Meta Trashes Hundreds of AI-Generated Profiles From Facebook and Instagram

While AI is appreciated in many sectors, that’s not the case with the popular tech generating false and misleading information. This is why Meta is trashing hundreds of profiles found on its Instagram and Facebook apps.

The news comes after outrage from users who thought it was ridiculous to find fake profiles lurking around that could mislead others in many ways. Let’s not forget how simple they were to identify, as they came with the AI managed by Meta label that rolled out in September of last year.

This also came with the rollout of AI chatbots that were marketed using familiar faces but thankfully that’s also gone. It’s been several months now and we haven’t seen or heard about these profiles for a while now.

Thanks to a new interview published by the Financial Times, the company’s VP for Generative AI did confirm the news as to their sudden and mysterious disappearance. He spoke more in detail about the tech giant’s goals in this area which was to try and make the apps more lively and interactive. He explained how the profiles would work similarly to how regular ones do. Clearly, users didn’t agree with that goal and expressed dismay which is why they’re out now.

You could find the most bizarre usernames like Dating with Carter or Hello Grandpa Brain as well as AI-themed dating coaches quite frequently. They were mostly used for displaying different personalities and innovative interests but at the end of the day, they were fake.

Some called in unwanted AI spam that is becoming more and more common as time passes. There were even some personas sparking serious outrage online. One example was Liv found on Instagram who claimed to be a proud and queer Black mom of two. As per a leading columnist found in the Washington Post, Live published a series of posts that were inspired by a made-up character from The Modern Family and people weren’t happy.

Some spoke about ridiculous instances and conversations didn’t take long to anger many as they were inappropriate for several different reasons. If that was not enough, so many instances arose where you couldn’t block them. Instead of fixing the matter, the solution of Meta was to get rid of the experiment as a whole. They called it a bug that affected the way people could block AI on the app and they were working hard to fix the problem.

The trial did end up going in flames, the firm says it has zero plans to abort AI-based characters on apps which is shocking for many. During the year’s start, the organization teased some clones of real human creators made using AI. These even could carry video calls that were life-like in nature.

Creators would get the chance to train chatbots that could reply to followers without them actually being there. This would save them so much time and effort in the end. Other than that, experiments for adding AI images to user feeds on Facebook were also discussed.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Urban Areas Show Higher 5G Radiation Baseline, But Rural Areas Experience More Intense Smartphone Exposure During Activity
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Urban Areas Show Higher 5G Radiation Baseline, But Rural Areas Experience More Intense Smartphone Exposure During Activity

New research has revealed fascinating insights into how 5G technology affects our exposure to electromagnetic waves. Surprisingly, living in cities with a dense network of cell towers might reduce your exposure to radiation compared to rural areas with fewer towers. Here’s an easy-to-understand breakdown of this paradox and what it means for public health.

Why 5G Networks Are Different

5G networks operate on advanced systems that are very different from traditional mobile networks. These systems use something called massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (Ma-MIMO) antennas, which are smarter and more efficient than older cell towers. These antennas employ a technology called beamforming, which works like a spotlight. Instead of broadcasting signals evenly in all directions (like traditional networks), beamforming focuses the signal directly on your device. This makes the network faster and more reliable.

The Study: Urban vs. Rural Areas

The research, part of Project GOLIAT, was conducted in Switzerland, one of Europe’s earliest adopters of 5G technology. Researchers measured radiation exposure levels in two cities (“Zurich” and “Basel”) and three rural villages (“Hergiswil,” “Willisau,” and “Dagmersellen”). To measure baseline exposure, they used mobile phones set to airplane mode to prevent data transmission.

Key Findings on Baseline Exposure:

Urban Areas (Higher Population Density): Exposure levels were higher. For example:

• Zurich: 0.33 milliwatts per square meter (mW/m²)
• Basel: 0.48 mW/m²

Rural Areas (Lower Population Density): Exposure levels were lower, around 0.17 mW/m².

This pattern makes sense because cities have more cell towers, which provide stronger and more uniform signals, increasing baseline radiation levels.

The Paradox of Active Phone Usage

The situation changes drastically when phones are actively transferring data (like downloading or uploading large files). During these tests, researchers found exposure levels could spike dramatically:

Data Usage Findings:

Urban Areas:

• Downloading large files led to exposure levels of 6-7 mW/m².
• Uploading files for maximum speed tests increased exposure to 16 mW/m².

