AT&T stops adding Web tracking codes on cellphones

AT&T stops adding Web tracking codes on cellphones

WASHINGTON

AT&T Mobility, the nation’s second-largest cellular provider, said Friday it’s no longer attaching hidden Internet tracking codes to data transmitted from its users’ smartphones. The practice made it nearly impossible to shield its subscribers’ identities online.

The change by AT&T essentially removes a hidden string of letters and numbers that are passed along to websites that a consumer visits. It can be used to track subscribers across the Internet, a lucrative data-mining opportunity for advertisers that could still reveal users’ identities based on their browsing habits.

Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest mobile firm, said Friday it still uses this type of tracking, known as “super cookies.” Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis said business and government customers don’t have the code inserted. There has been no evidence that Sprint and T-Mobile have used such codes.

US to give $3B to help poorer nations with climate

WASHINGTON

The United States is giving $3 billion to a U.N. fund to help poorer, vulnerable countries prepare for a changing climate and develop cleaner energy.

President Barack Obama will announce the contribution at a meeting of world leaders in Australia, the administration said.

The United Nations is trying to raise at least $10 billion for its Green Climate Fund to help developing nations adjust to rising seas, warmer temperatures and more extreme weather. It also would help the nations come up with energy sources that limit or reduce heat-trapping carbon- dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas.

Philae probe drills into comet, turns toward light

BERLIN

The spacecraft that landed on a comet performed two tricky maneuvers Friday, by drilling into the rocky surface and rotating itself to catch more sunlight.

Both operations carried considerable risks, because they could have toppled the probe or pushed it out into the void. But without them, the Philae lander that scored a historic first by touching down on a comet Wednesday risked skipping a key scientific experiment and running out of power.

Scientists at the European Space Agency said the maneuvers appear to have worked.

Earthquake hits Indonesia waters

JAKARTA, Indonesia

A 7.3-magnitude quake hit Indonesian waters this morning and had the potential to generate tsunami waves along nearby coasts, a monitoring agency said.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake hit 96 miles northwest of Kota Ternate at a depth of 29 miles. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake could cause hazardous tsunami waves within 186 miles of the epicenter along the nearby coasts of Indonesia and the southern Philippines. Waves could reach up to 3 feet or less, it said.

The nearest communities of Tabukan Tengah on North Sulawesi island could be at risk within an hour or so if a tsunami occurs, the agency said.

The waves also could reach as far as Taiwan, Okinawa in southern Japan, the U.S. territory of Guam, Papau New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific within the next six hours, it said.

Associated Press