Study: 70% of Australians Unaware of Data Profiling, Feel Hopeless About Privacy Rights

According to a recent Consumer Policy Research Centre study, 70% of Australians do not know how many companies can profile them and collect data from them. They feel hopeless and frustrated when it comes to data brokers sharing their personal information with the companies. Most of their online activity is monitored by data brokers and then they sell this information to highest bidder. These companies profile users and use this information to make profit from them. 

These companies or businesses often term this kind of information about their consumers as “not personal” so they do not get charged a fine because of violation of the Federal Privacy Act. These companies use terms like anonymized data, pseudonymised information, hashed emails, audience data and aggregated information as these words have no proper definition according to law. Data brokers use these terms to make a profile and share it to businesses without the knowledge of consumers. Anonymized Information may sound like it has no definition and it won’t reveal anything personal but some companies use it when the email and name have been removed but other information that can characterize a person is still available.

The survey found out that Australians think that they have no power over their personal data as it can be used anywhere by the companies. Only a one-third of Australians think that they still have a little bit of control over their data. Most Australian consumers do not know what terms in privacy notices like hashed email address and advertising ID means. It is definitely worse than this study shows as not many people are aware of this. These terms mean that our personal data is going to be used without our knowledge. But when consumers do not understand the terms, they are more likely to believe that their data is secure.

Most consumers do think that it is not right for a business they have no direct contact with to use their personal data and information like that. Making people understand and educate about these types of terms isn’t the only solution. It’s because no one is completely sure about the meaning of these terms and also because a layman cannot understand these technical terms that easily. The only solution to this problem is a law should be made in Australia that will protect personal data of the consumers and a fair and reasonable test for data handling. These two things can prevent consumers from giving out their personal data to data brokers freely.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Google Under Fire As 32 Media Groups Unite To Sue The Company For Incurring Losses Worth Billions

Things aren’t looking too great for search giant Google who just was cornered by 32 different media groups. The company has been sued for $2.27 billion USD (or 2.1 billion Euro) after the groups claimed the firm’s digital ad practices led to serious financial losses.

The publishers in question are located in several different nations in the EU including the likes of Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

The media houses issued a joint statement that shed light on how they’ve gone through huge losses, thanks to the least competitive market that arose thanks to the search engine giant’s mishandling of the matter.

They also mentioned how the tech giant abused its leading position in the market today, and these media firms would end up getting bigger revenues thanks to ads and would pay much lower amounts for services like advertising.

Such funds were reinvested in bettering the whole EU landscape.

Now, Google says that it’s not aware of how such a matter arose in the first place and therefore is bidding the allegations as false and one used to defame the firm. They have even gone as far as to dub it as a speculative issue and released a statement on this front.

Google stated how it’s always worked most constructively with any EU publisher and given rise to a whole lot of advertising tools. Most of those are linked to adtech competitors and assist so many web pages and platforms in funding content seen online. This enables firms of various sizes to reach out to new clients effectively.

The services in question are adapting and evolving with time with the same lot of publishers. Therefore, such a legal case is very opportunistic they mentioned and they hope to oppose that vigorously, depending on other facts.

Let’s not forget the crucial timing of this matter and how the case follows up with competition attained from the French who continue to roll out fines worth $238 million regarding Google’s ad tech business and the charges brought forward by the EC in 2023. These were used as references in the claims made by the media groups.

As per reports from a court in the Netherlands, the group opted to sue the company inside a court belonging to the Dutch as the nation is famous for handling such claims inside Europe. In this way, the result would prevent dealing with a lot of claims linked to various EU nations.

Image: Digital Information World - AIgen

Read next: US Takes Action Against Data Transfer to Nations Like China and Russia Over National Security Concerns
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

US Takes Action Against Data Transfer to Nations Like China and Russia Over National Security Concerns

The current Biden administration seems to have a serious task at large and that includes controlling the transfer of American users’ data to nations they feel are ‘of concern’.

In case you didn’t know, those countries include the likes of China and Russia as mentioned by the White House yesterday.

The issue has been one of concern for quite some time now but not a lot has been done on this front in the past. But from what we’re seeing right now, the matter has picked up the pace and people want answers immediately regarding what to do next.

President Biden rolled out a new executive order that would set aside the right safeguards to disguise a lot of biometric and healthcare information belonging to citizens as it’s not only sensitive but private property. Moreover, it’s collected by a wide range of businesses located in the country.

Be it China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, or Russia - all of the mentioned countries have been dubbed as serious threats and the US says it cannot afford data transfer like this due to high-security reasons. The information in question also includes details on geolocations and genomic endeavors that are collected by some tech firms and even offered for sale by legal workers to a huge number of data brokers.

This would make its way to scammers as well as intelligence firms present abroad.

The rules were rolled out on Wednesday and they’re said to come into play soon to offer greater protection. As mentioned by AG Merrick Garland, the duty right now is to bar nations that serve as serious threats to the US and make the most of American citizens’ information that’s very private and personal.

The leading members of the admin and Justice Dept added how the rules would stop bad actors present in certain countries from playing with free data flow and abusing it.

Data attained by firms situated in the US are a great resource for countries such as China and Russia which can make the most of such cyber campaigns and challenge any regimes in place.

The latest set of rules are yet to come into play and they won’t come into effect immediately. But from what we’re seeing so far, they’re set to undergo scrutiny so that the right stakeholders can weigh on it and curb it before getting out of hand.

