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Sonos updates its privacy policy and seemingly hints they’ll begin selling user data
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Audio brand Sonos is ruffling the feathers of its user base again after it was discovered the company had made an important update to its private policy. As pointed out by YouTuber and repair technician Louis Rossman, the change affects the “How We May Share Personal Information” section. 

The old policy had a line that read, “Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers.” After that, the rest of the paragraph discussed how certain data practices could be considered as a “sale of data” in certain US states.

Now, if you look at the June 2024 update, the line about Sonos not selling personal data is gone. The rest of the paragraph regarding data practices is exactly the same, though. 

It may be one small change, but it was enough to start a wildfire among the user base. People are not happy at all. Rossman’s video was posted to the Sonos subreddit, and its comment section is a non-stop barrage of people criticizing the brand.

Privacy worries

Users in the post seem to believe the policy change means Sonos will begin selling customer data to third parties. One person argues the brand is alienating its loyal customer base and wants to rebuild its business “with consumers who just don’t care about privacy.” These sentiments are echoed by others, and as you can see, the overall attitude is very cynical.

Interestingly, the line seems to only be gone in the US policy. We checked the Canadian, Spanish, British, and Australian privacy pages and that line about Sonos not selling customer information is still there and is in bold text. 

It’s unknown why only the American policy was changed. A comment we saw online argues that it could be because consumer protection laws in other countries may be more strict than those in the US.

Analysis: benefit of the doubt

You can’t really blame these consumers too much for such a negative reaction. Internet privacy and data collection have been hot topics for many years as people worry about big tech spying on them. It’s a major concern that has proven itself to be legitimate over time. Plus, Sonos users haven’t been too happy with the brand after being burned by a recent app update that removed basic features. 

However, it’s possible that people are just blowing things out of proportion. The removal of the first line doesn’t necessarily mean Sonos is selling customer data to make a quick buck. In fact, this whole situation reminds us a lot of what happened to Adobe.

If you’re not aware, Adobe also changed its Terms of Use policy not too long ago. The policy had text that led users to believe the company would be taking the content they made to train their AI. Adobe has since clarified the wording in the update, assuring their customers that it won’t actually look at or take anything. It was all one big misunderstanding.

We’re going to give Sonos the benefit of the doubt here and assume this is just a misunderstanding and that the policy change was some legal thing they had to do in the US. To learn more, we reached out to Sonos, asking if it could clarify what the change means to its users and we'll update this story if we hear back.

Til then, check out TechRadar's list of the best Bluetooth speakers for 2024.

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Your ChatGPT data automatically trains its AI models – unless you turn off this setting
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If you rely on ChatGPT to run aspects of your life, and often pass fairly sensitive data to the AI, you might want to make sure you’ve opted out of its ‘Improve model for everyone’ setting. Otherwise OpenAI’s model will be training itself on what you tell it.

Before you panic, you should know that not all data is automatically passed over to ChatGPT’s training pool. Temporary Chats and Business plans will have this feature turned off by default. What’s more, OpenAI makes clear that the data is kept private and is purely used to improve the AI’s understanding of how language is used, rather than being used to create individualized profiles of users for advertising or other nefarious purposes.

Still, if you’re a free or even a premium ChatGPT Plus account anything you say will be helping to train ChatGPT with by default. So how do you turn it off?

Three simple steps

Looking to opt out of contributing your data to the training of OpenAI's AI models? Here's how to do it:

A laptop screen on a pink and purple background showing ChatGPT's settings page

(Image credit: OpenAI / Future)
  • Start by clicking your profile picture in the top right corner of the ChatGPT screen.
  • You’ll then want to go into Settings, and the third option down will be Data Controls. Click it.
  • Once in this submenu, toggle ‘Improve the model for everyone’ off and close out of settings.

A more private AI era?

Apple Intelligence presentation

(Image credit: Apple)

Privacy in AI has always been an important topic, but it has been thrust firmly into the spotlight recently thanks to Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote. 

