Getty Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011
Have you made a call on Skype lately? Someone else may have been listening in.
Meanwhile, Apple wants to pay you big money to hack its systems. It’s part of the company’s mission to pinpoint any potential flaws.
And think twice before playing around with an octopus. A woman in Washington ended up in the hospital after trying to get a good photo with the sea creature.
Here’s what you need to know in the daily roundup.
TOP STORY: Your Skype Calls Aren’t Very Private
Documents, screenshots, and audio show that humans are listening to personal Skype calls. t.co/n1np4Kc05J
Amazon, Google, and Apple have all been in the headlines lately due to concerns about consumer privacy. Now Microsoft has been added to that list.
It turns out that Microsoft contractors may listen to some of your Skype calls. The company says this is done in order to improve the app’s function, which was the same argument made by the other tech companies.
Microsoft has stressed that the company asks for users’ permission before collecting voice data. Skype’s Terms of Use (which, let’s be honest, no one actually reads these documents before clicking “agree”) states in part that the user agrees “that Microsoft may use analytics tools to capture and analyze data resulting from use of the Skype Integrations.”
In an email to Vice’s tech section Motherboard, Microsoft added that the company takes its customers’ privacy seriously. “We also put in place several procedures designed to prioritize users’ privacy before sharing this data with our vendors, including de-identifying data, requiring non-disclosure agreements with vendors and their employees, and requiring that vendors meet the high privacy standards set out in European law.”
WHAT’S BUZZING THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING: $1 Million For a Successful Hack… For Real
Can you hack an iPhone? Apple will give you up to $1 million if you can. No joke.
The company says it is offering the reward as part of its mission to highlight and eradicate any weaknesses in its iPhones or Mac computers. Forbes referred to the program as a “bug bounty.” Apple officials say any researcher can apply to be part of the program.
Now before you start hacking away on your own device, Forbes reported that Apple is providing “developer devices” to its would-be hackers in order to get a closer look at the iOS software. The $1 million rewards will go to anyone who can find their way into the center of the iOS system “with zero clicks required by the iPhone owner.” Good luck!
OFF-BEAT: Octopus Injects Woman With Venom While She Posed For a Photo
TwitterJamie Bisceglia thought she could win a $100 in a photo contest when she put a juvenile octopus on her face.
Putting a sea creature on your body may not be the best strategy for fun. A Washington state woman named Jamie Bisceglia was participating in a fishing competition when she noticed someone reel in the octopus.
Bisceglia told Fox News that she thought she could win the separate photo contest by putting the octopus on her face. She told the network, “the tentacles were squirming in my ear, my nose, it was just playing with me on my face.”
But it turned out the octopus was not “playing.” It pierced Bisceglia’s chin with its sharp beak and injected her with dangerous venom. Over the following two days, her face began to swell, she lost feeling on her left side and she struggled to swallow. Bisceglia ended up in the hospital and was put on various antibiotics.
Bisceglia did end up eating the octopus at a friend’s house. Read more about her ordeal here.
DAILY NEWS ROUNDUP
- Pizza Hut plans to close 500 dine-in restaurants as it focuses on its delivery and carry-out service.
- Burger King’s plant-based Impossible Whopper is now available nationwide.
- Ford is recalling thousands of 2020 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs due to an issue with the parking brake.
- Nine candidates have qualified so far for the next round of Democratic primary debates.
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says lawmakers will discuss potential gun control measures in September.
CHECK THIS OUT
Radioactive Grain from Chernobyl Has Been Distilled into Vodka t.co/PbLuyAziAo
It’s been more than 30 years since the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine. Scientists initially determined that the 1,000-square-mile area surrounding it would be uninhabitable for tens of thousands of years.
Scientists have been investigating how the radioactive leak would impact crops and if safe food could be grown there. As part of their research, a team grew rye grain within the “exclusion zone,” about 12 miles from the Chernobyl reactor.
The researchers then used the contaminated grain to create alcohol they have named “Atomik Vodka.” They found that when distilled into alcohol, the liquid did not contain any radioactive material and is safe to drink. But don’t get too excited– so far, only one bottle has been created.
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