But when it does come into effect, we see it stopping data transfer to certain places that are said to be of serious concern to America’s national security. The right measures against such actors would mean bigger punishments if rules get violated.

The selling of personal data to countries like China or Russia would be prevented outright. But security requirements need to be met, right before firms enter into any kind of investment agreement in such nations.

The executive order was generated last Wednesday and is part of a plan that continues to grow to prevent undermining of the country’s security. The goal is to focus on means through which foreign adversaries are utilizing investments to provide better access to American data and tech.

One of the biggest worries as we’ve seen in the past has been China and its respective allies. The US is very clear on where it stands with the Asian nation and how much evidence they have about American data getting into the hands of Chinese government officials.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

YouTube Unveils "Create" App Expansion: Editing Tools and Features for Creators In More Regions

YouTube has exciting news for content creators. The tech giant unveils its "Create" video editing app expansion, tailored for Shorts content production. Initially introduced at the "Made On" showcase event last September, "YouTube Create" offers an array of features to facilitate intricate video compositions.

Among its editing functionalities are audio clean-up, eliminating background disturbances, and auto captions in English, Hindi, and Spanish. Additionally, creators gain access to filters, effects, and transitions on a simplified interface. Moreover, a diverse library of royalty-free music tracks and sound effects is available, alongside direct publishing to YouTube for both Shorts and long-form content.

Amidst this expansion, users in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey gain access to the tool starting today. 

"YouTube Create" mirrors CapCut, offering a comprehensive toolkit to personalize and optimize visual narratives. Its indispensable features aim to enhance the allure and impact of video clips.

• Also read: X's Hiring Feature Hits 1 Million Job Openings Milestone, Enhances Premium Subscription

While currently exclusive to Android users, accessibility extends beyond geographical boundaries. Initially available in India, Singapore, the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, and Indonesia, the platform plans to roll out access to more regions over time.

For eligible markets and Android users, acquisition of the app is effortless through the Play Store. Embark on your creative journey today and unlock the boundless potential within YouTube Create.

Image: DIW-AIgen

Read next: YouTube Rolls Out New ‘Collab’ Tool For Shorts As Competition With TikTok Heats Up
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

How App Marketers Are Responding to ATT and Other Privacy Frameworks

App marketers are still feeling the impact of COVID-19 today. What started with exponential growth as millions of consumers flocked to business, e-commerce, and gaming apps has stabilized. But just as consumer habits change, so do privacy regulations that dictate the user information accessible to app marketers.

Whether it’s Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), recent SKAdNetwork (SKAN) 4 changes, or Google’s upcoming shift from Google Advertising ID (GAID) to its Privacy Sandbox, changes such as these can significantly impact ad performance and how marketers report and measure their campaigns.

How are app marketers responding? Is ATT still causing problems? Are marketers wising up to the implications of SKAN 4? And with GAID deprecation looming, are app marketers fully prepared for these changes? Or perhaps more importantly, do they understand how these changes affect them and their campaigns?

To find out, we asked more than 500 app marketing professionals from top companies worldwide to share how they’re responding to pivotal mobile ecosystem challenges, such as user privacy, cost, and macroeconomic factors. You can find the full findings in Liftoff’s 2024 App Marketer Survey*. However, we wanted to look deeper at app marketers’ sentiments around user privacy to see how the industry is progressing and where marketers can improve.

ATT is still impacting UA performance

According to AppsFlyer, average opt-in rates hover at about 45% in the second year of ATT, although rates can vary significantly across app verticals, with shopping apps reporting at 82%.

With that in mind, it’s unsurprising to hear many app marketers are still dealing with the repercussions of ATT. When we asked app marketers how ATT changes had impacted their overall UA performance, the responses were:

• Very negatively (9%)
• Slightly negatively (35%)
• No change (33%)
• Slightly positively (20%)
• Very positively (4%)

To break this down further, we asked app marketers whether they agreed or disagreed with some of the most commonly cited ATT challenges, such as increasing costs, changing KPIs, and a lack of available data hindering decision-making.

As we can see from the chart above, two of the biggest challenges are a need for more available data hindering decision-making (71% agree), costs increasing (68%), and campaigns being less successful (62%).

App marketers can combat these challenges by:

• Adding more transparent messaging on their apps about data collection and privacy to improve opt-in rates
• Focusing on campaign optimization with in-app advertising optimization to increase ROAS
• Working with DSPs with an established network of high-quality users to bring down costs

Over a third of app marketers are still unfamiliar with SKAN 4

While 66% of app marketers reported at least some familiarity with SKAN 4, it’s concerning that over a third of respondents are not familiar. Though this is an improvement on last year’s survey, where more than half of respondents weren’t familiar with SKAN 4, many app marketers seem to be struggling to embrace SKAN 4, or are unaware of its benefits.

For the unfamiliar, SKAN allows advertisers to receive up to three postbacks based on a different activity window: 0-2 days, 3-7 days, and 8-35 days. This makes it easier to gauge the effectiveness of ad campaigns after 35 days, giving you more options for optimization and reporting. Our advice: Read up and change tactics if you need to.

Marketers are cautious but not unwilling to share unattributed postbacks

Speaking of campaign optimization, unattributed postbacks are a great way to gather valuable information and improve campaign performance. While they don’t include attribution data, they do include conversion data, which might be why more than half of the app marketers we surveyed don’t share unattributed postbacks with their partners.

That said, 38% of respondents do share unattributed postbacks or would do so with a partner if asked, highlighting that while app marketers are cautious about the information they share, they are willing to provide it to the right partners when they recognize the benefits, such as optimizing campaign performance by allowing ad networks to determine CPI billing more accurately.

