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TechCrunch reported that a group of researchers from the university KU Leuven in Belgium identified six popular dating apps that malicious users can use to pinpoint the near-exact location of other users. Dating apps including Hinge, Happn, Bumble, Grindr, Badoo and Hily all exhibited some form of “trilateration” that could expose users’ approximate locations, which prompted some of the apps to take action and tighten their security, according to the published paper.

The term “trilateration” refers to a three-point measurement used in GPS to determine the relative distance to a target. The six named apps fell into one of three categories of trilateration” including “exact distance trilateration” in which a target is accurate to “at least a 111m by 111m square (at the equator),” “round distance trilateration” or “oracle trilateration” in which distance filters are used to approximate a rounded area much like a Venn diagram.

Grindr is “susceptible to exact distance trilateration” while Happn falls under “rounded distance trilateration.” The remaining four fall under “oracle trilateration” despite the fact that Hinge and Hily hide the distances of its users, according to the paper.

Karel Dhondt, one of the researchers involved in the study, told TechCrunch that a user with malicious intent could locate another user up to “2 meters” away using oracle trilateration. This method involves the malicious user going to a rough estimate of the victim’s location based on their profile and moving in increments until the victim is no longer in proximity along three different positions and triangulating the data to one spot. 

Bumble’s vice president of global communication Gabrielle Ferree told the website that they “swiftly resolved the issues outlined” with its distance filter last year. Hily co-founder and chief technology officer Dmytro Kononov said in a statement that an investigation revealed “a potential possibility for trilateration” but “exploiting this for attacks was impossible.”

Happn chief executive officer and president Karima Ben Adelmalek told TechCrunch they discussed trilateration with the Belgian researchers. He says that an additional layer of protection designed to prevent trilateration “was not taken into account in their analysis.”

Grindr’s chief privacy officer Kelly Peterson Miranda noted that users can disable their distance display from their profile. She also noted that “Grindr users are in control of what location information they provide.” Badoo and Hinge did not respond with a comment.

Other dating apps have taken extra steps to ensure its users are speaking to actual people and not spam bots or fake accounts. Tinder started requiring users in February in the US, UK, Brazil and Mexico to upload a copy of an official driver’s license or passport along with a video selfie as part of a new advanced ID verification system.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/belgian-researchers-found-a-huge-privacy-hole-in-six-dating-apps-223227855.html?src=rss 

Reddit’s chief executive officer Steve Huffman didn’t pull any punches with Microsoft in an interview with The Verge. He called out Microsoft and other AI search engines like Anthropic and Perplexity for not paying for the information they take from Reddit, some of which have already been blocked from Huffman’s website.

Reddit has deals in places with companies like Google and OpenAI to receive compensation for using its posts and information. Huffman says Microsoft, however, hasn’t even stepped up to the table to discuss its use of Reddit’s content in its AI searches.

“Without these agreements, we don’t have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it’s used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven’t been willing to come to terms with how we’d like our data to be used or not used,” Huffman told The Verge’s deputy editor Alex Heath.

Huffman says if Microsoft and other AI search sites continue to use Reddit’s information without proper compensation, they’ll have to be blocked. He doesn’t want to do that because it’s “a real pain in the ass to block these companies.”

Reddit has started cracking down on search engines that expunge information from its various forms and communities. The website vowed to block unauthorized data scraping in June by updating its Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt) and it’s already prevented Bing from accessing data from Reddit, a fact confirmed by Microsoft’s head of search Jordi Ribas on X.

Earlier this month, a source confirmed to Engadget’s Will Shanklin that Microsoft’s refusal to work with Reddit’s terms of service led to the blocking of Bing. A spokesperson from Reddit also said, “Anyone accessing Reddit content must abide by our policies, including those in place to protect redditors. We are selective about who we work with and trust with large-scale access to Reddit content.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-ceo-wants-microsoft-to-pay-for-its-content-212320245.html?src=rss 

The gaming industry has been plagued with rounds of layoffs and studio closures and it’s not showing any signs of stopping anytime soon. The latest round of layoffs comes from Sony-owned Bungie, best known at this point for Destiny 2.

