android andiPhone have been strengthening privacy controls. You are getting ever more control over what personal dataanapp can take from you.

The bad news is that you still have to understand the issues for yourself, invest time and effort in figuring out where you are vulnerable. There is no such thing as 100 per cent data privacy. But the difference between 50 per cent privacy and 99 per cent privacy lies in your effort.

Update your apps: From across the world,there are malware and spyware that keep coming up and hitting the digital ecosystem,like asteroids in the universe. By the time a patch comes upand thevulnerability is found and fixed, your data may already have been compromised. This is why it is important to keep your phone and computer operating systems, as well as all apps therein, updated all the time. Switching on automatic updates is a good idea. Updating as soon as you see a pending update is good hygiene.

Dont allow everything: All kinds of apps will ask you for all kinds of permissions,often for no good reason. Dont give them permission unless it makes sense.For instance, why should the NaMo app have permission to see all your private photos in your photo gallery? Disallow.

Set app-specific passwords:Many apps,including WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal,let you set app-specific passwords (or require fingerprint or face ID). Even if someone gets access to your phone physically or through hacking, this adds a layer of security.

Dont trust iCloud or Google Drive: Whats on iCloud or Google Drive can be easily hacked into and is not protected by end-to-end encryption. Upload on the cloud onlyifyoure fine with strangers seeingyour content. Are you okwithNavika Kumar seeingthat photo of you? Fine, upload on cloud.

Also read: Suspect all, fix all? Is that the motto of our new National Suspicion State?

The problem is that many of us just give permissions without understanding what we are permitting. WhatsApp itself will trouble you from time to time to backup your chats and you think thats not a bad idea. WhatsApp wont tell you that this backup is NOT protected by end-to-end encryption. This backup is stored on your iCloud or Google Drive. This is how, it seems, that private chats of Bollywood actors are coming out in public domain.

Use Signal for disappearing messages: There is a fundamental problem with chatting. People chat in the moment. They say and do things in that moment, just like oral speech. The private conversation you had with a friend in a bar, you dont archive it somewhere. But chats are being archived and could come back to haunt you. A good privacy practice is to not archive them at all. The Signal app is considered the safest and the most trustworthy. Itsdisappearing messagesfeature makes the message disappearinsome time,after it isread by the recipient. You can choose how long the message stays, betweenfiveseconds to a week.

WhatsApp does not have this feature, and needs it desperately. Telegram has it.

Deleted messages? In the Bollywood cases, it seems that deleted messages have also been recovered. Even if you delete a message from your WhatsApp, or delete WhatsApp itself, the messages could be recovered through a forensic investigation into your phone.

With disappearing messages onSignal, perhaps this may not be as easy. But even this has been known to be not 100 per cent safe in the past. There is no such thing as 100 per cent safety, but Signals disappearing messages are much safer than, say, letting years of random chatting stay on your phone and/or cloud service.

Switch off media auto-download: Youve heard of viruses getting installed on your computer from shady email attachments. You dont download shady email attachments. Something similar happens on your phone, especially on WhatsApp. This is called media auto-download. A random stranger sends you a photo or video, it gets automatically downloaded to your photo gallery, and installs malware on your phone. To prevent this, switch off the media auto-download option. Anyone, even trusted contacts, will send you a photo or video and you will have the option of downloading it at will. You can,thus,decide what you want to download and what you dont want to download, just like email attachments. This will also help save memory space on your phone.

Security and privacy upgrades in recent years have made it tougher to install such malware, but it doesnt hurt to be cautious.

The author is contributing editor, ThePrint. Views are personal.

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How to prevent Navika Kumar from reading your private WhatsApp chats - ThePrint

SINGAPORE - The impact of the current coronavirus pandemic has caused anxiety among three in four Singaporeans and permanent residents, according to a study conducted by marketing communications agency Wunderman Thompson.

The results of the study, which polled 500 respondents betweenJune 29 andJuly 6, was released on Thursday (Sept 24).

The economy, which has taken a big hit in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak here, was the main cause of anxiety among those surveyed.

Singapore's economy contracted by 13.2 per cent year on year in the second quarter, the worst on record.

About 78 per cent of those in the study said that they were anxious about economic issues, with a majority worrying about issues such as unemployment rates and the current state of the economy.

Among the 18- to 24-year-olds, their main concerns were finding jobs that fit their skills, with the graduates facing difficulty in their job search, the survey showed.

Health concerns also figured high on the list of anxiety causes, with 73 per cent of respondents saying they were worried about such issues.

A majority of those who were troubled about health indicated that they were anxious about global pandemic diseases, such as Covid-19.

When it came to Covid-19, two main concerns dominated: the fear of contracting the disease in public spaces, and worry about the long-term economic disruption from the pandemic fallout.