Over half of marketers have made little or no preparations for GAID deprecation

When Google says goodbye to GAID potentially this year, it will change audience targeting, emphasize interest-based ad serving over traditional personalization methods, and introduce an API for attribution reporting.

In short, Google will make it more difficult for app marketers to get the information they rely on for Android campaign optimization. Despite this, our survey found that a third (33%) of respondents are unfamiliar with GAID, while 30% are only somewhat familiar and 27% are very or extremely familiar. Familiarity aside, there was also a notable lack of preparation for incoming changes, with more than half of app marketers saying they have made very little or no preparation for GAID deprecation.

Preparing for these changes now will stand you in good stead, as it gives you a headstart of knowing what and how you need to change campaign activations and performance, as well as targetting and any tweaks to creative you might need to make.

*The Liftoff 2023 App Marketer Survey was conducted October 25–November 21, 2023. It’s based on over 500 responses from global app marketing professionals across gaming (54%) and non-gaming (46%) app verticals, with respondents based in APAC (27%), the Americas (32%), and EMEA (41%). Respondents work with monthly advertising budgets from $50,000 to over $1,000,000.

Written by: Joey Fulcher, Global VP, Accelerate at Liftoff

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by Web Desk via Digital Information World

From Syria to Senegal: the 10 countries that searched for VPNs most in 2023

Looking at global statistics around VPN (Virtual Private Network) usage, it’s easy to build up a picture of the average VPN user.

They’re probably male (57% of VPN users are), with an income of $25,000 to $49,000; most likely degree-educated, too. The latest data also tells us what those people are using VPNs for: namely, to protect their privacy on public wifi (51%), safeguard their browsing anonymity (44%), communicate securely (37%), and mask their browsing from authorities (Techopedia).

But recently, research has demonstrated that it’s not just who you are that determines whether, or how, you use a VPN. It’s where you are in the world, too.

So – which countries serve as the highest predictors for VPN usage? In which parts of the planet were searches for VPNs most fervent and frequent in 2023 – and, perhaps, most importantly, why?

Let’s take a look.

Which 10 countries searched for VPNs most in 2023?

In Techopedia’s guide to the countries that searched for VPNs most, it analyzed Google Trends data. The goal? To ascertain which countries had the highest proportion of VPN-related online searches (as a proportion of total searches) in 2023 – and how much these had increased compared to 2022’s figures.

The findings revealed that the countries most interested in VPNs in 2023 were:

1. Turkmenistan
2. Ethiopia
3. Iran
4. Myanmar
5. China
6. Syria
7. Afghanistan
8. St Helena
9. Senegal
10. Uganda

Almost invariably, these countries are under the thumb of governments (typically, totalitarian ones) with a penchant for internet censorship; whether that’s China’s blanket ban, or the more selective, reactive approach countries like Senegal and Uganda take to combat civil crises.

Below, we unpack the top three talking points from Techopedia’s VPN findings – and what’s happening in those countries to have caused VPN usage to spike so dramatically.

Afghanistan’s VPN searches are the fastest-growing

In Techopedia’s research, all but three of the countries in the top 10 for VPN searches saw an increase in online VPN-related queries vis a vis 2022 levels. (The three outliers were Turkmenistan, which stayed consistent, plus Ethiopia and Senegal – both of which were new entrants in the rankings.)

Myanmar observed a 27% increase in VPN interest, while St Helena – a remote British territory located almost 2,000 km off the coast of southwestern Africa – saw a 60% boost. Familiar culprits such as Iran and China (both +93%) saw even greater growth in VPN searches, as did Uganda (+106%) and war-torn Syria (+108%).

But the most jaw-dropping increase in 2023 VPN searches compared to the year prior – and by some margin – was in Afghanistan, where VPN-related queries grew a staggering 156%.

How come?

Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, the country – and its internet – has remained in the lethal grip of the militant group’s forces. Since then, Afghanistan’s relationship with online freedoms has been a complex one. Early in the Taliban’s reign, the Pashtun organization imposed an outright ban on the internet, although this soon gave way to a more lenient approach – perhaps after the Taliban realized that they could turn the internet into a weapon.

They soon set about doing that, and 2022 saw the group block 23 million websites: surgically and strategically severing its citizens’ access to anything it leaders deemed ‘anti-Islamic content’. To this day, the militant group also monitors social media for posts expressing similar views or ‘immorality’ – or, indeed, simply anything anti-Taliban.

However, Afghanistan’s stringent internet controls haven’t yet made their way into the realm of law – and in 2024, VPNs remain legal to use in Afghanistan.

Turkmenistan has the highest proportion of VPN searches

Techopedia’s research found that, while internet searches for VPNs in 2023 grew most in Afghanistan, they were highest (as a proportion of all online queries) in Turkmenistan – a position the country also held in 2022.

To those already familiar with Turkmenistan’s overzealous approach to policing the internet, this comes as no surprise. This central Asian country’s internet is widely considered to be the most censored in the world, with a dictator-led government controlling the flow of information through a sole internet provider.

That, of course, is for Turkmen citizens who have access to the internet – most don’t.

Turkmenistan's internet penetration rate of 38.2% is central Asia’s lowest. Further complicating the picture is the fact that VPNs – the main method the country’s internet users have of circumventing its government’s iron fist on information – are illegal.