Pete Parsons, the chief executive officer for Bungie, announced on its official website that it will eliminate 220 roles “representing roughly 17 percent of its workforce.” Executive and senior leader roles are the ones most affected by this round of layoffs but he also noted “these actions will affect every level of the company.”

Parsons blamed the need for layoffs on several factors including the “rising costs of development,” “industry shifts” and “enduring economic conditions.” He also noted the studio will focus its development efforts “entirely on Destiny and Marathon.”

Bungie and Sony seem to have been butting heads over economic concerns. Sony Interactive Entertainment chairman Hiroki Totoki noted during a February earnings call that he wanted to see more “accountability” with budgets and schedules from Bungie’s leaders. Destiny 2 alone has seen a noticeable dip in player numbers and revenues that fell 45 percent below its projections, according to PC Gamer.

Last year in October, Bloomberg reported that Bungie had to lay off an undetermined number of staffers that caused noticeable delays for its next game Marathon and an expansion for Destiny 2. A month later, Bungie announced it had to push back the release date for The Final Shape expansion for Destiny 2 from February to June.

Sony’s various game studios have also seen scores of layoffs in the last few months. Sony announced in February it had to eliminate around 900 positions from its PlayStation division as well as its Technology, Creative and Support teams. The cuts also affected studios like Insomniac, Naughty Dog and Guerilla that produced some of the PlayStation 5’s biggest titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, The Last of Us and Horizon Forbidden West. Sony also shut down its London studio after more than 20 years in operation that was right in the middle of working on a new fantasy co-op multiplayer game for the PS5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bungie-is-laying-off-220-employees-200242815.html?src=rss 

Today, a group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act, a law that would make it illegal to create digital recreations of a person’s voice or likeness without that individual’s consent. It’s a bipartisan effort from Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), fully titled the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024.

If it passes, the NO FAKES Act would create an option for people to seek damages when their voice, face or body are recreated by AI. Both individuals and companies would be held liable for producing, hosting or sharing unauthorized digital replicas, including ones made by generative AI.

We’ve already seen many instances of celebrities finding their imitations of themselves out in the world. “Taylor Swift” was used to scam people with a fake Le Creuset cookware giveaway. A voice that sounded a lot like Scarlet Johannson’s showed up in a ChatGPT voice demo. AI can also be used to make political candidates appear to make false statements, with Kamala Harris the most recent example. And it’s not only celebrities who can be victims of deepfakes.

“Everyone deserves the right to own and protect their voice and likeness, no matter if you’re Taylor Swift or anyone else,” Senator Coons said. “Generative AI can be used as a tool to foster creativity, but that can’t come at the expense of the unauthorized exploitation of anyone’s voice or likeness.”

The speed of new legislation notoriously flags behind the speed of new tech development, so it’s encouraging to see lawmakers taking AI regulation seriously. Today’s proposed act follows the Senate’s recent passage of the DEFIANCE Act, which would allow victims of sexual deepfakes to sue for damages. 

Several entertainment organizations have lent their support to the NO FAKES Act, including SAG-AFTRA, the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association, and the Recording Academy. Many of these groups have been pursuing their own actions to get protection against unauthorized AI recreations. SAG-AFTRA recently went on strike against several game publishers to try and secure a union agreement for likenesses in video games.

Even OpenAI is listed among the act’s backers. “OpenAI is pleased to support the NO FAKES Act, which would protect creators and artists from unauthorized digital replicas of their voices and likenesses,” said Anna Makanju, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs. “Creators and artists should be protected from improper impersonation, and thoughtful legislation at the federal level can make a difference.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senators-introduce-bill-to-protect-individuals-against-ai-generated-deepfakes-202809816.html?src=rss