Tech
People just want to delete Instagram & Facebook – or deactivate their account, but it might not help – Economic Times
Seems like people are done with Instagram and Facebook and want to delete their account from Meta-owned platforms.
According to data released by VPNOverview, a cyber security website, searches for keywords ‘deactivate Facebook‘ and ‘deactivate Instagram’ surged in the recent past.
The website conducted a study on the top 30 most popular apps of people in the USA to see which one they are most interested in deleting.
As per the data, searches for ‘deactivate Instagram’ rose by 2,400 per cent, peaking on February 19, whereas ‘deactivate Facebook’ team in the search was increased by 1,566 per cent.
This doesn’t come as a surprise as the Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta has been suffering economically after Apple upped its privacy policy recently.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature allows iPhone users from being tracked by different applications, including social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram.These apps survive on mobile ad revenue which heavily depends on this type of tracking. Apple’s new update gives users more control and allows them to stop apps from tracking their moves on the device by the Cupertino-based tech giant’s privacy features in Settings.Now the data released by VPNOverview brings Meta’s worst nightmare to reality. As per the data, over 900,000 searches by people were on how to ‘delete’ Instagram, while over 385,410 searches wanted to know how to delete Facebook.
Meanwhile other platforms such as Twitter and Telegram received 92,490 and 24,819 searches, respectively, on deactivation or how to delete the app.
However, not all the eggs in the basket are rotten. The data also shows that despite the hate, Instagram is still one of the most popular apps of 2022.
But if you’re one of the social media users who wishes to take a break or say adieu to Instagram or Facebook, here’s some bad news for you: It’s pretty pointless.
Even if you deactivate your account, your data is still stored on Meta’s servers.
“Once you create an account on Facebook, your data is analysed and stored on Meta’s servers even after the account is deactivated,” Forbes reported, quoting Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET.
“This can often include highly personal information and it can be almost impossible to limit this data exchange to obtain the account itself,” he added.
But if you want to delete Facebook and Instagram because you want to remain private and do not want businesses to obtain your data and use it to market products, then don’t forget to download your data before doing so.
Here’s how you can delete your Facebook account:
On browser:
- Go to Settings & Privacy option after you log into your account
- Settings > Your Facebook Information
- Now select Deactivation and Deletion
- then click on Permanently Delete Account > Delete Account
On smartphone:
- Log into your account on the app then go to Settings & Privacy and select Settings
- Now click on Account Ownership and Control
- Choose Deactivation and Deletion > Delete Account
Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), the next evolution of Valve’s, long-running, ever-popular, and lucrative tactical first-person shooting game was revealed in mid-March 2023. But beyond several visual improvements and refinements to the high-stakes game, it appears as if the company is taking the opportunity to implement far stricter measures to counteract cheaters, who utilise third-party tools to gain an unfair advantage.
As spotted by Twitter user Aquarius and reported on by PC Gamer, a line in the source code of CS2 has indicated a new feature that will immediately cancel an in-progress match of Counter-Strike 2 if a player is detected using cheating tools.
The code, which appears to outline the conditions for certain notifications to pop up in-game, includes the phrases ‘Cheater Detected’ and ‘This match has been cancelled by VAC Live’.
‘VAC’ in this instance, of course, is an abbreviation for Valve Anti-Cheat, the company’s proprietary cheat monitoring solution. VAC was first introduced with Counter-Strike in 2002.
As PC Gamer astutely notes, this appears to be Valve taking a page out CS2’s closest competitor at the moment, Valorant, developed by Riot Games. Riot’s anti-cheat measures have included match cancellations since the game’s launch.
Counter-Strike has always been a game with high stakes, requiring exceptional levels of player investment and focus to succeed. Having your multiplayer experience ruined by a lopsided, unfair match can be incredibly demoralising, especially if you’re stuck in it for some time before you can move on. If Valve’s new anti-cheat measures do go ahead, it can only be a positive thing.
Don’t cheat in multiplayer games. That’s a loser move.
Counter-Strike 2 will launch on PC sometime in mid-2023.
Microsoft’s long-running introductory offer for its Xbox Game Pass subscription platform, which let users try the service out for $1 for the first month before moving onto more expensive payments, has finally come to a close.
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As The Verge report, the deal—which applied to both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the PC Game Pass—has recently been pulled, with a Microsoft spokesperson saying “We have stopped our previous introductory offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass and are evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future”.
What those “different marketing promotions” could be is anyone’s guess, though given the whole point of the $1 deal was get new users on the hook, a natural successor could easily be the Xbox Game Pass Friends and Family scheme, which while still unavailable in the US has been tested in a number of international markets since late 2022.
Anyone signed up for Game Pass will see months from existing subscriptions converted into partial months on the sharing plan. If you’re currently signed up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, every remaining month will turn into 18 days of Game Pass Friends and Family. Those signed up for the piecemeal tiers will see their subscriptions convert into 12 days of Game Pass Friends and Family.
There are some limitations, however. If you’re the account holder, you can only have four additional people on an account at any given time, and can only share with eight unique accounts over the course of a calendar year. And it’s region-locked: The primary account holder can only add members who live in the same country or region.
While that’s not a 1:1 replacement for the $1 offer, which was just a good deal for anyone, it does mean folks recommending Xbox Game Pass to friends or family would have a pretty easy way to get them onboard via their own account.
It sucks to see the $1 deal go away, since I’m sure many/most of you took advantage of it, but if you weren’t ready for the time Xbox decided to start doing stuff like this, you have not been paying enough attention to TV and sports over the last five years.
Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors Live Score and Stats – March 26, 2023 Gametracker – CBS Sports
Air Canada: Wheelchair storage issue prompts complaint – CTV News
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