That’s right: Turkmenistan is one of a mere handful of countries (which also includes North Korea, Iraq, Belarus, and Oman) to outlaw VPNs altogether. Among the punishments to be handed out to offenders? Cautions, fines – and lengthy prison sentences.

Yet, if the latest data is anything to go by, that hasn’t deterred Turkmenistan’s internet users from seeking out VPNs to restore their access to unfiltered internet.

Senegal’s VPN demand spike was the largest in 2023

Despite Senegal only entering Techopedia’s rankings in 2023, it did so with a bang – placing a global ninth for VPN-related searches that year.

Leading the west African country’s surge into the standings was a remarkable 60,000% increase in VPN demand in 2023 – the biggest uptick of the year, and one made all the more extraordinary by the fact it took place in a single month, from June to July.

So, what happened?

In brief, Senegal’s VPN uptick can be traced back to the fate of Ousmane Sonko – the leader of the country’s opposing party, PASTEF – who was sentenced in June 2023 to two years in prison by a court, on the charge of “corrupting youth”. The judgment was immediately denounced by Sonko’s supporters, who branded it a plot to prevent the politician running for election the following February.

Violent clashes broke out, leaving nine dead – and it wasn’t the first time violence had gripped the country that year. A mere month earlier, protests in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, killed one and wounded 30, with those involved pushing back against the state’s increasingly repressive attitude towards its citizens. (Schoolchildren demanding schools to be built, rather than police stations, were met in the streets by police kitted out in full riot attire.)

The Senegalese government – in response to this string of high-profile clashes and ever-increasing public dissent against it – shut down social media. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp all disappeared, and VPN searches in the country exploded. Despite these bans being lifted just a week later, recent developments in Senegal’s ongoing struggles suggest that Senegal’s first appearance in VPN searches’ global top 10 won’t be its last.

In February 2024, Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, postponed the country’s elections (scheduled for that month) to December. In the aftermath, three people were killed in bloody clashes between protestors and police, and Sall’s government (one with a history of internet censorship that far predates June 2023’s social media blacklists) pulled the plug on mobile data, citing “the dissemination on social networks of several subversive hate messages.”

Senegal’s late entrance into the global top 10 for VPN searches suggests that, when it comes to circumventing online censorship, its internet users are relatively late to the party.

But, if their relationship with VPNs isn’t such a longstanding one now, it certainly promises to be going forward – so watch this space.

VPNs and internet freedom: a crystal-clear correlation

While the correlation between VPN usage and low levels of internet freedom has always felt, intuitively, to be strong, only recently have we had the data to prove it.

That’s because Techopedia’s findings map neatly with data from Freedom House’s Freedom of the Net Report 2023, which measures the extent to which the internet is freely available and unrestricted in 70 countries. According to Freedom House, the least free internets are those in:

1. China (9/100)
2. Myanmar (10/100)
3. Iran (11/100)
4. Cuba (20/100)
5. Russia (21/100)
6. Vietnam (22/100)
7. Belarus (25/100)
8. Saudi Arabia (25/100)
9. Uzbekistan (25/100)
10. Ethiopia (26/100)

So in total, four of the 10 countries with the most obfuscated online environments – China, Myanmar, Iran, and Ethiopia – are also those where VPN searches are continuing to soar.

And one thing is clear. As governments in these countries conduct their ongoing flirtations with increasingly authoritative and oppressive approaches to rule, internet freedoms are emerging as a key battleground; and VPNs a major player.

Looking to the future, how VPNs are accessed and used will continue to be a major avenue of escape for internet users in countries with degenerating records of internet freedoms. Though it remains to be seen how these jurisdictions’ governments will respond to block those routes off in the form of regulation and recrimination; with statutes and sanctions.

Through policy – and through punishment, too.

Read next: Study Shows ChatGPT's Rapid Adoption at 55%, 33% Raise AI Usage Despite Lingering Privacy Concerns
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Study Shows ChatGPT's Rapid Adoption at 55%, 33% Raise AI Usage Despite Lingering Privacy Concerns

Tidio recently conducted a study on the first anniversary of generative AI being a mass product and the first year of ChatGPT. Have society’s expectations come true? Do people use AI more or less than before? Do we fear it as much as in the beginning? The answers provide a mixed bag of satisfaction and fears.

In November 2022, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT, initially perceived as merely another playful bot. However, its impact swiftly reverberated across the tech industry and society at large, catalyzing a transformative shift. With over 100 million users embracing it within a year, ChatGPT emerged as a catalyst for change.

Users swiftly integrated ChatGPT into their daily routines, with a large portion trying it immediately upon release. Now, a staggering 88% of people are regular ChatGPT users, harnessing its capabilities across various domains. From aiding decision-making to solving work-related problems, so many people found a way the tool can help them.

The other findings also highlight the profound influence of ChatGPT. As revealed by our research, a significant 55% of users tried ChatGPT immediately upon its release, while 34% exercised patience before giving it a go. Moreover, our findings indicate that 33% of users have significantly increased their AI usage since ChatGPT's introduction. Still, about 33% have altered their AI usage during the last year due to privacy and ethical concerns.

It’s true that while many users found their expectations met, concerns linger regarding privacy, biased responses, and the limitations of AI capabilities. A striking 89% of users reported that ChatGPT fulfilled their expectations, with enhancements in daily convenience, work efficiency, problem-solving, and learning experiences. However, challenges persist, as indicated by the 38% of users who expressed privacy concerns and the 33% who encountered biased responses.