This is where the company finally unveiled its Apple Intelligence model, and one of its core features is its top-tier data handling and privacy methods – which Apple has boasted are verified by independent third-parties.

It also follows Microsoft’s botched rollout of Recall; it’s a Windows Copilot feature where an AI takes screenshots your display very frequently and logs everything you do on your PC so it can remind you of your actions later. Useful, sure, but also a potential privacy nightmare.

We expect privacy will only continue to be an important conversation, with users more and more wary of auto-on data sharing settings like ChatGPT’s 'Improve model for everyone', but we’ll have to wait and see how AI creators react.

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Google Maps is about to get a big privacy boost, but fans of Timeline may lose their data
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One of Google Maps most popular features, Timeline, is about to become a lot more secure. To give you a quick refresher, Timeline acts as a diary of sorts that keeps track of all the past routes and trips you’ve taken. It’s a fun way to relive memories. 

Utilizing this tool requires people to upload their data to company servers for storage. That will change later this year though, as according to a recent email obtained by Android Police, Google will soon be keeping Timeline data on your smartphone.

Migrating Maps data over to localized device storage would greatly improve security as you won’t be forced to upload sensitive information to public servers anymore. However, due to the upcoming change, Google has decided to kill off Timeline for Web. Users have until December 1, 2024, to move everything from the online resource to their phone’s storage drive. Failure to take any action could result in losing valuable data, like moments from your timeline. 

“Google will try moving up to 90 days of Timeline data to the first signed-in device” after the cutoff date. However, anything older than 90 days will be deleted and it's important to take note of the wording. They’ll “try” to save as much as they can, meaning there is no guarantee Google will successfully migrate everything over if you miss the deadline. It’s unknown why this is the case, although we did ask.

Configuring Timeline

The company is asking people to review their Google Maps settings and choose which device will house their “saved visits and routes.” Their email offers a link to the app’s settings menu, but if you didn’t get the message you can navigate to Google Maps on your mobile device to make the changes there. It’s how we did it.

First, update Google Maps if you haven’t done so already, and then go to the Timeline section, where you’ll be greeted with a notification informing you of forthcoming changes. 

Then, click the Next button, and a new window will appear asking you how long you would like to keep your data. You can select to store the information until you get rid of it or set up an auto-delete function. Users can have Google Maps trash their Timeline after three, 18, or 36 months have passed.

Google Maps' new Timeline menu

(Image credit: Future)

Additionally, you can choose to back them up to Google servers. Android Police explains that this revamped system curates Maps Timelines for each device “independently.” So, if you buy a new smartphone and want to restore your data, using the backup tool is the best way.

What’s interesting is that the Timeline transfer is a one-way street. Google states in a Maps Help page that after the data is moved to your smartphone, you cannot revert back to the previous method. We experienced this firsthand because we couldn’t find a way to upload data to company servers outside of the backup function after localizing storage.

Don’t worry if you haven’t received the email or the Google Map patch as of yet. Android Police says the company is slowly rolling out the changes. Be sure to keep an eye out for either one.

While we have you check out TechRadar's list of the best Android phones for 2024.

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Could generative AI work without online data theft? Nvidia’s ChatRTX aims to prove it can
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Nvidia continues to invest in AI initiatives and the most recent one, ChatRTX, is no exception thanks to its most recent update. 

ChatRTX is, according to the tech giant, a “demo app that lets you personalize a GPT large language model (LLM) connected to your own content.” This content comprises your PC’s local documents, files, folders, etc., and essentially builds a custom AI chatbox from that information.

Because it doesn’t require an internet connection, it gives users speedy access to query answers that might be buried under all those computer files. With the latest update, it has access to even more data and LLMs including Google Gemma and ChatGLM3, an open, bilingual (English and Chinese) LLM. It also can locally search for photos, and has Whisper support, allowing users to converse with ChatRTX through an AI-automated speech recognition program.

