A tranche of UFO videos — including never-before-seen footage — has been quietly released by federal law enforcement.

US Customs and Border Protection, the agency responsible for keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the country, uploaded 10 videos that appear to show craft moving in strange ways in our skies.

The videos were released on August 9 without warning, a press release or much in the way of context, only to be discovered by UFO enthusiasts and online sleuths earlier this week.

The videos document a fighter jet pursued by an apparently baffling flying orb, as well as something that appears to be a propeller-powered hang-glider, and yet another apparent floating orb, hovering this time near a parked 16-wheeler truck.

But the enigmatic nature of the drop — which offered little detail regarding the times and locations of these sightings, plus more than a few sweeping redactions — has left more questions than answers.

The quiet video drop follows rising tensions within the corridors of power in Washington on the once taboo subject of UFOs. 

Open congressional hearings, federal legislation and even brand new government offices have now been dedicated openly to the investigation of these aerial mysteries, with at least one former senior US intelligence official calling the strange sightings ‘a national security issue.’

The videos were released on a dedicated site for agency records made public via requests under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

But perhaps most significantly, the release confirms, at least tacitly, the veracity of a heavily-scrutinized, 2013 thermal UFO video leaked to UFO researchers in 2015.

For the first time since that leak, the April 25, 2013 Aguadilla, Puerto Rico UFO video first investigated by the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies has now been confirmed by the US government as genuinely unidentified. 

Asked by NBC News, Chris Mellon, a former official with the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, described the release as ‘very significant.’

‘This will help the public understand what our military personnel are encountering all over the world,’ Mellon said. 

‘We’re getting, on the Defense Department side, 50 to 100 [UFO] reports per month — and this is happening globally.’ 

‘It’s happening overseas. It’s happening off the east coast and the west coast,’ he elaborated. ‘This will help people better understand why Congress takes the issue seriously [and] why it’s a national security issue.’

While Mellon praised US Customs’ show of openness and transparency with the official release of these 10 videos,  America’s dedicated community of UFO skeptics were less impressed. 

Mick West, a prolific and dedicated examiner of UFO claims and the owner of the skeptics forum Metabunk, described the videos as ‘mostly not new.’ 

‘And those that are new are not particularly interesting,’ West told the DailyMail.com, noting that several had already been the subject of unofficial leaks to reporters and researchers on the UFO beat.

West, a retired computer programmer and video game designer, described the first of US Customs’ UAP videos as something that ‘looks like a microlight aircraft.’

Several others, he noted, appeared to be ‘ambiguous white dots, […] a balloon or a plastic bag.’

The second video, West said, was the so-called ‘Rubber Duck’ UAP, which the noted skeptic devoted considerable time to investigating on his YouTube channel and in Metabunk’s forum back in 2021. 

West identified CBP video 9 as the ‘infamous ‘Aguadilla’ video,’ which he has argued reveals a thermal signature ‘consistent with a pair of wedding lanterns drifting in the wind.’ 

West has taken the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU) to task for errors located in an Appendix to their lengthy report on the Aguadilla case, but at least according to the SCU’s co-founder, engineer Robert Powell, those errors do not undermine the remainder of his team’s assessment.

‘The report does not depend on Appendix L,’ Powell told the DailyMail.com, stating that West did not have an answer for why floating wedding lanterns would veer from west to north, as the Aguadilla UFO is recorded doing in the video’s final moments.

‘The second reason it’s not Chinese lanterns,’ according to Powel, ‘is that Chinese lanterns can’t survive the wind speeds that were occurring that day. The wind speeds were around 13 miles an hour.’ 

‘It’s basically a little candle that sits on these little wires, and you’ve got a very light [plastic or paper] bag around it,’ Powell said. ‘Heavy winds will collapse the outside of your Chinese lantern.’ 

Whatever the mystery of Aguadilla proves to be, US Customs’ 10 videos were not the only agency records quietly released this August under FOIA. 

The agency’s official confirmation of these previously only leaked thermal videos and security recordings were also accompanied by a 389-page PDF document, ostensibly of UAP records held internally by US Customs. 

While the paperwork includes much chaff — news clippings, and already public government reports — the FOIA drop also included internal emails detailing internal deliberations on the law enforcement agency’s UFO cases.

Several agency emails from August 2021, document an exchange between a UFO enthusiast and his superior regarding efforts to comply with spirit of the then-recent congressional legislation on UFOs and the resulting UAP Task Force report.

‘As a pet project, or for fun, do all the research you want,’ the redacted official wrote to the CBP’s equivalent to X-Files FBI agent Fox Mulder. ‘I know this topic is of great interest to you and there’s a ton of information to sift through.’

‘There just isn’t an avenue for any formal research or reporting any type of findings or conclusions,’ the redacted official stressed.

The also-redacted CPB employee responded, ‘T4… I apologize, and took The Director of National Intelligence’s UAP report seriously.’  

But the release also includes over two dozen tantalizing pages that have been redacted in their entirety. 

Per statute, each page lists the legal exemption under which US CBP is permitted to withhold certain records relevant to an open records request. 

The majority of these redactions, in this case, were justified under the b(5) and b(7)e exemptions clauses of federal FOIA law. 

Investigative reporters and open government advocates have dubbed the b(5) exemption the ‘The Withhold It Because You Want To Exemption‘ as its guidelines were even described by the US Justice Department as ‘opaque.’

The b(7)e exemption pertains effectively to law enforcement’s own ‘sources and methods,’ as it withholds details that would ‘disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions’ and other material that officials believe ‘could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.’

To this end, several of the released videos have notably redacted the majority of the heads-up-display information from US CBP’s infrared or thermal video recordings: which would likely include data on the altitude, bearing and range of these UAP.

All summer long, a sweltering UFO fever has gripped Washington DC, stoked in no small measure by a series of extraordinary claims and revelations from lawmakers, former US intelligence and Navy personnel.

This past June, charges of an illegal, hidden UFO crash retrieval program operating within the shadows exploded across television airwaves and online as made by Air Force and intelligence agency veteran David Grusch.

Soon thereafter, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio revealed he too had been briefed by several other US government officials with top-level security clearances, who professed that they personally had ‘first-hand’ knowledge of UFO programs.

By late July, Grusch was reasserting many of his claims under oath before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, along with Ryan Graves, an esteemed former pilot, and veteran Navy fighter pilot Commander David Fravor, who witnessed the now famous 2004 ‘Tic Tac’ UFO.

In his further comments on the new CPB videos, former DOD intelligence official Chris Mellon hoped that the newly official US Customs videos would spur the Pentagon toward greater transparency itself.

Mellon noted that these mysterious UFO videos highlight ‘the challenges we are facing monitoring and controlling our airspace.’ 

He cited both last February’s infamous Chinese spy balloon affair (and still-as-yet-unidentified UAP), and ‘of course the explosion of drone use around the world,’ as examples of the new threats to US sovereignty posed by the weak official reporting and widespread stigma surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena.

‘I hope that the Defense Department and [US] Intelligence Community are paying attention,’ Mellon told NBC. 

‘They have many videos that are of a similar, unclassified nature,’ he noted, ‘or were, until they — out of nowhere — created this new classification guide.’ 

Echoing comments by Grusch on the legality of the Pentagon’s actions, Mellon went on to express the opinion that the DoD’s new and more expansive classification standards for its own UAP or UFO videos might not be ‘lawful.’ 

‘I don’t think that’s consistent with the executive order governing classification,’ the former intelligence official said. ‘But they are withholding a lot of similar kinds of videos from the public on that basis.’ 

 

 

Airport security officer ‘is caught stealing $300 from a passenger by swallowing the cash’

• A screening officer in the Philippines has been caught allegedly stealing money 
• CCTV footage shows a female airport officer take $300 from a passenger’s bag 
• She then attempts to ‘swallow’ the dollar bills by placing them in her mouth 

By Jessica Hamilton

Published: 08:40 EDT, 21 September 2023 | Updated: 10:24 EDT, 21 September 2023

The Sound of Freedom’s Tim Ballard reveals that he is ‘very seriously considering’ running for Mitt Romney‘s Utah Senate seat. 

Ex-DHS agent Ballard’s harrowing tale about rescuing children from sex slavery is featured in the film ‘The Sound of Freedom,’ which has dominated box offices worldwide.

Ballard told Sean Spicer on ‘The Sean Spicer Show’ this week in the video first obtained by DailyMail.com that he was asked ‘several weeks ago’ to look at running for the seat by ‘very influential people.’

Romney, 76, sent shockwaves through Congress with a surprise announcement Thursday that he would not be running for a second term. He also fired parting shots at the disarray within the Republican Party, and said Biden and Trump, like himself, were too old to serve in office.

‘At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s,’ he said. ‘Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders’ 

When Ballard was approached to run for the seat even before Romney publicly announced his Senate departure, he said ‘I was very seriously considering it.’ 

And now that Romney announced he will be stepping down, Ballard said it is ‘easier’ for himself to potentially stage a run for the seat. 

He said he will enter the race after he prayerfully considers the position and if his wife Katherine supports the decision. 

The former agent currently lives in Utah with his wife and their nine children, two of whom they adopted from Haiti. 

He said based on his work, there has to be ‘something done more none at the federal level’ and the momentum keeps building for his potential Senate run.

‘I keep getting phone calls from people,’ he expressed. 

Ballard said the success of the film has barred him from ever working as an operator again, because his face is now recognized by traffickers and bad actors, so becoming a senator could be a good next step. 

The ex-agent who inspired the renowned film Sound of Freedom has become a leading voice for anti-trafficking efforts across the world.

On July 4, Sound of Freedom brought in $14 million, while the newest Indiana Jones film earned only $11.5 million, according to the Post Millennial. It is now the number one movie in Latin America. 

As for the continued success of the Sound of Freedom film, Ballard told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview this week that he’s still ‘shocked by it.’

But he’s grateful for the success because he’s now getting audiences with Latin America leaders who are helping to enact change.

‘And it’s forcing a conversation that I think the American people have wanted to have, but didn’t know how to start it,’ he added.

Ballard said the film wasn’t intended to ‘make a statement about border policy’ but it came out just when it was most needed.

He said the success of the film has barred him from ever working as an agent operator again, because his face is now recognized by traffickers and bad actors. 

Ballard was on Capitol Hill this week to meet with lawmakers and testify about child sex trafficking.

He told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview ahead of his testimony before the House that Biden’s open borders policy is perpetuating human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad.

The Biden administration has lost track of over 85,000 unaccompanied minors that have come across the border into the U.S. over the last several years, he said.

The children become easy ‘prey for the traffickers’ creating an ‘alarming predicament’ that he says is being largely ignored by the Biden administration.

Republicans are heading toward a ‘potential’ impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they expose the horrific human impact of the southern border crisis – including rampant sex trafficking and fentanyl poisonings. 

‘Hero’ Magaluf hotel security guard goes viral for giving group of Brits a VERY sarcastic telling-off in ‘Spanglish’ over 7am antics

• The guard gives the lads a round of applause and imitates their rowdy behaviour

By Olivia Jones

Published: 08:28 EDT, 28 July 2023 | Updated: 12:58 EDT, 28 July 2023

With the hassle of taking off shoes, separating liquids, and removing laptops from bags, getting through airport security can be a rigmarole. 

But the rules that are in place are there for good reason.

Here we break down the rationale behind the steps that travellers are required to take before passing through the scanners. Plus, we reveal a few tips for speeding up the process to ensure your holiday gets off to a flying start.

REMOVING YOUR LAPTOP FROM YOUR BAG

Why do we need to place laptops in a separate tray to the rest of our belongings when heading through security? Doug Drury, who is the Head of Aviation at CQUniversity Australia, explains that the main reason is that ‘battery and other mechanical components are too dense for X-rays to penetrate effectively – especially if the scanning system is old’. 

Writing in a piece on The Conversation, he says that with the laptop in your bag, ‘security officials can’t use the screened image to determine whether a risk is present’. 

Drury continues: ‘They’ll have to flag the bag for a physical search, which slows everything down. It’s easier if all devices are removed in the first place. A laptop inside a bag can also shield other items from view that may be dangerous. Scanning it separately reveals its internal components on the screen.’

The same applies to other large electrical items such as cameras, hairdryers and iPads.  

This rule is on its way out, however, with the introduction of advanced new scanners in airports in the U.S, Holland and in London’s City Airport and Northern England’s Teesside International Airport.

The new CT machines use X-Ray technology to take a high-resolution 3D image of luggage, allowing assessors to view it from every angle and obtain a more detailed view of the contents. Older security scanners only produce a 2D image.

The British government is requiring all major UK airports to use the technology by June 2024.

PUTTING LIQUIDS IN 100ML CONTAINERS

This rule was put in place in 2006 after the British Metropolitan Police thwarted a terror plot to detonate liquid explosives on board a series of U.S and Canada-bound flights from the UK. 

It was revealed that, as part of the plot, a homemade mixture of chemicals was to be hidden inside run-of-the-mill soft drinks bottles.

After the plot was uncovered, several strict new security measures were put in place in airports around the world – including limiting liquids in hand luggage containers to 100ml (3.4oz). While the rules vary in different countries, the 100ml limit applies in many, including the UK and the U.S. 

Gov.uk says that if you take liquids in your hand luggage, they must be held in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag ‘which holds no more than a litre (35oz) and measures approximately 20cm (8in) by 20cm (8in)’. It adds that ‘contents must fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be sealed’ and the ‘bag must not be knotted or tied at the top’. 

Much like the requirement to remove your laptop, however, this rule is also changing with the introduction of advanced scanners. When using these scanners at security, the limit is two litres (70oz) of liquid, rather than 100ml. This is because the new scanners’ detection algorithms call attention to any dubious items that may warrant further inspection – such as liquid explosives.

TAKING OFF YOUR SHOES

The reason why we need to remove our shoes in airport security goes back to 2001 when Richard Reid attempted to detonate an explosive device hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami.

Passengers were able to subdue him by binding Reid – now known as the ‘shoe bomber’ – with plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions and headphone cords, and the plane was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston.

The shoes-off rule was established by the U.S Department of Homeland Security in 2006, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) noting: ‘Based on intelligence pointing to a continuing threat, TSA requires passengers to remove shoes to screen for explosives.’

The rule still stands today, with passengers wearing boots or heels likely to be asked to remove their footwear before passing through the scanners. 

The TSA website says: ‘You will have to remove your shoes. So save yourself the hassle of unbuckling, unzipping or untying and bring them slip-ons.’

And the website for London’s Gatwick Airport notes: ‘By removing shoes, metallic jewellery, belts or any other removable items you greatly reduce the chance of activating our walk-through metal detectors, therefore speeding up your journey through security.’

WHY YOUR ELECTRICAL ITEMS NEED TO BE CHARGED

If you’re travelling with electrical goods – such as a laptop – it’s important to make sure they’re charged before you travel. 

Gov.uk says: ‘If your device does not switch on when requested, you will not be allowed to take it onto the aircraft.’ 

This rule is in place to ‘prove it’s an actual working computer’ and not a security threat, aviation expert Drury wrote on The Conversation. 

HOW TO GET THROUGH SECURITY FASTER 

Many airports offer ‘fast track’ services, taking you through a dedicated lane in security so you can complete the process faster. It costs around £8 at Stansted Airport and from just £5 at Gatwick Airport. 

UK consumer watchdog Which? revealed earlier this year: ‘You’re most likely to feel the benefit of fast-track security when travelling at peak times. If your flight is leaving before 10am, this is likely to be the busiest time of day at any airport.’ 

Meanwhile, if you’ve splashed out on a business class or first class ticket, this often entitles you to pass through a priority lane in security, accelerating the process. This does depend on the airport, however. 

Frequent flyers in America ought to sign up for TSA PreCheck, which entitles them to reduced security measures – such as not having to remove their laptops or liquids from their bags – and access to a dedicated lane at security in more than 200 airports. 

The TSA PreCheck website notes that in June of this year, ’88 per cent of TSA PreCheck passengers waited less than five minutes’ to get through security. In order to qualify for it, travellers must attend a 10-minute appointment in one of the enrollment centres around the country, which involves fingerprinting for a background check.

You can also monitor the security wait times on apps such as MiFlight or MyTSA. This gives you the chance to relax with a coffee in the departure lounge and make your way through security when queues are at their shortest. 

Finally, preparation is key. Having all your liquids pre-separated into a clear plastic bag and wearing shoes that are easy to remove are just some of the ways you can make it through the process more smoothly. 

Republicans kick off probe that could lead to IMPEACHMENT of Homeland Security secretary Mayorkas, saying he ‘blatantly lied’ to Congress 58 times

• Rep. Mark Green said Mayorkas demonstrated a ‘failure to understand what’s going on at the border’ and had ‘either violated or subverted’ at least 10 laws
• Asked specifically what the legal basis for the accusation was, Green said Mayorkas had lied to Congress and failed to do his job of securing the border

By Morgan Phillips, U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Published: 11:11 EDT, 14 June 2023 | Updated: 14:38 EDT, 14 June 2023

Shocking moment world No 75 golfer and former PGA Tour winner Adam Hadwin is FLOORED by security while trying to celebrate Nick Taylor’s Canadian Open victory on the green

• Nick Taylor became the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since 1954
• Adam Hadwin tried to celebrate with his friend, but was roughed up by security
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

By Ben Nagle For Dailymail.Com

Published: 20:44 EDT, 11 June 2023 | Updated: 20:44 EDT, 11 June 2023

British families are fearing for their summer holiday plans today after they were thrown into doubt by a month’s worth of strike action at London Heathrow.

Unite yesterday ordered 31 days of action by security staff at Britain’s biggest airport – with many of the dates falling over weekends in late June, July and August.

They include the Muslim festival of Eid in late June and schools finishing for summer in July, and mark a dramatic escalation of the union’s bitter dispute with the airport.

There have been 18 days of walkouts so far – and this time around 2,000 security officers will down tools in Terminal 3 and Terminal 5. The action will be on June 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30, and July 14-16, 21-24, 28-31 and August 4-7, 11-14, 18-20 and 24-27.

More than 42,600 flights are set to depart Heathrow over the three-month strike window from June 24 to August 27, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Its data also revealed more than 20,000 flights are scheduled to leave Heathrow on strike days – 3,241 in June, 7,166 in July and 9,756 in August. This means 4.4million seats have been put at risk by the action, nearly half of which fall in August alone.

Passengers due to travel on the strike days have been contacting airlines on social media to find out whether their flight is still running.

Among them was Eram Rabbani who tweeted British Airways to say: ‘I have flights booked in August. Unfortunately my outward and inwards flights falls on dates corresponding to those when Heathrow is due to have strikes. When or how will I be informed if my flights will be cancelled due to the strikes?’

Another Twitter user asked British Airways: ‘I have a flight to London Heathrow on July 21, and strikes for that day have just been announced.

‘Is this a reason for you to allow me to change my flight (not paying £150 in fees) to the day before (as the dates after are all strike days too)? Thanks.’

And Gavin Longthorn tweeted Virgin to ask: ‘Just found out there is a strike at Heathrow on our day of departure have we any options of change?’

British Airways was forced to cancel some flights during the last rounds of strikes. The action also threatens to spark disruption and delays.

Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world and airlines are in talks with its bosses about the possibility of having to make cancellations.

Most passengers were unaffected during the previous strikes.

But the PCS union, which represents border officials, could yet announce more walkouts in a bid to cause chaos at passport booths.

And it comes after a year of train walkouts by rail unions which have also thrown holidaymakers’ plans into disarray.

The Mail reported on Saturday how the rail strikes, which are thought to have cost the economy at least £5billion, could drag on for a further year because talks have collapsed.

Critics last night accused Unite of a ‘totally cynical’ attempt to wreck families’ holidays with the Heathrow strikes.

Conservative MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: ‘This is now beyond an absolute joke.

‘People will be looking forward to their summer holiday that, in many instances, they will have saved up for a long time for – only to be thwarted by Labour-backing unions.

‘It will go down very badly with the British public. It’s totally cynical. All this is to try and cause maximum disruption to real hard-working people.

‘It’s totally unacceptable that the unions want to take out their political grievances on the British public like this.’

And Lee Anderson MP, deputy chairman of the Tory party, said: ‘Once again ordinary Brits will have their hard-earned holidays grounded by these perpetual strikers.

‘Thirty-one days of despicably timed strikes over the summer holidays threatens to leave thousands of families in the lurch and countless school holidays ruined, despite a significant pay offer having already been made.

‘Meanwhile, the Labour Party stands side by side on their picket lines and refuses to back our Minimum Service Levels legislation [designed to limit the impact of strikes]. This is no surprise given they’ve pocketed millions from the Unite strike barons.’

Unite has donated £9million to the Labour party and its local constituency groups since 2019. 

Military personnel were drafted in to check passports at UK airports including Heathrow during Border Force strikes in December.

Asked if the Government is planning anything similar for the forthcoming round of industrial action, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘I’m not aware of it as things stand now, but, as I say, of course we will continue to keep an eye on the situation.

‘We obviously recognise that this will be a major concern for those who are looking to travel over the next few months and those who are looking to get away on their summer holidays.

‘Ultimately it’s a matter for Heathrow and the union to resolve, but we expect operators to make every effort to minimise disruption and to ensure those who are reliant on their services and those who have booked flights can still travel.’

Unite has snubbed a 10 per cent pay increase over two years for members, which would take the total starting earnings of a security officer to nearly £32,000 when allowances are included.

Most are demanding better terms and conditions and for pay to match the cost of living, which is rising at its fastest rate in nearly 40 years.

The strikes come as Heathrow is struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

The airport’s operator recorded a £139million loss in the first three months of this year.

Unite boss Sharon Graham said: ‘Unite is putting Heathrow on notice that strike action at the airport will continue until it makes a fair pay offer to its workers.

‘Make no mistake, our members will receive the union’s unflinching support in this dispute. Heathrow Airport Limited has got its priorities all wrong.

‘This is an incredibly wealthy company, which this summer is anticipating bumper profits and an executive pay bonanza.

‘It’s also expected to pay out huge dividends to shareholders, yet its workers can barely make ends meet and are paid far less than workers at other airports.’

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King added: ‘Delays, disruption and cancellations will be inevitable as a result of the strike action.

‘But this dispute is completely of Heathrow airport’s own making.’

There was chaos at airports last summer when strikes and staff shortages coincided with a surge in demand for travel post-pandemic.

Over the past year Britain has seen walkouts by railway and postal workers as well as nurses and teachers.

UK annual inflation slowed to a 13-month low in April, but remains elevated at 8.7 per cent as soaring food prices offset weaker energy costs, recent official data showed.

Heathrow, one of the world’s largest airports, is owned by a consortium led by Spanish construction giant Ferrovial.

The consortium also includes sovereign wealth funds from China, Singapore and Qatar as well as North American shareholders.

A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘Passengers can rest assured that we will do everything we can to minimise strike disruption so they can enjoy their hard-earned summer holidays.

‘Unite has already tried and failed to disrupt the airport with unnecessary strikes on some of our busiest days and we continue to build our plans to protect journeys during any future action.‘

A British Airways spokesman told MailOnline: ​’Like other airlines, we’re working closely with Heathrow Airport to ensure robust contingency plans are in place.’ 

And a Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: ‘We’re aware of further proposed industrial action this summer by Unite members employed by Heathrow Airport Ltd, including security officers.

‘We’ll continue to monitor the situation and will work closely with partners, including Heathrow Airport, to ensure that our customers can complete their travel plans as smoothly as possible.’

Apple announced dramatic new privacy and security protections at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

The latest updates include Apple’s changes to its native browser, Safari, and its own communication tools, as well as to its privacy and security expectations from third-party app developers.   

The company hopes to make it easier for Apple users to surf the web without being tracked and to protect children communicating online via Apple products, among other upgrades. 

Brand new features were also promised, including Live Voicemail, which will give iPhone owners a live transcript of voicemails — as they come in — so that users can decide privately if they want to answer the call.

Apple’s announcement said the new features represent the company’s ‘deeply held belief’ that ‘privacy is a fundamental human right.’

Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, said at the event that of the updates, ‘ Privacy is designed into every new Apple product and feature from the beginning.’ 