Despite these challenges, people remain hopeful. Our research highlights that users envision AI facilitating breakthroughs in healthcare (35%) and education (36%), while fears persist regarding job displacement (32%) and dangerous AI exploitation (31%).

The impact of ChatGPT extends far beyond individual users, impacting industries such as tech, healthcare, education, and customer service. From facilitating efficiency gains in customer service to aiding medical research and educational advancements, ChatGPT has reshaped industry landscapes.

Yet, legal and regulatory hurdles continue to pop up. Issues surrounding data privacy, copyright infringement, and AI-generated biases call governments and officials for careful navigation. Ethical considerations are paramount as ChatGPT's influence deepens, emphasizing the imperative for responsible AI deployment.

In sum, while ChatGPT and AI offer boundless potential, many people remain skeptical due to potential issues AI can cause. Still, there has never been a bigger game changer in our lives than AI. Accessible to everyone online, it has helped us solve millions of problems, and will do even more. So, as society navigates the evolving landscape of AI adoption, ethical considerations and responsible usage must remain at the forefront.

Take a look at the below infographics for more insights:

Read next: The Top US Colleges and States for Local Entrepreneurs and Business Founders
by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

The Top US Colleges and States for Local Entrepreneurs and Business Founders

Location. Location. Location.

No, we're not talking about one of the fundamental laws of property investment. Instead, we're focusing on where the next generation of business founders are deciding to launch their companies.

And for that, we've brought you this latest piece of research from the team at Switch On Business. It put together several charts showing the US colleges and states with the most local business founders, based on data collected from LinkedIn.

Here's a summary of all the results.

New York colleges produce the most local business founders

New York is the place to be for graduates who want to start a business. The city dominates the list of the top US colleges with the most graduate founders, with 8 entries in the top 20.

The New York colleges churning out local graduate founders include Baruch College, Columbia University, and The New School.

Of the New York schools on the list, Hunter College scored highest, with over half (54%) of its graduate founders staying in the Big Apple.

Let's also give a special mention to New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. 40% of its graduate founders started their business in New York. The fashion school also has an illustrious lineup of super-famous graduates who became some of the biggest names in fashion, such as Michael Kors and Calvin Klein.

Some of the highest-scoring schools outside New York City include Georgia State University (46.32%) and The University of Houston (41.23%).

Utah Valley graduates stay loyal to their state

An impressive 80% of all graduate founders from Utah Valley University remain in Utah following graduation.

So what's so great about Utah?

Put simply, it's one of the best states in the USA to set up and do business. Taxes are low, regulation is favorable, and the state economy is absolutely booming.

And with its thriving startup and tech scene, why would any ambitious graduate even think about leaving Utah? It has everything they need to get a new venture off the ground, then grow fast.

Utah Valley takes the top spot on a state-by-state analysis, but the rest of the chart belongs to California. Thirteen of the top twenty colleges in this part of the study are located in The Golden State.

The college with the most graduate founders in each state

Texas State University helps support the local economy by producing a large amount of graduate founders. Over two-thirds of all graduate founders who went to the college are now running a business in Texas.

Chicago's DePaul University is the top school in the state of Illinois for graduate founders. Just under half (49%) decided to stay in Illinois following matriculation.

These graduates are following in a fine tradition. Founded in 1898, DePaul has a strong commitment to serving local communities and providing access to education for all students, including first-generation college students and those from underrepresented groups. The school's founder wanted to ensure that students from all backgrounds could receive a quality education that would enable them to improve their lives and contribute positively to local economies.

US states with the most graduate founders

California and Texas are winning the battle to hold onto their best, brightest, and most ambitious graduate talent.

61% of all graduate founders in California remained in the state, while Texas boasts a graduate founder retention rate of 53%. Impressive stuff.

The same can't be said for Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. These three states are among the lowest scores of all. Each scored under 10%, meaning 9 out of 10 college founders who studied in states are putting their education to good use elsewhere.

But at least they didn't do as poorly as Rhode Island; less than 6% of its college founders have any interest in doing business in the state after college.

That's some serious brain drain. But where does all that potential move to? One possible answer is New York.

New York is less than 2 hours drive from Rhode Island. The city offers graduate founders a larger and more diverse market to target, as well as superior access to capital, talent, and a dynamic cultural and innovation ecosystem.

Searching for opportunity in California

Where do all the graduate founders who don't stay in their state move to?

According to this final infographic from Switch On Business, the answer is California.

California is a giant magnet for graduate talent, sucking in more graduate founders from across the USA than any other major state included in the study.

It's the smart choice location for graduate founders looking for that first break. A recent study found that new businesses in California have the best survival rate - or at least for the first year. And this is a crucial advantage in a country where 20% of startups never make it past that first critical 12 months.

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Meta Ends Lawsuit Against Data Scraping Company

Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, recently decided to end its legal battle with Bright Data, a company from Israel known for collecting data from websites. Meta had accused Bright Data of taking information from its platforms without permission. This case was part of Meta's ongoing effort to stop companies from scraping, which means collecting large amounts of data from websites automatically.

The court, however, did not side with Meta on a key part of the lawsuit. It said Meta didn't prove that Bright Data took private data that wasn't supposed to be public. Because of this, Meta chose to drop the lawsuit instead of continuing the fight.

What made this case interesting was that Meta and Bright Data had worked together before. Meta had used Bright Data's services to gather data from online stores to help with its advertising. But when Bright Data started taking data from Meta's sites, Meta sued them.