Rural Areas:

• Downloading large files raised exposure levels, but during maximum upload tests, exposure reached 29 mW/m² — almost double the levels in cities.

Why does this happen? In rural areas, phones must work much harder to maintain a connection with distant cell towers. This increases the energy emitted by the phone, leading to higher radiation exposure.

The "Paradox" Explained

Here’s the paradox:

In cities with more cell towers, baseline radiation is higher, but phones require less energy to stay connected, so exposure during active use is lower.

• Also read: What Are the Most and Least Radiation Emitting Phones?

In rural areas with fewer towers, baseline radiation is lower, but phones emit much more energy during active use, resulting in higher exposure.

What This Means for Everyday Life

The study highlights how cell tower density and phone usage patterns influence radiation exposure. For most people:

City Dwellers: While baseline exposure is slightly higher, daily usage is less likely to result in extreme spikes in radiation.

Rural Residents: Baseline exposure is lower, but activities like streaming videos or uploading large files can significantly increase exposure levels.

It’s also important to note that these measurements were taken with phones placed about 30 cm from the measuring device. If a phone is held closer to the body, exposure could be up to 10 times higher, according to the researchers.

Future Research and Implications

This study is just the beginning. Researchers plan to expand their work to nine more European countries to explore how 5G technology is implemented and how it impacts public health. Their findings will help shape better network designs and guide public health policies.

Final Thoughts

5G technology is changing how we interact with the electromagnetic environment around us. While it offers faster speeds and better connectivity, it also brings new challenges for understanding radiation exposure. This study reminds us that network design plays a crucial role in balancing connectivity with public health concerns. Whether you live in a bustling city or a quiet rural area, knowing how 5G affects your exposure can help you make informed choices about your mobile phone usage.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• Double Clickjacking Can Allow Hackers to Hijack Your Accounts Even without Your Knowledge

• Your Old Device Might Be a Goldmine: 26% of Consumers Skip Wiping Data Before Recycling
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Double Clickjacking Can Allow Hackers to Hijack Your Accounts Even without Your Knowledge

According to a security researcher and bug hunter, Paulos Yibelo, double clicking some buttons on your browser can lead to some hackers hijacking your account. These attacks are being termed as “clickjacking” where hackers can easily swap web pages and the users don't even get to know about it. Those hackers then make victims authorize money transfer or give access to their bank accounts unknowingly. At first, hackers used to do single click hijacks but now the technology has become advanced and browsers do not have cross site cookies that used to be a source of hacking. So now hackers have turned towards double click hijacks which opens the doors to UI manipulation attacks too.

The hackers do clickjacking by making a phishing site appear before users and present them with a common CAPTCHA notification which asks the users to verify that they are humans by double clicking on it. In the background, the hackers work to add functionality that takes the victims to a sensitive page. When the victim does a single click, it closes the top window and reveals another page. When the victim double clicks, it reveals the sensitive page, which approves authorization, gives permissions and completes all other actions. It doesn't matter what your clicking speed is, because hackers keep up with any sort of speed and do everything quickly without anyone knowing.

API permissions and OAuth which can allow hackers to do account changes like money transfers, disable security settings and confirming transactions on the account can also be done through double clickjacking by the hackers. Hackers can also use this technique to attack browser extensions, and can even open more sensitive windows without the victim knowing. Disable all your critical buttons by default and update your browsers to keep your accounts safe from any kinds of hacking attempts.

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• Boost Your Facebook Engagement: Key Insights from 2025 Benchmarks
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Boost Your Facebook Engagement: Key Insights from 2025 Benchmarks

Socialinsider’s 2025 Facebook Benchmarks study shows key tactics and content performance insights that can make your brand stand out to generate engagement and traffic. Right now, the average engagement rate on Facebook is 0.15% and if you are above or around this benchmark, you are doing well. If you are under it, you can still apply some tactics to gain engagement rate. Small profiles tend to get higher engagement rates because they foster more personalized interactions and a closer-knit community. Even though 0.15% seem like a small engagement rate, it is good especially if we compare it with Facebook’s large user base. To get more engagements on Facebook, set your goals against the 0.15% benchmark and look at the monthly changes in the engagement. It is also best if you try different content formats as they can boost the engagement rate. Taco Bell and Lush Cosmetics are great examples of Facebook profiles that mix every content to get impressive engagements.

