New app to prevent selfie deaths

In this edition of the Worldwide Wrap, a team of US researchers hope they can prevent selfie deaths with a new mobile app, and Apple secretly backs up call logs on iCloud.

The number of people who die each year taking a selfie is on the rise, but a team of US researchers now hope they can tackle the problem.

They are developing an app which will warn people when they are at risk. Their research found 15 selfie-takers died in 2014, 39 in 2015 and 73 died in the first eight months of 2016.
Via: BBC

According to Apple, hacking tools provider Elcomsoft, the Cupertino giant's cloud service has been collecting users' call history, going back as far as four months, in real-time and consistently storing it on their servers without permission from users.

Elcomsoft CEO Vladimir Katalov says that the backup feature is automatic and there is no explicit way of shutting the service down. He says that iCloud continues to back up users' communication log even when the backup service has been disabled.
Via: The Tech Portal

GroupMe, the Microsoft-owned messaging app that was used for a racist cyberbullying attack last week at the University of Pennsylvania, says it removed the messages instantly and is investigating the case.

A number of black freshman students at Pennsylvania were targeted on Friday from a GroupMe account in Oklahoma.
Via: CNBC

Russia's communications regulator ordered public access to LinkedIn's Web site to be blocked on Thursday to comply with a court ruling that found the social networking firm guilty of violating data storage laws.

LinkedIn, headquartered in the US, is the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities, setting a precedent for the way foreign Internet firms operate. It has more than 6 million registered users in Russia.
Via: Channel News Asia

Twitter suspended several social-media accounts linked to the alt-right movement on Tuesday, as part of its effort to crack down on "hate speech", USA Today reports.

The social network has not given an explanation for its actions. But they come the same week it announced new ways for users to complain about hateful content.
Via: NY Mag

Facebook has repeatedly tried to take on Snapchat by replicating its features or by buying them in.

On Friday came the news that Facebook is testing a new camera in its main app that offers Snapchat Lens-style photo and video filters to users. Over the weekend it was revealed that Facebook has also launched Snapchat-style filters in Facebook Live as a special Halloween feature.
Via: The Guardian