The court's decision focused on whether the data Bright Data took was public or private. Meta showed the court a huge amount of Instagram data Bright Data had sold, but the court wasn't convinced this data was private. Meta also tried to show that Bright Data had access to private information, but the court found these examples unconvincing.

The court also disagreed with Meta's view on how Bright Data collected the data. It said using automated tools to get around website restrictions wasn't the same as breaking into a protected account.

Meta tried to argue that Bright Data used special tools and its own social media accounts to take the data, but the court found no evidence to support this claim. After losing a key part of the case, Meta announced it was thinking about what to do next.

Then, on February 23, 2024, Meta asked the court to close the case. It gave up on its last claim and decided not to appeal the decision that was in favor of Bright Data.

This outcome is unusual for Meta, which usually wins such cases. It has successfully stopped other companies from scraping its sites in the past. But this time, Bright Data said it didn't settle with Meta and won't change how it operates. The company sees this as a big win for itself and others who collect public data from websites.

Bright Data's CEO, Or Lenchner, said this decision supports their right to access public information on the web. He believes the internet should be open for everyone and no single company should control it.

Meta has not commented on the decision to end the lawsuit. This case was one of many where Meta has tried to protect its data from being taken and used by others without permission.

Image: DIW - AIgen

Read next: US Supreme Court Weighs Laws Regulating Social Media Giants' Content Moderation
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

US Supreme Court Weighs Laws Regulating Social Media Giants' Content Moderation

The Supreme Court recently looked into laws from Florida and Texas that are trying to put rules on how social media companies manage their content. These laws want to stop companies from blocking or limiting users they find problematic. Most of the justices seem to think that these laws might not respect the social media companies' rights to free speech. This is because the companies should be able to choose what content they want on their platforms, similar to how free speech laws protect individuals from government control but not from private companies.

During the discussions, which lasted almost four hours, justices from different political backgrounds shared their worries about the big influence of social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook. They wondered if these laws should be completely dismissed. Trade groups NetChoice and CCIA argue that these laws go against the Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects free speech, by limiting the companies' ability to select their content.

Some justices think there might be parts of the laws that could be okay, especially for other types of platforms or services like messaging apps. This means the court might not reject the laws fully. The decisions from the court could lead to more legal battles to see if these laws should be allowed.

The laws were made after social media companies banned former President Donald Trump following the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. The rules in these laws try to control how companies can moderate content and require them to explain why they removed certain content. For example, the Florida law stops companies from banning political figures and controls "shadow banning," where user content is hidden. The Texas law stops platforms from banning users based on their opinions.

• Also read: Is The Peak Smartphone Era Behind Us? This New Market Research Has The Answer

The court also discussed how these laws could affect not just big social media companies but also other businesses like Uber and Etsy, which allow user-generated content. The justices were careful about saying the laws should not apply to services like direct messaging or email because these don't involve the same free speech issues.

These cases are part of several legal issues the Supreme Court is dealing with regarding social media. Another big question, not directly part of this case, is about the legal protection internet companies have for content posted by their users. This protection has been a big deal for a long time, but the Supreme Court has not made a decision on it yet.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

Read next: Breaking Barriers In The World Of Tech: World’s Most Spoken Languages Revealed
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Breaking Barriers In The World Of Tech: World’s Most Spoken Languages Revealed

Globalization continues to peak in today’s modern world where the significance of language in terms of breaking barriers cannot be emphasized enough.

After all, what better way to unite with others and take part in global chats in the world of tech than this? Remember, the internet belongs to those who speak a language featuring a footprint that goes above and beyond the realms of your own nation.

That’s exactly where the English language comes into play. It’s something that links individuals from all across the globe. As per W3Techs’ estimates, close to 50% of all websites make use of the English tone as their main form of communication. And since English is your best bet in terms of maximizing the potential of your viewers online and enhancing engagement, most people focus so much on that.

But this new study is raising the curtain on how English might not be the only means of communication and the mark it has left in terms of a global footprint isn’t too large.

Estimates arising from Ethnologue proved how just 1.4 billion users spoke English. Out of those, just 380 million would be declared native speakers.

While this does make the English language one of the world’s highly spoken languages globally, others cannot be excluded as shown in this infographic. Mandarin and Chinese account for 1.14 billion individuals globally and that also entails 940 million individuals that can be considered native speakers.

All English speakers are still making up less than 20% of the global population so rough estimates prove how 4 out of 5 individuals globally aren’t able to properly comprehend what’s being said in more than half of the websites present today. Exceptions are there because of translation tools but that’s beside the point here.

The infographic sheds light on some of the world’s most spoken languages including Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, and a few others that aren’t represented well online. Others worth a mention include German, English, as well as Russian which have bigger footprints on the internet than what they might be possessing around the globe today.

Therefore, the next time someone tells you that it’s English that happens to be the only source of communication online, you might wish to enlighten them with the findings of this study.

Chart via Statista.

Read next: Nearly Half of American TikTok Users Never Post Videos, per Pew Research Center
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Is The Peak Smartphone Era Behind Us? This New Market Research Has The Answer

Smartphones have been trending for years but despite the world bracing for a shift toward 5G technology, a new market research is shedding light on some other interesting findings.

Advanced technology has manufacturers struggling in terms of growth in today’s mature smartphone market. For instance, when you look at global stats for this moment in time, shipments witnessed a decline to a new low when looking at stats from the last decade.

Estimated figures from the IDC proved how vendors of these smartphones were rolling out close to 1.1 billion phones in 2023 alone. That’s a decline of 20% from what was seen in the year 2016 when the shipments for smartphones rose to 1.4 billion units.

