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the EFF reports that the 'App Ops' privacy feature added to Android in 4.3 has been removed as of
4.4.2. The feature allowed users to easily manage the permission settings for installed apps. Thus, users could enjoy the features of whatever app
they liked, while preventing the app from, for example, reporting location data. Eckersley writes, 'When asked for comment, Google told us that the
feature had only ever been released by accident ? that it was experimental, and that it could break some of the apps policed by it. We are
suspicious of this explanation, and do not think that it in any way justifies removing the feature rather than improving it.1 The disappearance of
App Ops is alarming news for Android users. The fact that they cannot turn off app permissions is a Stygian hole in the Android security model, and
a billion people's data is being sucked through. Embarrassingly, it is also one that Apple managed to fix in iOS years ago.'" "

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Leading global technology firms have called for 'wide-scale changes' to US government surveillance. Eight firms,
Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, have formed an alliance called Reform Government Surveillance group. The
group has written a letter to the US President and Congress arguing that current surveillance practice 'undermines the freedom' of people. It comes
after recent leaks detailed the extent of surveillance programs. 'We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this
summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide,' the group said in an open letter published
on its website."