Microsoft Edge is storing your private data, Facebook stops users selling guns to each other, Lonely Planet offers free travel guides, Netflix brings Gilmore Girls back to life, and The Fine Brothers are losing subscribers.
Microsoft’s new Edge browser, designed to replace the much-maligned Internet Explorer, may be storing your private data. This is according to Ashish Singh, a researcher who conducted an investigation for Forensic Focus, via BetaNews. The problem is data is still being stored even when the user activates InPrivate mode, which is Edge’s version of Chrome’s Incognito mode.
Rather than being wiped when the session ends, the websites and pages visited are being stored in the same “Container_n” table as websites and pages visited when in conventional browsing mode. This means a hacker could browse someone’s full history regardless of whether or not they were browsing privately.
As Singh explains in his blog post, which has inexplicably since been deleted, “Plenty of artifacts are maintained by the browser, which makes examination quite easy. However, there are stages where evidence is not so easy to find. The not-so-private browsing featured by Edge makes its very purpose seem to fail”.
Microsoft is aware of the situation, stating, “We recently became aware of a report that claims InPrivate tabs are not working as designed, and we are committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.” Until this problem is fixed we recommend clearing your cache regularly if you don’t already do so. Even after using InPrivate mode.
Facebook has banned the sale of guns, adding these deadly weapons to the list of items prohibited from being sold through the social network. You could, until now, use Facebook to buy a gun from a private seller, but not any more. Instagram is also included in the ban.
Facebook had already made concerted efforts to curb illicit sales of guns, previously banning adverts promising, “no background check required,” and sales across state lines. But this is a total ban of private gun sales, with only fully licensed gun sellers now allowed to ply their trade.
Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management at Facebook, explained the change, saying:
“Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another. We are continuing to develop, test and launch new products to make this experience even better for people and are updating our regulated goods policies to reflect this evolution.”
As usual, especially in the United States, this is sure to evoke mixed responses depending on individuals’ personal feelings about guns. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has yet to make an official statement on the policy change, but we suspect it’s only a matter of time until it does.
Lonely Planet, which is widely regarded as producing some of the best travel guides in the world, has released a free app. Guides by Lonely Planet, which is available both on Android and on iOS, is completely free, and should appeal to all those who love travelling.
Guides by Lonely Planet offers guides to some of the biggest and best cities in the world, including New York, Washington DC, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Rome, Paris, and London. Lonely Planet promises that more cities will be added to this list in due course.
Each city guide has been curated by Lonely Planet writers, and includes “offline maps, essential tips, and top experiences” even the seasoned traveler will be able to make use of. While the app is free, Lonely Planet must be hoping it will tempt more people into buying full guides.
OY with the poodles, already! See you on set, Amy Sherman-Palladino, @thelaurengraham @alexisbledel. #GilmoreGirls pic.twitter.com/kM36J1JVgV
— Netflix US (@netflix) January 29, 2016
Netflix has announced it’s bringing Gilmore Girls back from the dead. The show, which was canceled in 2007 after seven seasons, is the latest old show Netflix has decided to resurrect. The streaming media company has already made new episodes of Full House, Degrassi, and Wet Hot American Summer, to name just three.
Gilmore Girls was a cult hit which people are clearly still watching on Netflix. Hence the company’s interest in bringing it back. The show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, is on board, as are two of its stars, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. Further details are thin on the ground, but Gilmore Girls fans can start to celebrate.
And finally, you can now watch The Fine Brothers’ subscriber count dropping in real-time, as the Internet reacts (see what I did there?!) to their efforts to “franchise” React videos. The video above shows The Fine Brothers trying the clarify the situation, and failing miserably.
For those of you who haven’t got a clue what this is all about, Digg has a thorough, and fair, rundown of the story so far. But it boils down to a popular YouTube channel trying to claim ownership over people being recorded reacting to stuff. Yeah, good luck with that.
Are you annoyed that Microsoft Edge is storing your private data? Do you agree with Facebook banning personal gun sales? Do you use Lonely Planet travel guides? Are you excited to see Gilmore Girls returning? What do you think of The Fine Brothers claiming ownership of React?
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Tech News Digest is a daily column paring the technology news of the day down into bite-sized chunks that are easy to read and perfect for sharing.
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