This has led many experts in today’s world to assume how smartphones and their era have been gone. But despite that, market researchers like those at IDC continue to be optimistic about the future of the industry for this year and how growth might be on the rise for 2024 and the upcoming years.

The company’s research head explained how the tide is turning for the better and how it’s starting to feel safer with the worse part being left in the past, which he calls November 2023.

The market is said to be in its stage of maturation and that’s true as we make way for new eras of growth arising in single digits. And while experts admit that the total market share up for grabs will stay lower than what was witnessed during the era before the pandemic, there is a brighter side to this. It has to do with average sale prices being higher than in the past and the same can be said for the market value in this regard.

H/T: Statista

Read next: Giving Kids Smartphones At A Young Age Leads To Devastating Mental Distress As Adults, New Study Proves
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Instagram's Upcoming Feature Allows Users To Track Friends' Locations, Akin To Snapchat Map

Instagram is working on a feature called "Friend Map." This feature lets you see where your friends are on a map. Alessandro Paluzzi, a software developer, first found this feature and shared a screenshot on X a few months ago. He often finds new Instagram features before they're officially announced.

Recently, Paluzzi shared more screenshots of the "Friend Map" on Threads and X. These images show you can choose who sees your location. There's also a "Ghost mode" for times you don't want to share where you are. The feature keeps your location safe with end-to-end encryption.

"Friend Map" seems similar to Snap’s "Snap Map." You can even leave notes on the map, like telling friends about a cool event or that you're out shopping.

It's still unclear if "Friend Map" will be added to Instagram for everyone. The feature is still being worked on.

On the other hand, as per Ahmed Ghanem, Instagram is also testing new ways to make live streams more interactive. Creators can now use "This or That" prompts or "Trivia" games to get viewers talking and engaging more during live videos.

Meta, Instagram's parent company, wants live streaming to be a bigger deal for creators. They're slowly letting more creators get "Stars" from viewers during live streams. This is a way for creators to make money from their videos. Instagram also made it easier to go live from computers in December.

Live streaming is huge in China, especially for shopping. It hasn't become as popular in the West yet. But with TikTok and YouTube pushing live videos, Instagram is adding new features to keep up. They hope live streaming games and other interactive tools will help build community and maybe even help creators sell more.

Read next: Former FBI Expert Warns of Cookie Theft Emerging as Major Cybersecurity Threat, Surpassing Password Concerns with its Ability to Bypass Protections
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Former FBI Expert Warns of Cookie Theft Emerging as Major Cybersecurity Threat, Surpassing Password Concerns with its Ability to Bypass Protections

The manner in which cyber security functions in this modern day and age has experienced a bit of a backslide, which basically means that your password length and complexity can’t really protect you from vicious actors anymore. Even two factor authentication might not be enough with all things having been considered and taken into account, since malware can bypass it all and create a situation wherein your session tokens or cookies can end up in the wrong hands.

According to former FBI digital crime expert Trevor Hilligoss (via CyberNews), who currently serves as the VP of SpyCloud Labs, cookie theft is actually the biggest threat to cybersecurity. Most people tend to focus on things like their passwords, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, it turns out that cookie theft is far more concerning due to how it can bypass various protections that have been put in place.

The most significant situation in which cookie theft can cause a wide array of problems is if it ends up compromising your Google account. Such an event can be catastrophic because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising every single other account that is linked to your Google account, including social media profiles and the like.

The OAuth2 authorization exploit has already given malicious actors the ability to secretly access Google accounts without the owner even realizing what’s going on in the first place. Google accounts can be extremely attractive propositions for them, since they also tend to contain financial information and other highly sensitive data that can cause an incalculable amount of harm.

• Also  read: Researchers Highlight Alarming Findings of Cyberattacks via Wireless Chargers, Risking Smartphone Fires and Device Damage

Authentication cookies can make MFA far less effective, and it’s basically making the most effective strategy to keep hackers at bay practically defenseless. Infostealers have been stealing cookies for quite a long time, and with Malware as a Service quickly picking up steam, hackers don’t even really need all that much technical knowledge in order to implement their schemes.

Since browser cookies are stored in local databases, they’ve become a prime target for these malicious actors which is why it’s so important for any and all holes to be patched.

Malware can basically work similarly to a browser in that it can check for stored cookies that allow for easier log ins. The desired log in tokens will be combined with other system data such as RAM amount and CPU information which obscures it, with the files sent out to the user’s device and then received by the malicious actor in question.

• Use different passwords for your all online accounts. Try this free password generator tool

There are hundreds of thousands of infostealer infections occurring on a day to day basis, and they mostly target people living in developed countries due to the higher value of their data. In order to protect yourself from these attacks, it is absolutely essential that you download an antivirus and continuously update it, and on top of all that, you need to have top notch endpoint monitoring at all times.

Another useful strategy that you can deploy is to avoid clicking on ads. A great deal of malware is transferred through scam ads, so Hilligoss recommends that you just steer clear of ads as much as you can.

Image: DIW-AIGen

Read next: Nearly Half of American TikTok Users Never Post Videos, per Pew Research Center
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Nearly Half of American TikTok Users Never Post Videos, per Pew Research Center

TikTok is a great platform to post videos and go viral but a report by Pew Research Center says that the usual TikTok users do not share content on the app. About half of the American who use TikTok have never posted a single video on the app. This means only a minority of American TikTok users share videos on TikTok while the rest enjoy those short form videos. Only 25% of the US TikTok users create content and post it on TikTok and that makes the 98% of the videos accessible on the platform.