About 37 per cent said they were bothered about their families and friends contracting the coronavirus, as many as those who feared catching it themselves at malls or public places.

Thirty-six per cent were afraid of catching Covid-19 on public transport, while about 33 per cent feared being infected while in a taxi or ride-hailing vehicle.

On the economic disruption brought on by the pandemic, 40 per cent were worried it would go on for a really long time. A similar percentage feared that the economy would crash, while 30 per cent were anxious about losing their jobs.

Said Apacdirector atWunderman Thompson Intelligence Chen May Yee: "Different groups are anxious about different things but what's clear is people are anxious on multiple levels. There's the daily stress of worrying whether it's risky to eat out or whether your job is safe. Meanwhile, (people) are also looking at the wider economy and bracing for what is yet to come."

Well-being and leadership coach Nitya Rao-Perera said that it is important to deal with such fears, as being anxious can lead to a number of different conditions such as depression or burnout.

"People who have no history of mental health disorders can also fall into a bracket of being vulnerable to anxiety disorders, or higher levels of anxiety. What can innocently creep up as feelings of doom despair, being indecisive or unsure, can lead to something more complicated," she said.

She shared three main strategies to cope with anxiety arising from Covid-19.

First, there is a need to build up one's self-efficacy - the feeling that you are in control of your life and taking action.

This means focusing on the things that are within a person's control, rather than the things they cannot control.

"Covid-19 is not within our control. The way the economy is performing is not, the health of certain industries is not within our control. But how we manage ourselves, how we are reacting to it, all that is within our control. Self-efficacy is the first one and probably the most important coping resource to overcome anxiety," she said.

Second is the need to remember that life's greatest lessons are usually learntat the worst times.

"The more we take a stance that it's okay to learn from the mistakes that we make...we can bring more reflection into our way of being, and be more compassionate with ourselves," said Mrs Rao-Perera.

Finally, it is important to reframe one's interpretation of a situation, to perceive it in a more positive way.

For instance, if someone is passed up for a promotion due to Covid-19, he can see it as an opportunity to be less stressed or have more time for himself, said Mrs Rao-Perera, adding: "There are different ways that we can interpret the situations that we experience, and how we interpret reflects the anxiety that we will have."

Read the original:
74% of Singaporeans and PRs feel anxious over pandemic impact: Study - The Straits Times

PARIS French Open officials are hoping an exemption from the local authorities would enable them to welcome 5,000 fans each day amid new government restrictions.

The French government has limited public gatherings to 1,000 people in Paris as part of measures to control the coronavirus pandemic, raising the prospect that the year's final Grand Slam tennis tournament, which starts on Sunday in Paris, will have to further reduce the number of fans allowed.

French tennis chiefs had lowered spectator capacity to 5,000 from 11,500. The original plan was to have 20,000 fans.

"Today, we are at 5,000 people, which is very little in a 12-hectare site, which represents 15 football fields," tournament director Guy Forget told French cable channel BFM TV. "In terms of safety protocols, we meet all the criteria."

Allocated seating will be available in the main Philippe Chatrier court.

"Today, it is more risky to go to a supermarket, to an amphitheatre and to take the metro," the former world No. 4 added yesterday. "We hope we will be able to welcome fans to the French sporting event with the most international reach, by any measure."

France has reported over 481,000 coronavirus cases and more than 31,400 deaths. In Paris, the infection rate is higher than 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Six players in the qualifying draw were withdrawn after either testing positive for Covid-19 or coming in close contact with a coach who tested positive.

Henri Leconte has backed the French Tennis Federation's decision to allow fans to attend the tournament. "It's much better with crowds coming," the last Frenchman to contest a Roland Garros final, when he was defeated by Mats Wilander in 1988, told Sky Sports.

Record 12-time winner Rafael Nadal will begin his attempt to equal Roger Federer's 20 Grand Slam titles against Belarus' Egor Gerasimov. Top seed Novak Djokovic faces Swede Mikael Ymer in the opening round.

The spectator capacity was cut to this figure 11 days ago from 11,500, with the original plan catering for 20,000 fans.

In the women's draw, Serena Williams launches her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles crown against fellow American Kristie Ahn. Top seed Simona Halep, in the same half, takes on Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo.

REUTERS

Original post:
Roland Garros hopes latest curbs won't hit capacity further - The Straits Times

Topline

Chinese state-controlled media has accused the Trump administration of bullying and hooligan logic after the U.S. President threatened to thwart TikToks deal with Oracle and Walmart if its Chinese parent ByteDance retains control, highlighting the challenge the companies face in getting approval both from the U.S. and Chinese government.

Chinese State media has asked Beijing to reject the TikTok U.S. deal.

