Google Buzz Prompts Privacy Review in Canada
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada –- the same office that prompted major changes at Facebook –- is taking a closer look at the privacy implications of Google Buzz. According to CBC News, the office may issue further comment on Wednesday.
With Facebook, the privacy commissioner was concerned about the social networking storing user information after users deleted their accounts, eventually prompting a number of policy and feature changes at the site that have been implemented worldwide.
With Buzz, the office is presumably looking at some of the service’s more controversial aspects — namely, the way in which it automatically finds users to follow based on your e-mail correspondence, a practice that has drawn criticism (and quick feature adjustments by Google) since Buzz debuted in user’s Gmail inboxes last week.
Stateside, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed a complaint with the FTC asking it to investigate Buzz, writing that the product “violated user expectations, diminished user privacy, contradicted Google’s privacy policy, and may have violated federal wiretap laws.”
It’s safe to say that this story is far from over. In the meantime, we’re continuing to experiment with Buzz — you can follow us here.
Update: Google tells us that at this stage they are “discussing” the issue with Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, but there is no formal investigation. Their statement: “We have an open line with Canada’s privacy commissioner — we had an in-depth discussion with her about how Google Buzz works and about the changes we made. We’re always happy to hear from privacy commissioners in Canada and in other countries. We regularly brief them on new products and features either before or just following launch, both as a courtesy to them and as a way to get valuable feedback on our products.”
Reviews: Gmail, Google, Google Buzz
Tags: Canada, epic, Google, google buzz, privacy
Motorola Milestone looks set for February 18 launch on Telus; AT&Ters, get your unlocking pants on
Telus hasn’t yet committed to a date for the release of its mighty Milestone, but no sweat — Best Buy’s happy to commit on their behalf, pegging February 18 as the date that Canadians will have access to their most powerful subsidized Android set yet. That’s really awesome, don’t get us wrong — but the other side of this win-win is that it’ll be the first time that a Milestone has been available with 850 / 1900MHz 3G, meaning this thing could become a boon for anyone willing to whisk a few across the border, assuming it’s not a nightmare to unlock (we doubt it will be). So yes, it’s true, if you really want to wait to get your Android-powered Motorola on through AT&T proper, you can hold out for the Backflip, but considering that the Milestone’s a more juicily-spec’d piece to start, you might just want to swing this way — assuming you’ve got a penchant for hacking and smuggling, of course.
Motorola Milestone looks set for February 18 launch on Telus; AT&Ters, get your unlocking pants on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
MobileSyrup | 
Best Buy Canada | Email this | Comments
Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow
Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Rogers rolls out fixes for 911 problems with Dream and Magic, cuts off data for non-upgraders
So Rogers and HTC have worked with the kind of hustle you don’t normally see from carriers or manufacturers to fix a rather dangerous glitch in their branded versions of the Dream and Magic causing calls to 911 to fail with GPS enabled — and needless to say, you’re going to want to apply the upgrade on the double. Why? Well, the problem’s so dangerous that Rogers has taken the unusual step of vowing to disable internet access altogether for anyone failing to apply the “mandatory” patch by 6AM today (but don’t worry, you should get it back as soon as you’ve upgraded) which actually allows emergency calls to go through. For their troubles, affected customers will be credited one month’s worth of data — and Magic owners will be delighted to discover that their phones have magically received HTC’s Sense UI as a result of this whole ordeal. All’s well that ends well, right?
Rogers rolls out fixes for 911 problems with Dream and Magic, cuts off data for non-upgraders originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink MobileSyrup | Rogers (Dream), Rogers (Magic) | Email this | Comments
Bell’s Palm Pre now free — in exchange for three years of your life
How long does it take for a smartphone to go from two hundred bucks on contract all the way down to a big, fat goose egg? If you’re Bell — and the phone is the Palm Pre — the answer is right around five months, apparently. Following its August release and a couple of mid-course pricing corrections, Bell’s now making Palm’s first webOS-based device available for free just as long as you’re willing to commit to three years at a minimum spend of CAD $50 (about $47) a month. The move likely comes on the announcement of the Pre Plus, perhaps as a preemptive strike against any of its competitors planning on carrying it — and if we were Sprint right now, we’d be paying very, very close attention to these guys.
Bell’s Palm Pre now free — in exchange for three years of your life originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink MobileSyrup | Bell Mobility | Email this | Comments
Ontario and Samsung seal $6.7 billion renewable energy deal
Need to know how much it would cost you and your town to generate 2,500 megawatts of pure green energy? Your wind and solar farm infrastructure costs will come to 7 billion CAD (just under 6.7 billion in US currency), which includes a 437 million CAD “sweetener” to get Samsung on board. Plenty of curmudgeons have emerged from the woodwork to trash the deal as costing above market prices, but this appears to be the largest venture of its kind, so we’re not entirely sure “market prices” exist yet. For its part, Samsung will create 16,000 jobs in the area, 4,000 of them permanent, as it builds toward the stated goal of providing enough energy to fully power 4 percent of Ontario’s population.
[Thanks, Dan]
Ontario and Samsung seal $6.7 billion renewable energy deal originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Reuters | Email this | Comments
Rogers’ HTC Magic having 911 call problems on Rogers, too
Turns out it doesn’t matter if you took up Rogers on its offer to swap your Dream to a Magic after all, because the bug’s spreading: Canada’s first keyboardless Android set is confirmed to be suffering from the same dangerous malaise as its older brother. Basically, neither model can complete emergency calls to 911 with location-based services enabled, and until HTC is able to spit out a patch, the only fix is to disable GPS altogether — not exactly an awesome solution. In the meantime, a quick check of Rogers’ site confirms that both the Dream and Magic have been pulled from retail, so let’s hope this gets cleaned up on the double. And try not to have an emergency, of course. Ever… but especially right now.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Rogers’ HTC Magic having 911 call problems on Rogers, too originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.