At a time when concerns over data collection and breach by tech majors are on the rise, it has been reported that US law enforcement officials have been turning to a particular Google database called "Sensorvault" to trace location and other data of people as part of their investigations.

The database, that is otherwise maintained to collect user-information from Google products for ad targeting, contains detailed location records from hundreds of millions of phones from around the world, CNET reported on Saturday.

On coming under question of exposing personal user data to law enforcement officials, the search engine giant ensured that the information obtained through the database is anonymous and that it reveals specific information only after the police has analysed and narrowed down the devices which would be relevant to the investigation.

"We vigorously protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement," the report quoted Richard Salgado, Director of law enforcement and information security at Google as saying. Before the officials could use Google's data-base for investigation purposes, they require a "geofence" warrant -- that specifies an area and a time period that helps Google gather information about the devices that were available in the specified window.

"We have created a new process for these specific requests designed to honour our legal obligations while narrowing the scope of data disclosed and only producing information that identifies specific users where legally required," Salgado added. Even though law enforcements seeking help from tech giants is not uncommon, the use of "Sensorvault" data has raised concerns about innocent people who could be wrongly or mistakenly implicated.

"The New York Times interviewed a man who was arrested last year in a murder investigation after Google's data had reportedly landed him on the police's radar.

But he was released from jail after a week, when investigators pinpointed and arrested another suspect," the report added, citing an example of an innocent getting into trouble because of Google's data.

Tech giants like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google have been under global scrutiny following the countess data leak, hacking and non-consensual collection of data scandals. Facebook particularly, become infamous after it admitted in April 2018 that information of up to 87 million people, mostly US citizens, may have been improperly shared with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

Google has also been subjected to scrutiny after it was revealed that the search engine giant had been tracking people's location even after they turned off location-sharing on their Android phones.

According to information available on public domains, in 2017, Android accounted for more than 80 percent of all smartphone sales to end users worldwide and by 2020, 85 percent of all smartphones would run the Google-owned operating system.

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Firefox Quantum, also known as Firefox 57, is said to operate at double the speed of a slightly older version of Firefox from earlier this year.

Firefox was one of the fastest growing Internet browsers in the late 2000s. But it lost momentum as Google Chrome, which is the leading U.S. browser on desktops, gained new users.

Mozilla released a test version of Firefox Quantum web browser in September in preparation for its upcoming official debut in November. Developers have been tinkering with the test version over the past several weeks to let Mozilla know if there are any bugs or security holes prior to Tuesday’s public release.

Mozilla says its new browser uses less memory than its rivals and has been designed to help people get things done a lot more quickly.

The new Firefox Quantum web browser is now out of beta and Mozilla claims that the new browser will not only outpace Chrome, but crush it in terms of memory use. Google's Chrome browser is known for using up lots of RAM, especially once you start to accumulate tabs.

Firefox Quantum is capable of 66 runs per minute, that’s twice as fast as its previous version, according to Speedometer, a browser benchmark that measures the responsiveness of web applications. Mozilla says Firefox Quantum also uses 30% less memory than Google Chrome.

If you have flung down your Firefox for a long period of time, it’s time to go back to it.

One new useful feature in Quantum is its ability to quickly search using any search engine you want. As you type a query in the address bar, Quantum displays instant results, as well as show buttons for various engines. Despite competing against Google in the browser space, Firefox does resort to using Google as the default search engine in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

You can take and share screenshots without using a third party app or add-on. The Pocket service is built right into the toolbar, for easy saving stuff for later. The new browser's library is where you'll find all your favorite content such as Pocket saves, bookmarks, browsing history, screenshots, and downloads - all of these are accessible in one spot.

Private browsing mode for Firefox Quantum looks just as good as regular browsing. A purple masked symbol on the right indicates what mode you’re in, and Firefox has tracking protection on by default.
Quantum was a project open to volunteers, with about 700 authors contributing to the code. It took a year for Firefox to complete the project. You can download the final version today for free from Mozilla officia website, for the Windows system, Android, and iOS.

There are many apps and features that make Google’s Android operating system feel premium and Play Services is one of them. Even though most people don’t know what Play Services does, it actually is an important component of their operating system.

In fact, there are many cases where people delete Play Services from their smartphone in order to free up storage space and then they find out that nearly all their apps stop working.

Basically, Play Services is responsible for allowing other apps to automatically update themselves and for saving important settings such as synchronized contacts and user privacy settings.

Moreover, Play Services is spread throughout all of Google’s operating systems including Android TV. Play Services is pre-installed on all Android powered TVs and it improves their performances and reliability.

Google Play Services (Android TV) 11.9.74 APK

Google is known for always coming up with new updates which make sure that Android’s user experience stays premium. The search browser giant recently published a new update that brings Play Services for Android TV’s build number up to 11.9.74.

The update is available in APK format which means that users are required to manually download it themselves. Although, Google will also start rolling out this update over the air during the upcoming future but there’s no need to wait.

Under the Hood Performance Tweaks

The new update doesn’t bring any major visual change to the table. However, the update is focused more towards improving Play Service’s performance.

Therefore, people who want their Android powered TV to run better and to make sure that its not affected by any bugs should make sure to download this latest APK as soon as possible.

We should also mention that the update introduces a couple of bug fixes that serve the sole purpose of making sure Android TV owners are never annoyed by interruptions or that their system randomly crashes.