The state-controlled Global Times initially called the deal reasonable after news emerged on Saturday that Oracle and Walmart have agreed to acquire a combined 20% stake in a new U.S. based entity called TikTok Global that would operate the video-sharing platform.

However, both Trump and Oracle pushed back against assertions that ByteDance will hold an 80% stake in the newly formed company, insisting that the Chinese firm will need to further dilute its stake or risk the deal being rejected.

Following this flip-flop, an editorial in the Chinese paper slammed the deal as unfair adding that China will not yield to US intimidation and will not accept an unequal treaty that targets Chinese companies.

On Monday, ByteDance put out a statement on the Chinese blogging platform Toutiao, where it tried to play down speculation that it was giving up control of TikTok, asserting that it will continue to hold an 80% stake in TikTok Global after the deal is complete.

However, speaking to Fox News, Trump said that ByteDance will have nothing to do with it, and if they do, we just wont make the deal. Its going to be controlled, totally controlled by Oracle and if we find that they dont have total control then were not going to approve the deal.

Signaling that Beijing may reject the deal being touted by Trump, the Global Times editorial states, It's hard for us to believe that Beijing will approve such an agreement. Any deal will require approval from the Chinese government, ByteDance said last week. This is because the Chinese government added AI technologiesincluding personalized content recommendation tools like the one used by TikTokto its export controls list last month.

On Saturday, Trump asserted that the companies involved in the deal have agreed to commit $5 billion towards a fund for the U.S. government which he plans to use to "educate people" about the "real history of the country. But in its blog post, ByteDance contested Trumps claim. ByteDance argued that Trumps $5 billion figure was simply an estimate of the amount of taxes the new company, TikTok Global, would pay over several years if the business is successful.

The confusion around the nature of the proposed TikTok deal stems from contradictory statements made by the key players. On Saturday, TikTok announced that Oracle and Walmart agreed to acquire a 20% stake in TikToks global business as part of a pre-IPO financing round, moments after President Donald Trump told the press that he had given his blessing to the deal. As part of this deal, Oracle has agreed to acquire 12.5% of the video-sharing platform, while Walmart will hold a 7.5% stake, but that now looks to be at risk. In a statement shared with Forbes, Oracle executive vice president Ken Glueck echoed Trumps position statingAmericans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global, without offering any additional details. Meanwhile, as Trump insists Oracle will control TikTok, the company doesnt appear to have a seat on TikTok Globals new board as ByteDance says the board will include its founder and current directors, along with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. Glueck's belief that Americans will control TikTok Global comes from the fact that U.S. citizens make up the majority of the board, while U.S. investors in ByteDance, Walmart and Oracle may end up holding a majority stake in the newly-created company, according to CNBC.

Trump, Oracle Push Back Against ByteDances Claim Of 80% Ownership Of TikTok Global (Forbes)

TikTok deal puts U.S. owners in charge, but Chinese parent company still has some say (CNBC)

Link:
Chinese Media Calls On Beijing To Reject TikTok Deal As Trump Seeks U.S. Control Of App - Forbes

CHATHAM, NJ - The Chatham Board of Education president, district superintendent and board members all urged residents to knock off the "shaming" on social media at its regular meeting held Monday night in the Chatham High auditorium.

BOE President Jill Critchley Weber, Superintendent Michael LaSusa and board member Ann Ciccarelli all urged people to back off on criticism of students and parents following a non-school party that prompted a spike in Coronavirus cases and sent CHS into an "all-virtual" mode.

"I know it's been super stressful for people, but I really urge everybody to think twice before they are posting on social media," Ciccarrelli said. "The social medial frenzy since this happened has been absolutely out of control. These kids have been shamed, these parents have been shamed andfalse statements have been made.

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"It's really, really counterproductive. I fearit's going to lead to other people not reporting if they do have positive results because people are afraid of what otherpeople in the community are saying about them. We all know the effects of social media comments, especially on these teenagers and adolescents and I think we need to be very conscious of their emotional well-being and the fact that shaming kids for having a virus, whether they made a poor decision or not, is not going to be productive for anybody. We really need to come together as a community and be kind to each other about this. This is not easy for anybody."

BOE president Weber acknowledged students who came forward to report the transmission: "We are not going to be punishing any students who reported."

Weber also urged a "We are Chatham" attitude when it comes to the pandemic in the video below.

LaSusa followed the advice of the health departmenton Sept. 11 and orderedChatham High Schoolstudents to switch toall-virtual instruction until Sept. 29.

The full video from the Sept. 21 BOE meeting can be viewed below.

Read the original here:
Chatham Board of Education Member on CHS Students Infected at Party: 'The Social Media Frenzy has been Out of Control' - TAPinto.net