Since at least 2021, hundreds of people were clients of a scheme to get improperly verified as musicians on Instagram - an attempt to trick Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, hoping to pave the way to lucrative endorsements and coveted social status. Read more»

Arizona is the first state to allow driver’s licenses to be placed in Apple’s digital wallet, but digital rights activists are concerned about what it could mean for the future of privacy. Read more»

State and federal officials were excited this week to roll out the first-in-the-nation program that lets Arizona residents add their driver’s license to Apple Wallet - but the only thing it allows is passing through TSA PreCheck at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport by just scanning a phone. Read more»

Apple Inc. will offer some tools and parts so owners can repair their own phones, conceding to pressure from consumer groups, lawmakers who introduced bills in more than half the states and President Joe Biden. Read more»

Virtual communities have long provided a space for LGBTQ youth to explore their identities, but as technology companies ratchet up surveillance in the name of content moderation, the digital privacy of LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable people may be at risk. Read more»

In a major blow to Apple’s business model, a federal judge ruled Friday that the technology giant can no longer stop app developers from telling users how to sidestep its App Store and pay developers directly for subscriptions and other services. Read more»

Apple and Google hired a bevy of lobbyists in Arizona in early 2021 to kill legislation that would have slashed the profits the companies make through their app stores. Read more»

The HIPAA Privacy Rule is a federal law prohibiting health care providers, businesses and the people working with them from disclosing your health information without your permission - but it only protects information held by specific kinds of health care providers. Read more»

With Arizona schools closed indefinitely, children have plenty of time on their hands – and parents are looking for teachable moments. One subject that’s not taught in most schools is money and how to earn it, spend it, share it and save it. Read more»

Automakers have packed many of their new models with distracting infotainment features that allow drivers not only to play music and get directions, but to talk, text and use social media while tooling down the road. Now new research has found that two popular smartphone-based systems –Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto – are somewhat simpler and safer to use than the built-in electronics. Read more»

After an abrupt “motion to vacate” Monday, the Justice Department has won postponement of a hearing on whether Apple should be forced to help the FBI break into the iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Read more»

This is Sunshine Week in the U.S., when news organizations spotlight the public’s right to know and size up government openness and access to public records. This year, we should add a more sweeping question to the list: How will the First Amendment survive the dramatic changes in information technology? Complicated disputes are popping up in both predicable and surprising places. Read more»

It stops Verizon’s zombie cookie in its tracks, but allows AT&T to keep charging customers extra if they want privacy. Read more»

Far away from a similar fight over the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, a federal magistrate refused Monday to make Apple unlock a suspected drug trafficker's phone in an unrelated narcotics case. Read more»

During the recent GOP debate, Sen. Marco Rubio said the FBI has asked Apple to disable “the auto-erase mode on one phone in the entire world.” But the FBI, which is seeking access to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, has asked Apple to write software that could do more than that. Read more»