Police across the US have sent out privacy warnings over a new iPhone feature added in the latest Apple update. But the tool – called NameDrop – is a simple way of sharing personal information with consent, and includes a number of protections to ensure that data is not stolen. In a host of warnings from law enforcement, shared largely across Facebook, police departments warn about a possible “privacy” concern from the NameDrop feature, which arrived in iOS 17. The warning was shared by a range of different law enforcement authorities on Facebook, right across the country. It appears to have caught on over the Thanksgiving weekend. It notes that the feature defaults to being on, which is true. But it also suggests that “many people do not check their settings and realise how their phone works” and suggest there is something dangerous about the fact that you can “share your contact information by being next to another iPhone”. As such, it warns that people should turn the feature off by default and do the same for their children. It is true that the feature allows two devices to share contact information when they are next to each other. But they must be right next to each other, rather than simply close – and that is just one of a range of protections built into the feature. Chief among them is that users must specifically unlock their phone and also explicitly opt in to share their data with anyone, rather than it being able to send information on its own. NameDrop was introduced earlier this summer, as part of a number of changes to the way that contacts and sharing work in iOS 17. It is intended to make it easy to quickly share details with someone just by putting your phones near each other, and in so doing avoid having to read out numbers or other more complicated processes. It is used by simply placing two iPhones, two Apple Watches or a combination of the two together. If the devices are unlocked, and then placed within a few centimetres of each other, they will vibrate and glow to the show that the connection is happening. Users are then given the option of what contact information they want to share, as well as what they want to leave out. That gives the option to share only a work number, for instance, or only an email address – or one user can opt out of sharing any data at all, and just receive it. Users then click again to share their details. It can also be cancelled at any time by just swiping from the bottom of the display. NameDrop can be turned off relatively easily if there any concern. That is done by opening the Settings app, clicking on “General” then “AirDrop” and choose the “Start Sharing By” option, where you can turn off the setting to do so by “Bringing Devices Together”. Read More Why Apple is working hard to break into its own iPhones Disney, Apple suspend ads on Musk’s X after he agrees with antisemitic tweet Apple to adopt system to improve texting between iPhones and Android devices

The recent dating rumours surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have been unavoidable, particularly due to the pop star attending two of the NFL player's recent games - but there is a conspiracy theory circulating about her latest appearance. Cheering from the standings, the 33-year-old appeared to be in her element when she watched the Kansas City Chiefs against the Chicago Bears on September 24. Then she was spotted at MetLife Stadium on Monday (October 2) watching the Super Bowl winners defeat the New York Jets with celebrity pals such as Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Sophie Turner. But it's this latest game that has the conspiracy theorists convinced that she attended the New York Jets game to detract from criticisms of her use of private jets. Confused on how this has been deduced? Well, the theory is all about SEO and search results. Basically, some theorise that Swift's recent football game attendance means that when people search "Taylor Swift jets" the latest reports of her at the match will appear at the top of the search results, rather than links to data concerning her use of private jets. Molly McPherson, a pop culture PR expert described the move as "brilliant" on TikTok. "Of course, she went to the Jets game for SEO reputation busting. So when you Google 'Taylor Swift and the Jets' you don't get the story about her jet emissions - which most of the articles were digital by the way - you're gonna get Taylor Swift at the Jets game," she said. @mollybmcpherson #stitch with @underthepink (Kristen) Now we have Taylor Swift’s OFFICIAL Response to the Private Jet CO2 Emission Plane problem from 2022. #taylor #taylorswift #seo #pr #publicrelations #fyp #prlady #thejets #nfl #airplane #crisiscommunication Swift has two multi-million dollar planes: a Dassault Falcon 7X and a Dassault Falcon 900, Insider reported and they have spent around 166 hours (seven days) flying back and forth from Swift's Eras Tour shows since March, according to aircraft-tracking website JetSpy. Last year, the Anti-Hero singer came under fire after sustainability marketing firm Yard revealed Swift’s private jet had emitted 8,293.54 tonnes of carbon dioxide, topping the list of celebrities with the highest amount of carbon emissions due to this. In the data breakdown, Swift had reportedly taken 170 trips and travelled an average of about 140 miles per flight. However, Swift's representatives defended her at the time and told the media that her private jet also gets loaned out to other people. “Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” a spokesperson said. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are over, with the Vegas Golden Knights having been crowned Stanley Cup Champions for the first time in (brief) franchise history.It means it's officially the NHL offseason. The free agency frenzy isn't until July 1st, but that won't stop the rumors from f...

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