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  Geebo 8:00 am on May 20, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Android ( 8 ), China, Google ( 30 ), Huawei   

  Has Huawei been cut off by Google? 

  

  Last week, president Trump issued an executive order that claims foreign threats to communication networks are a national emergency. This order makes it extremely difficult for communication companies from China from doing business in the US. The Trump administration added Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei to a sort of blacklist that makes it almost impossible for the Chinese firm from purchasing hardware and software in the US that’s needed to make their devices.

  In order to comply with the executive order, Google has suspended any business with Huawei. This means that in the immediate future, Huawei will not be able to use the Google-supported Android OS On any of their new devices. Huawei could use the open source version of Android, however, this would not include any technical support from Google or any Google apps such as Gmail or the Google Play Store. Huawei claims that they have made preparations for such an event but without support for Google apps sales outside of China could badly impact the world’s 2nd largest smartphone manufacturer.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjlQ4j6PpQA%5D

  Consumers in the US who may currently own a Huawei phone could see their devices no longer receiving security updates from Google. However, it is believed that apps like Gmail and YouTube will continue to be supported on already existing on current Huawei devices. The Trump Administration believes that Huawei is allegedly committing espionage for the Chinese government even though there has been no concrete evidence to prove such an allegation.

   

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  Geebo 9:16 am on June 7, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: data breach ( 32 ), Facebook ( 180 ), Huawei, privacy ( 46 )   

  Did Facebook share data with the Chinese government? 

  

  I’ve mentioned previously that I don’t normally feel inclined to post about the same subject in the same week. For example, if Facebook makes the news for one of its many alleged data leaks, I try to only post about that once a week. I do this to try to avoid reader burnout on any particular topic. However, Facebook seems to be the gift that keeps on giving with its reported mishandling of user data when it comes to third parties. Now, there are concerns that Facebook may have inadvertently shared user data with a foreign government.

  In an update to our previous post about Facebook sharing user data with device manufacturers, one of those manufacturers has questionable ties with the Chinese government. China-based Huawei is the third largest manufacturers of cell phones in the world. Many within the US government believe that Huawei could allow access to their devices by the government of China which could lead to espionage in the US. This is nothing new either as these concerns have been around since the last two previous administrations. Huawei is one of those manufacturers that Facebook had an agreement with to share user data leading some to assume that Facebook may have exposed user data to the government of China.

  Once again, Facebook is playing catch-up with their possible data breaches as they say that they’re ending their relationship with Huawei even though Huawei claims they never exposed any user information.

  How many more potential data breaches will it take before the public decides to limit the personal information they voluntarily give to Facebook who then gives it to multiple third parties? The US government already seems poised to regulate or break up Facebook, yet the Facebook users continue to sacrifice privacy for the sake of convenience.