Gadgetory

privacy is dead happy data privacy day I'm Bridget Carey and this is your cnet update in honor of data privacy day it's good to reflect on all the data that's collected about you on a daily basis from apps and websites and connected gadgets and how nothing these days is truly safe from hackers I don't want to sound so negative but it's hard not to be when you hear this news black phone a security focused smartphone with several encryption features built-in was discovered to have a major security flaw that allowed hackers to access and decrypt messages steal contacts and even control the phone remotely the bug has been patched but it was found in this encrypted text messaging app called silent text it's bundled in the black foam and it's available for anyone to download from the Google Play App Store to pull off the hack you needed to know the users ID or phone number it's a good reminder that nothing is hack proof not even a phone that markets itself as the most secure smartphone now of course you should still make an effort to protect your privacy and use apps with end-to-end encryption recent studies reveal that people feel they've lost control of what data is being collected about them online there are some small ways you can better protect your privacy start by reviewing how much personal info you share with social media accounts and apps you don't need to give an app your real birthday for example and if you want to avoid your search history being tracked use the search engine DuckDuckGo instead of google or bing it may not be practical to give up cold turkey on using a service like facebook or snapchat because all your friends use it but if you want to send something extra sensitive convince your friends to message you with an app that has end-to-end encryption like wicker or telegram now let's switch gears and talk about streaming music Spotify has teamed up with Sony to launch PlayStation music not only can you sign up for Spotify with your existing playstation network ID but also you can play music from Spotify in the background as you play games it launches sometime this spring on the ps4 and ps3 as well as on sony's xperia smartphones and tablets this is replacing sony's music unlimited service which will meet its end in march and as dishes internet TV streaming service sling TV launches this week expect to see more streaming TV option soon ATT maybe the next to offer a way to subscribe to video online the ATT CEO said that the company is considering offering an alternative to traditional cable so customers can get video over an internet connection verizon also said it wants to launch a similar service later this year that's your tech news update and there's always more at cnet com and you can follow along on Twitter from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey