Google fined $170 million for violating children’s privacy on YouTube

Officials said YouTube violated the law that requires child-directed websites and online services to obtain parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children under 13

Google agreed Wednesday to pay $ 170 million to settle charges that it illegally collected and shared data from children on its YouTube video service, a deal critics said was too soft on the internet giant. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the New York state Attorney General is the largest amount in a case involving the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a 1998 federal law, officials said.

Officials said YouTube violated the law that requires child-directed websites and online services to obtain parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children under 13 which may be used for advertising.

The company marketed itself as a destination for children and benefitted by selling advertising to toymakers and others seeking to connect with young audiences, according to the FTC. FTC chairman Joe Simons said the settlement “prevents YouTube and Google from turning a blind eye to the existence of kids-directed content” on its platform.

Simons said the settlement makes Google liable for violations by third-party content creators, going beyond federal law that requires the platform to have knowledge that videos are directed at children…

Huawei’s new Mate 30 Pro to launch without Google apps due to US ban

The Chinese giant is expected to unveil its new Mate 30 Pro next month, making it the first top-line phone launch since the company was blacklisted by the US and forbidden from trading with American

The trade war between the USand China is about to take its biggest bite out of Huawei Technologies Co. yet, after Google confirmed the upcoming Huawei flagship phone won’t have licensed Google apps.

The Chinese giant is expected to unveil its new Mate 30 Pro next month, making it the first top-line phone launch since the company was blacklisted by the USand forbidden from trading with American partners. The Trump Administration signaled several times it would ease sanctions on Huawei, leaving uncertainty about its ability to work with American suppliers of chips and software. But Google has now said its licensed apps won’t be on the next device.

For Huawei, this effectively sinks the Huawei Mate 30 Pro in markets outside of its native China. Bloomberg News reported in June that the blacklisting could result in a 40% to 60% drop in overseas sales. A senior Huawei executive said this month restrictions would cost its consumer business about $10 billion in revenue growth, a “little less” than billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei’s initial estimate.

“Huawei can’t survive outside of China as a brand without Google apps and services,” said Anshel Sag, mobile industry analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Everyone outside the country knows and is accustomed to using its software and services, even iPhone users. So, for Huawei not to offer those to their customers will be a major loss.”

Huawei may lose access to Google Android OS, apps after Trump blacklist

Huawei will continue to have access to the version of the Android operating system available through the open source license

Technology News: Letters in order Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the exchange of equipment and programming items aside from those secured by open source licenses, a source near the issue told Reuters on Sunday, in a hit to the Chinese innovation organization that the US government has looked to boycott far and wide.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will quickly lose access to updates to the Android working framework, and the following variant of its cell phones outside of China will likewise lose access to prominent applications and administrations including the Google Play Store and Gmail application.

Subtleties of the particular administrations were all the while being talked about inside at Google, as indicated by the source. Huawei lawyers are likewise concentrating the effect of the US Commerce Department’s activities, a Huawei representative said on Friday. Huawei was not quickly reachable for further remark. Agents of the US Commerce Department did not promptly have remark.

Huawei will keep on approaching the variant of the Android working framework accessible through the open source permit that is uninhibitedly open to any individual who wishes to utilize it. Be that as it may, Google will quit giving any specialized help and joint effort for Android and Google administrations to Huawei going ahead, the source said. On Thursday the Trump organization authoritatively added Huawei to an exchange boycott, quickly sanctioning limitations that will make it incredibly hard for the innovation monster to work with US organizations.

Google admits it tracks users, but says it’s ‘to improve experience’

The Associated Press ran a story saying an many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store users’ location data even if the users explicitly used a privacy setting forbidding that

After facing criticism over reports that certain Google apps track users’ whereabouts even when they turn off location data, the tech giant has revised its Help Page, clarifying that it does track location data in order to “improve Google experience”.

Previously, the Help Page stated: “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”

The page now says: “This setting does not affect other location services on your device, like Google Location Services and Find My Device.

“Some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps”.

The new language confirms that location data is, indeed, being tracked by some Google apps.

“We have been updating the explanatory language about Location History to make it more consistent and clear across our platforms and help centres,” CNET reported on Friday, quoting a Google spokesperson.

The Associated Press earlier this week ran a story saying an investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store users’ location data even if the users explicitly used a privacy setting forbidding that.

Article Source : BS

Want to change Google Assistant's voice? You have six choices now

At its annual developer conference Google I/O, the company said these six options, which feature both male and female voices, would be rolled out later this year.

 

Technology: Making the competition in Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered assistants space tougher, Google on Tuesday announced that people will soon have a choice of choosing from six voices, including one of musician John Legend, to talk to "Google Assistant".

At its annual developer conference Google I/O, the company said these six options, which feature both male and female voices, would be rolled out later this year.

Company CEO Sundar Pichai said that Google has been working on newer and more life-like version of its spoken AI that features a natural voice that is "closer to how humans speak."

The improvements include more natural pauses "that have meaning" and other subtleties to help create a "more natural dialogue" with Assistant.

This new version of the Assistant is built on a tech machine learning technology called Wavenet, which the company started building out some 18 months ago.

Now instead of having to say "Hey Google" or "OK Google" every time to give a command, users only have to do this one time and then have a conversation with the Assistant.

Google calls this feature "continued conversation" and it'll roll out in the coming week.

The new powerful Assistant can now distinguish between two sentences that are joined by "and" and can reply with two different query-specific answers in one go.

The tech giant wants to bundle its voice assistant into every device and app and is bringing Google Assistant in Google Maps. It'll be available on iOS and Android this summer.

Users can now share estimated time of arrival with their contacts without touching the device.

Further, the Assistant would soon be able to make calls for you to make reservations at restaurants or salons.

It would also teach children to use polite language when interacting with the Google Assistant's "Pretty Please feature. When kids say "Please" during a command, they would receive thanks from the virtual assistant in response.

Google says that "Pretty Please" feature would launch later this year.

The company also brought Assistant-powered Smart Displays. These devices would be launched in July.

Pichai also showcased a revamped Gmail and announced another new feature called "Smart Compose," which will help users write emails using machine learning technology.

As you type, Smart Compose pops up suggestions about what you might want to write next - similar to Google autocomplete.

"As the name suggests, we use machine learning to start suggesting phrases for you. All you have to do is hit tab to keep auto-completing. In this case, it understands the subject is ataco Tuesday.' It takes care of mundane things like addresses so you can focus on what you want to type," Pichai explained. The feature would be rolled it out to all users this month