Nvidia uses TensorRT-LLM software and RTX graphics cards to power ChatRTX’s AI. And because it’s local, it’s far more secure than online AI chatbots. You can download ChatRTX here to try it out for free.

Can AI escape its ethical dilemma?

The concept of an AI chatbot using local data off your PC, instead of training on (read: stealing) other people’s online works, is rather intriguing. It seems to solve the ethical dilemma of using copyrighted works without permission and hoarding it. It also seems to solve another long-term problem that’s plagued many a PC user — actually finding long-buried files in your file explorer, or at least the information trapped within it.

However, there’s the obvious question of how the extremely limited data pool could negatively impact the chatbot. Unless the user is particularly skilled at training AI, it could end up becoming a serious issue in the future. Of course, only using it to locate information on your PC is perfectly fine and most likely the proper use. 

But the point of an AI chatbot is to have unique and meaningful conversations. Maybe there was a time in which we could have done that without the rampant theft, but corporations have powered their AI with stolen words from other sites and now it’s irrevocably tied.

Given that it's highly unethical that data theft is the vital part of the process that allows you to make chats well-rounded enough not to get trapped in feedback loops, it’s possible that Nvidia could be the middle ground for generative AI. If fully developed, it could prove that we don’t need the ethical transgression to power and shape them, so here's to hoping Nvidia can get it right.

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Google may have been storing your incognito browsing data and now they’ve agreed to delete it
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Bad news: Google's apparently been storing your Chrome incognito browsing data.

Good news. They've finally agreed to delete it.

In a court document filed Monday (April 1) and spotted by BGR, Google has agreed to settle a nearly four-year-old class-action suit that challenged Google's private browsing (a.k.a. “Incognito Mode) data collection policies.

The original lawsuit claimed, “Google tracks and collects consumer browsing history and other web activity data no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy…even when Google users launch a web browser with 'private browsing mode' activated…Google nevertheless tracks the users’ browsing data and other identifying information.”

Google didn't entirely deny the claims, stating in 2020 that while incognito browsing mode data isn't saved locally, “websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session.”

Now, the search giant has, in principle at least, agreed to several adjustments in its messaging, data collection, and storage practices. However, if you thought this class action lawsuit might result in a small check arriving on your doorstep, you may be disappointed. The filing states that there will be “no release of monetary claims,” though individuals retain the right to sue Google for damages.

Among the changes Google will agree to when it appears before a judge on July 30:

  • Deletion or remediation of all collected data
  • Rewrite its incognito browser disclosures
  • Google must add, for the next five years at least, the ability in incognito mode to block third-party cookies by default.
  • Google has to delete private-browsing detection bits.

Google Chrome Incognito Mode splash page

You probably want to read this splash page before browsing in incognito mode. (Image credit: Future)

While this is probably good news and a big deal (Chrome currently has over 65% browser market share), the fact that incognito browsing never meant what you thought it did might be unnerving for some users.

Now, no one is judging what you browse in incognito mode but it's probably good guidance to stop assuming that whatever you see while browsing in that mode is not being detected or “seen” in some way by others.

It's not that random people or Google employees are looking at your browser history, Instead, Google's been doing what it always does, acting as a data middle-man to enable ad-targeting and some continuity in your browsing experience either by Google or through partners who use cookies to ensure that what you see on subsequent pages reflects what you were looking at on the page before.

While the filing notes that Google has already undertaken some of these changes, it's not clear if the messaging on the incognito splash pages has changed.

At the top, it reminds you that others using the same device won't see your browsing history and it notes that Chrome doesn't in this mode store browser history, cookies, and form information. It also notes, however, that your activity might be visible to the sites you visit, someone in control of your account (a school or employer), and your ISP.

It's not clear if the changes Google's set to make will impact any of that.

As for how Google feels about all this, the settlement notes that “Google supports final approval of the settlement, but disagrees with the legal and factual characterizations contained in the Motion.”

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