GoKawiil
Tech News
A software commentary piece argues that app features, once shipped, behave like kudzu — an invasive plant that spreads uncontrollably and is nearly impossible to remove. The author cites a personal example: adding AI-driven hashtag bubbles to a blog in May, then discovering months later through Plausible analytics that the feature never cracked the top 30 visited pages, making it not worth maintaining.
A WIRED journalist filed data access requests with more than 100 companies under the California Consumer Privacy Act, seeking to see what personal information had been collected. Instead of providing the requested data, many firms sent deletion confirmations the reporter never asked for, or refused to honor the contact method listed in their own privacy policies. McDonald's, notably, returned a 515-page file detailing app usage and predictive behavioral profiling.
Code found in Google Photos version 7.90 reveals plans to standardize how long deleted photos and videos remain recoverable, setting a single 30-day trash window for all media. Currently, backed-up items stay in trash for 60 days while non-backed-up files are removed after 30 days. The feature is not yet live for most users, but testers were able to activate it early.