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WANT to keep your cash safe? Then keep an eye on your ID.

Figures out today show that identity fraud has hit record levels, with more than 500 identities stolen in the UK every day.

Getty - Contributor

Worryingly, there have been 89,000 identity fraud offences recorded in the last six months alone up five per cent on last year.

More than half of the offences are aimed at bank accounts and credit cards.

But there has been a sharp rise in fraudsters applying for loans, online shopping accounts and phone and insurance products, too.

The report is from Cifas, which maintains a UK fraud information database.

Chief executive Simon Dukes said: We have seen identity fraud attempts now reach epidemic levels. These frauds are taking place almost exclusively online.

"The vast amounts of personal data available either online or through data breaches is only making it easier for the fraudster.

Getty - Contributor

Here, we team up with Cifas to show you six ways to keep your identity safe.

Free, confidential advice from victimsupport.org.uk.

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The Sun

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Specimen

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Getty - Contributor

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Continue reading here:
Identify fraud online is reaching 'epidemic' levels here's how you can stay safe plus, get a free fiver from ... - The Sun

Photo by: Mark Lennihan/AP

Sisters Courtney, left, and Ashley Chang pose for photos with friends next to the newly unveiled sculpture of the Android 8.0 Oreo operating system Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in New York.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) An upcoming update to Google's Android software finally has a delectable name. The next version will be known as Oreo, extending Google's tradition of naming each version after a sweet treat.

Google anointed the software Monday after spending the past few months calling it "Android O."

Oreo boasts several new features, including the ability to respond to notifications directly on a phone's home screen and the ability to access apps without installing them on a device.

The free software is set to be released this fall, most likely after making its debut on a new Pixel phone that Google is expected to begin selling in October.

The nicknames for earlier Android versions have included Nougat, Marshmallow, and Lollipop.

Google and Oreo's maker, Mondelez, referred to their deal as a partnership, rather than a sponsorship, as no money was exchanged.

Google has named Android after a brand before: The 2013 version was known as Kit Kat. Financial terms weren't disclosed for that.

Android is the world's most widely used mobile operating system.

Apple doesn't use names for its iOS system for iPhones, though the software for Mac computers is named after big cats and geographic locations in California.

Read more here:
Google's newest Android OS gets a nickname: Oreo - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

The Plex service is widely appreciated by multimedia enthusiasts all over the world. It is a free software package that allows users to stream their media video, photos, and music to any device running the same software. Plex is supported on many platforms including consoles, smart TVs, tablets, and so forth. However, the company recentlymade an announcementthatupseta lot of people. Ithad planned to make data collection mandatory, without giving users an option to opt out. That plan has been canceled due to thenegative backlash.

In this day and age ofdata collection and invading ofprivacy, any decision made by companies in this regard will be scrutinized. Plex is no exception, as the software package is used by millions of people around the world. It is one of the most convenient ways to access and stream different types of media to any device. However, a newly announce plan by the company over the weekend had users up in arms, as they felt their privacy would have been invaded due to this decision.

The announcement of the change by the Plex team was bound tohave major repercussions. The company aimed to collect data onhow customers were usingthe software and services for which it is known. Up until now, that has always been a matter of users opting in to share this data or keeping it private at all times. The company decided the time had come to make abig change in this regardand make data collection mandatory at all times. Indeed, there would be no opt-out feature whatsoever.

The updated privacy policy reflecting these changes was not received all that well by the Plex community. In fact, they voiced their outrage on social media platforms and on the companys forum as well. Most Plex users do not wishto share their information with the company or detail how they use the software. After all, Plex is often used to stream less-than-legal content to other devices, which would give the company information onwhich users are known to havepossessedpirated content. It is unclear how that information would have been used, and with no opt-out feature, a lot of problems could have ensued.

According to the explanation provided by the company, this change was indeed necessary. A lot of information wasalready being transmitted due to servers connecting to the cloud, new services designed using metadata, and communication through the Plex cloud infrastructure to relay playback requests. Providing an opt-out feature in the setup, Plex claimed, would giveusers a false sense of privacy as a whole. The Plex software already collects a ton of information from which people cannot opt-out, and thus this updated privacy policy only reflected things which had been present for quite some already.

It did not take long until the Plex user base caught wind of this change andassumed the natureof an angry mob. Most of the users voicing concern promised to take their business elsewhere to other services, either paid or free of charge. Although thechange was supposed to go into effect onSeptember 20th, it appears the company has already reversed its decision altogether. This demonstrates thatfeedback from the public can certainly influence a companys decision-making. Even though Plex meant no harm whatsoever, the potential implications of thedata collection could have been catastrophic.

Additionally, Plex would have also been in violation of European Union law. These laws clearly state any company collecting users information needs the permission of the user specifically. Any updates made in regards to which information is collected has to be approved by users as well, which Plex had no intentionof doing. The fact that theplan will not go into effect after all is a small victory for privacy advocates. The opt-out feature will remain where it is right now, although the amount of data collected when users opt in will still reflect the proposed changes.

See the original post:
Plex Users Outraged Over Company's Plans to Collect More Information - The Merkle

International automakers and the Austrian Transport Ministry agreed Tuesday that the owners of 600,000 diesel cars in the country would be entitled to free software upgrades with a view to reducing nitrogen oxide emissions.

They said the deal would include 350,000 recalled Volkswagen vehicles that had used illegal emissions-cheating devices.

Austrian car owners would get incentives such as vouchers to get as many upgrades as feasible, Austrian Transport Minister Jrg Leichtfried told reporters.

Improved results

In addition, car importers agreed to offer a premium to drivers, who would be willing to trade in their diesel cars for models that emitted less exhaust gases.

While a recent diesel summit in Germany led to a similar agreement that covered German carmakers Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW as well as French-owned Opel, the Austrian deal also involves other French, Korean and Japanese manufacturers.

"We have improved the meager results that were achieved in Germany and negotiated a better deal for Austria," Leichtfried said.

He acknowledged, though, that neither he nor German politicians had managed to convince automakers to install emissions-reducing hardware in older models.

hg/jd (dpa, Reuters)

Read the original here:
Austria follows German drive to make diesel cars cleaner - Deutsche Welle

Tech Advisor

Best free text-to-speech software Tech Advisor ... free text-to-speech programs available right now is Balabolka. This diminutive download taps into the existing Microsoft Speech Program that is included in Windows. Using the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) it's able to harness the conversion software ...

The rest is here:
Best free text-to-speech software - Tech Advisor