Albums on Facebook get the most engagement, because they attract users to stay at the post, scroll through different images and that's when they hit like and share. To get more engagements on albums, create each album around a specific theme, do some storytelling and ask followers to comment on them. Patagonia and Airbnb have some good albums that make the users engaged. As mentioned above, small accounts tend to get more engagements on Facebook, with engagements as high as 0.30% on accounts with less than 5k followers. This means that you don't need many followers to get high engagement on Facebook, just build some loyal and close-knit audience and you are good to go. There are many Facebook profiles of indie artists and makers and local coffee shops which focus on community engagement m, use Q&A sessions and polls and mix albums and photos to get high engagement.

According the study, Status posts generate the most replies, as users get engaged with the content. Status are best for event highlights, product launches and any content where you need to show a lot of visuals. If you want to get more comments, just post on Status. Status posts are a great way to spark conversations where followers can share their ideas, opinions and experiences. To get more comments on status posts, ask open-ended questions, post short but relatable thoughts and always tap into trends. Netflix and Whole Foods share status posts on Facebook with questions that engage the followers.

Even though albums get the most engagements on small pages, videos get the most engagements on bigger pages. Sharing videos can maximize your reach as they can go beyond your followers. Big Facebook profiles should share short but engaging videos to hook the audiences just like Red Bull which has a large following so they share sports videos that audiences cannot help but share and comment on. An average 43 posts get shared by brands per month, which makes about 1.5 posts a day. It is advised that brands focus on quality and not just quantity when it comes to sharing posts on Facebook. To create quality content, make a content calendar to plan ahead and alter the posting times and monitor the engagements each time. Visit Facebook profiles of Nike and Sephora to see how they stick to a steady schedule with quality content that gains them good engagements.

H/T: SI

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Siri Privacy Breach: Apple Agrees to $95M Settlement for Unintentional Voice Recordings of Sensitive Conversations

If you’re a fan of Apple’s popular voice assistant Siri then you might want to read on further. The company has agreed to pay a massive $95M settlement after Siri was found guilty of a massive privacy breach.five

The settlement was first shared by Bloomberg who says Siri spied on users having interactions and even captured the conversations without anyone knowing. As a result, the incident could see the Cupertino firm pay a wide array of people owning Apple products that are based in America.

Up to 5 devices with Siri enabled into them were brought into perspective and payments could go up to $20 for each device featuring the voice assistant. Remember, we’re still waiting on the final judgment that must be approved by the judge before users can celebrate.

The payments would apply to those in America who own iPhones, iPads, iMacs, the Apple Watch, MacBook, iPod Touch, Apple TV, or HomePod featuring Siri. However, the timeframe outlined is September 17th, 2014 to December 31st, 2024. That’s not the only criterion in discussion.

The users must undergo an oath-taking process where they swear that they only activated their voice assistant by error while having a chat that was supposed to be private. As far as individual payments are concerned, the matter will totally depend on the number of users coming forward to make claims. If you do plan on applying, it’s a little less than $20, which is the maximum cap.

The class action case rolled out against the iPhone maker comes after a report from 2019 that was published by the Guardian shared how Apple’s third-party contractors keep on listening to private chats featuring sensitive data like couples involved in intimacy, those carrying out drug deals, and even discussions about private medical data.

During this whole time. Siri was busy trying to better voice quality but instead of getting activated deliberately by using certain keywords, it would get active without any trigger. Even simple sounds or terms like zippers would get Siri alert, a whistleblower shared.

Apple has sprung into action after the news and says that not many people were impacted by the ordeal. It also shed light on how small recordings were transferred to contractors and they are very apologetic for that breach.

Apple also published a public apology admitting its mistake while vowing to end the practice of keeping audio recordings. One of the plaintiffs in this legal case who happened to be a minor shared how their device recorded their chats on several instances. This includes those situations where not even a single word was uttered.

