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One of my big goals for 2022 was to minimize my Google footprint. In the last news show, I covered Google Search, Chrome and Android. In today’s show, I’ll tackle two other big ones: Google’s email (Gmail) and calendar (Gcal) services (and Google’s contacts, for good measure). I actually replaced Gmail with two different services, because they each address two different needs I have.

In others news: Microsoft finally disables Word and Excel macros by default for any file downloaded from the internet; the IRS backs off it’s requirement for using facial recognition to authenticate to the IRS website; Missouri’s prosecutor declines to prosecute the reporter who pointed out a state website which gave away social security numbers for some state employees; Kashmir Hill compares the relative privacy and tracking capabilities of AirTags, Tile and a cheap GPS tracker; two US senators are decrying a newly declassified report of a CIA program that surveils American citizens in bulk; a remote test proctoring company sinks to new lows; hundreds of Android apps were found to be tracking you using ultrasonic signals; and Google will be implementing a new privacy feature in Android that it claims is just as private as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, but will somehow preserve the ad-based web economy.

Article Links

1. Microsoft’s Small Step to Disable Macros Is a Huge Win for Security https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-disables-macros-default-security-phishing/ 
2. IRS To Ditch Biometric Requirement for Online Access https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/02/irs-to-ditch-biometric-requirement-for-online-access/ 
3. Missouri prosecutor won’t press charges against reporter who found flaw in state website https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2022-02-14/missouri-prosecutor-wont-press-charges-against-reporter-who-found-flaw-in-state-website 
4. New test shows AirTag’s safety precautions are far better than Tile, other GPS trackers https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/11/airtag-safety-vs-tile/ 
5. T2 Mac security vulnerability means passwords can now be cracked https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/17/t2-mac-security-vulnerability-passware/ 
6. Senators say CIA has been collecting data in bulk in secret program https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/593833-senators-say-cia-has-been-collecting-american-data-in-bulk-in-secret 
7. A Network of Fake Test Answer Sites Is Trying to Incriminate Students https://themarkup.org/machine-learning/2022/02/15/a-network-of-fake-test-answer-sites-is-trying-to-incriminate-students 
8. Hundreds of apps spying on users with ultrasonic tracking technology https://www.komando.com/gadgets/hundreds-of-apps-spying-on-users-with-ultrasonic-tracking-technology/402030/ 
9. Google’s New Plan for Android Privacy Doesn’t Sound All That Private https://gizmodo.com/google-android-privacy-sandbox-apple-ios-meta-1848547922?rev=1645048008531 
10. De-Google My LIfe (part 2): https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/de-google-my-life-part-2/ 

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