This type of unusual ratio isn’t only limited to TikTok. It was found that this ratio exists almost on all social media platforms, and X takes the second place as per a survey in November 2021. Even though TikTok has gained a lot of young users, many of the users who post on the platform are older. 52% of the users between ages 18 to 34 have uploaded a video on TikTok and among the people between 35-49, the share rate is 60%. People over 50 have a video sharing rate of 39% on TikTok.

Many of the users have made videos on TikTok but never shared them publicly. 40% of the users of TikTok worldwide have uploaded videos on TikTok publicly. TikTokers who post regularly tend to have a high engagement rate on their posts. Most TikTok users watch “For You” page on TikTok and 85% of them say that content on their 'For You' page (FYP) is least interesting while 40% call the content they see there as very interesting. Only 14% are neutral about the content they see on their For You feed. 47% of the users between 18 and 34 called the videos on For You highly interesting.

TikTok executives must be happy with this information because TikTok has already talked about the FYP in their What’s Next 2024 Trends Report. The report stated that 40% of the TikTok users have agreed that TikTok introduces them to new topics and that’s how they find their interests. 44% of the users came on TikTok for some specific reasons but discovered a topic that they really liked.

Read next: Giving Kids Smartphones At A Young Age Leads To Devastating Mental Distress As Adults, New Study Proves
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Giving Kids Smartphones At A Young Age Leads To Devastating Mental Distress As Adults, New Study Proves

A new study has gone on to show a very depressing relationship between giving kids smartphones at young ages and the impact it can have on mental health.

We’ve all come across a lot of research in our lives where we’ve seen the consequences of using a smartphone during your early life results in seriously poor mental health during adulthood.

Females who make use of smartphones during the start of their lives stated how they suffer from poor mental health during adulthood, the study adds, with some highlighting the significance of flip phones as well as AIM technology.

One chart picked up steam during the start of the week across social media, giving parents of younger children a pause in terms of handing over devices to them at such young ages. And if that is not a reality check for the world, then we’re not quite sure what would be.

The research from SapienLabs sheds light on how those kids using smartphones during their elementary school days were suffering from greater mental health during adulthood when compared to those who received devices as teenagers.

This survey made me so glad as a millennial. And they happen to be a part of the final generation which included those people whose childhoods had nothing or very little to do with technology.

The complete research on this front spoke about interviewing close to 27,000 individuals from all over the globe who were aged between 18 to 24.

What’s interesting is how this is not only restricted to those suffering from childhood trauma. Those who didn’t have any such issues also showed a massively mentally distressful adult life, and it was the most in females. To be more specific, a staggering 74% spoke about getting smartphones aged 6 and were said to be struggling and very distressful on this front in terms of their mental capacity.

Surveys like this are a clear eye-opener for those parents who feel the best way to keep kids busy is through such means. We don’t necessarily agree with that. It’s about time that parents found a better and healthier approach to tackling kids and their never-ending tantrums. Research like this, it just goes to show that smartphones in elementary school are a big no.

But with that said, a little common sense does go a long way. Parents need to realize that the right age for making such purchases for the kids cannot be six or 10. They need to wait for them to get older and mature because what you’re really doing is saving them from massive devastation that their future self will thank you for.

Oh and before you ask what’s the right age, well, parents in search of guidance need to remember that Steve Jobs and even Bill Gates have raised kids with minimal intervention of technology. And that’s an eye-opener, considering their pioneer names in the world of tech today.

Read next: Researchers Highlight Alarming Findings of Cyberattacks via Wireless Chargers, Risking Smartphone Fires and Device Damage
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Tech Analyst Dan Ives Draws Parallels Between Nvidia's Rise and the 90s Internet Explosion

The AI world is experiencing a resurgence akin to the boom of the 90s, with Nvidia emerging as a frontrunner, according to tech analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush Securities (Via Business Insider).

Ives draws parallels to the pivotal year of 1995 when the internet gained widespread commercial traction, altering the global landscape. He believes we stand at a comparable juncture with AI investments. Nvidia's prowess lies in crafting highly coveted graphic processing units (GPUs), pivotal in empowering AI frameworks like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Emphasizing Nvidia's pivotal role, Ives envisions their GPUs as catalysts propelling the surge in spending, anticipating a plethora of applications spanning both enterprise and consumer domains.

Despite the fervent AI investment, Ives dispels fears of a market crash reminiscent of the late 90s tech rout. He underscores the stark differences, asserting that current tech stocks are far removed from the speculative fervor of that era.

Echoing Ives' sentiment, Nvidia's recent fourth-quarter earnings surpassed expectations, clocking $22.1 billion in revenue, affirming the robustness of the ongoing AI boom.

Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, known as pioneer in AI, anticipates a paradigm shift with new AI data centers unlocking a gamut of hitherto unfeasible applications. He underscores AI's permeation across diverse sectors, from automotive to healthcare, portraying it as an inevitable progression.

Huang foresees Nvidia's GPUs as integral to every enterprise worldwide, envisioning a substantial and enduring business trajectory.

In essence, with Nvidia at the helm, the AI narrative unfolds as a burgeoning saga, with immense potential awaiting exploration across industries.

Image: Nvidia

Read next: Pichai Underscores AI's Potential to Expedite Defense Against Cyber Attacks, Potentially Tipping the Scales in Favor of Defenders
by Asim BN via Digital Information World