Now if you’re thinking Apple was the only tech giant accused of such practice, well, think again. Both Google and Amazon were also highlighted for using contractors who can eavesdrop on recorded chats. This entails those captured by error while another similar one was rolled in Google’s direction that’s still in pending mode.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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30% of Workforce Identified as Highly Sensitive: Insights into Stress, Empathy, and Workplace Adaptation

There are a lot of people in the world that are identified as Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs), meaning that they are affected with slightest changes in their environment. These highly sensitive persons also work in offices and small modifications in their office’s environment or co-worker's mood can bring them to the edge. A new study published in Japanese Journal of Applied Psychology says that most of the highly sensitive persons working in office settings are seen in a negative way because the minimal alteration can tick them off, but they also offer some high advantages in the workplace.

The study says 30% of the total population is based on highly sensitive persons, but they are often overlooked in the work settings. HSPs have different experiences related to empathy and stress in a workplace and that's what makes them a good worker. When there are little changes in the environment, HSPs react quickly no matter if the stimulus is positive or negative. HSPs aren't like people with spectrum disorder or autism because even though they show sensitivity, they show it at normal human levels.

Workplace stress has become a big issue in Japan as well as the rest of the world. Different individuals handle this stress differently and understanding how they process stress at work can help workplaces to make strategies to support them. As 30% of the workers can be identified as HSPs, it means that there are a big portion of people who are super sensitive to stress and can experience high levels of it even with the smallest issue.

For the research, the authors of the study conducted a survey of 270 Japanese professionals working in different industries. There were a lot of workers who scored higher levels of sensitivity, suggesting that they experience more workplace stress. On the other hand, they also showed high levels of empathy in comparison to workers who scored less in sensitivity. The same results were shown after running optimistic and pessimistic personality trait tests on those workers.

The author of the study, Eiichiro Watamura, says that even though HSPs experience high levels of stress, it also means that their tendency to feel empathy can benefit the organizations, especially where interpersonal skills are needed. This study is also for organizations to support the diverse needs of employees and design their organization in a way that every worker feels comfortable. HSPs are proof that your weaknesses can be a great asset if you use them properly.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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Your Old Device Might Be a Goldmine: 26% of Americans Skip Wiping Data Before Recycling

A recent study by HostingAdvice surveying 3,000 Americans revealed that 14% store intimate content on their devices, while 26% neglect to wipe data before submitting them for e-waste. We are doing everything virtually nowadays, and only a few of us secure our data so it doesn't get used for harmful purposes. When people dispose of their old mobiles phones and devices, most of them do not clear all the files and data from them before reselling them or submitting them for e-waste. Only 17.5% of the people recycle their e-waste which means that every year the intimate stuff on 1,640,419 gets recycled every year.

The study also found out how different people think of recycling their devices in different regions and it was revealed that people in Minnesota were the least concerned about their data and what things they recycle (46%). Followed by Minnesota were people from Alabama (43%), Arkansas (43%) and Oregan (39%) who were the least concerned about their data and did not wipe it out before recycling their devices. On the other hand, people from South Dakota are very strict when it comes to wiping off their devices before disposing of them. Only 8% of people from South Dakota do not clear their files first before recycling electronic devices, followed by 10% people from Delaware and 13% people from Mississippi.

The study also asked respondents why they do not clear their data and files from their devices before recycling them. 37% of the respondents said that they forget to do it, followed by 22% who think recycling centers would do it on their own and 21% who said that they didn't know they should clear their data before recycling their devices. All in all, 52% of the respondents said that they regret that they didn't clear off the data on their devices before recycling them.

According to the survey, the most sensitive data that respondents didn't delete before recycling their devices was logins and passwords (39%), personal ID information (22%), intimate content (21%) and financial information (18%). 79% of the respondents said that they do not care if someone finds their intimate content but they would be concerned about someone finding their financial account details.

18% of the respondents said that they would like to pay for a secure data wiping service before giving up their device, with 59% admitting that they thought that if someone finds their personal information on a device they recycled, they are legally required to delete that information. 54% of the respondents said that if they find someone else’s data on their device, they delete it and recycle it properly. If you want to delete your data properly before recycling your device, it is important that you backup your data first and then delete the data on the device you are getting rid of. Make sure to remove all the memory cards in the device and use build-in formatting tools in devices to completely wipe out the data so it is undiscoverable.

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