Google faces privacy audits

Google will be subjected to independent privacy audits for the next 20 years, over charges that it “violated its own privacy promises”, notes the BBC.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says the search giant wrongly used information from Google Mail users last year to create its social network Buzz.

The FTC ruled that “the options for declining or leaving the social network were ineffective”. In a blog post, Google said: "Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards.”

Disaster-hit Japan churns out many of the world's smartphones, video cameras and other gadgets, and while sales are not expected to suffer around the globe, industry analysts expect prices to rise, according to AFP.

“From semiconductors to displays, to automotive and consumer electronics, the effects of the Japan earthquake continue to reverberate throughout the world,” says Dale Ford, senior VP at research firm IHS iSuppli.

“Beyond the damage to Japan's own industrial base, the earthquake has impacted the production of basic electronic raw materials,” Ford says.

A malicious Android app that masquerades as a free version of a legitimate app steals data and sends spam text messages and a warning that chastises the user for trying to get around paying for the actual app, Symantec said, reveals Cnet.

The app, available on several file-sharing sites in North America and Asia that are known as clearinghouses for pirated software, is called Walk and Text.

That is also the name of a legitimate app that uses a device's camera to let people see what's in front of them as they text while walking.

A Dell marketing executive is predicting failure for the Apple iPad as an enterprise device, according to V3.co.uk.

Speaking with CIO Australia, Andy Lark, Dell head of marketing for large enterprise and public organisations, predicted the Apple tablet would fall at the hands of platforms such as Android.

“Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island,” Lark was quoted as saying. “It is not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex.”