‘We are focused on keeping our users in the driver’s seat when it comes to their data,’ Federighi said, ‘by continuing to provide industry-leading privacy features and the best data security in the world.’ 

Federighi touted major updates to Safari’s Private Browsing options and an expansion of Lockdown Mode, as specific examples. 

Launched last July, ‘Lockdown Mode’ is a feature unique to Apple products that dramatically reduces the potential for hacking by rendering certain features and apps inoperable.

Here’s what Apple users can expect when the major update appears this fall.  

Safari Private Browsing 

Apple boasts of its track record as an industry leader in ‘private mode’ web browsing options and hopes to maintain that edge.

Amid the WWDC 2023 this week, the company announced further protections against both automated web trackers and more human threats from people who might access an Apple user’s device. 

‘Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections,’ the company says, will prevent websites from using the latest techniques to ID a user’s device and follow their browsing habits. 

One feature in this vein, ‘Link Tracking Protection,’ will automatically locate and remove additional code embedded into webpage URL links, which sites have used to track internet users across websites, email clients and app services. (Link Tracking Protection will also apply to Apple Mail and other applications beyond Safari.)

Soon, the company says, Safari Private Browsing will have a new feature that locks browser windows when not in use, helping customers keep their tabs open and safe, even when stepping away from their screen. 

Communication Safety 

Apple’s child protection features, ‘Communication Safety,’ which previously included software designed to warn children when their device might be sending or receiving photos in messages that contain nudity has been upgraded to identify video too.

The feature will now also apply more widely across Apple’s operating systems, keeping children safe as they use AirDrop, FaceTime video messages and when using the Photos picker to decide which of their own content to send.

To further guarantee privacy and protection, this entire safety feature is automated and processed on the personal device itself, meaning that Apple or a third-party app ever accesses no personal data.  

Parents will have the final say on which devices and accounts in their Family Sharing plan will have Communication Safety turned on.

And the company is offering new API to app developers that will help them integrate their own app’s features with Communication Safety seamlessly.

Kids aside, Apple also says that it will soon offer the option for ‘Sensitive Content Warnings’ across iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime and elsewhere for adult users as well, so that all of Apple’s customers can avoid seeing ‘unwanted nude images and videos.’

Live Voicemail

Apple wants to make it easier for iPhone owners to know when answering a call is okay.  

Their answer is Live Voicemail, an upcoming feature that will provide a live transcript of an incoming voicemail. 

It is generated securely on the iPhone using Apple’s Neural Engine: a network of processors developed for machine learning tasks.

iPhone owners will be able to read a voicemail message as it comes in and make their own informed decision on whether or not they should pick it up. 

Unknown callers will go straight to Live Voicemail without ringing if the user turns on the Silence Unknown Callers setting. Apple’s press release said that calls identified by carriers as spam won’t appear in Live Voicemail at all but will instead get hung up on instantly.  

Lockdown Mode

The relatively new ‘Lockdown Mode’ feature was designed for Apple users whose privacy needs — by dint of their celebrity, employment, activism or other characteristics — were notably more extreme. 

The updates to Lockdown Mode keep that spirit, providing even more protections for individuals who, in the company’s words, ‘may be targeted by mercenary spyware because of who they are or what they do.’ 

New protections coming to Lockdown Mode include the ability to set more strict wireless connectivity defaults, expanded safeguards around media handling and sharing, and the ability to test run certain suspicious programs (‘sandboxing’).

Among this and more improvements, Lockdown Mode will be coming soon to Apple Watch’s watchOS.

App Privacy Improvements

Not satisfied with making its own hardware and software safe, Apple said it will be issuing out new tools to app developers and more detailed information on the data practices of third-party software development kits (SDKs) used for their platforms.

According to Apple, this information will help third-party developers provide consumers with more accurate ‘Privacy Nutrition Labels’ before they choose to buy and download their software products. 

‘These changes also improve the integrity of the software supply chain by supporting signatures for third-party SDKs,’ Apple noted in its announcement, ‘to add another layer of protection against abuse.’

Apple reminded its customers that all of these new privacy and security upgrades will be ‘free software updates’ when they arrive this fall.

‘London’s fastest airport security’: Travel expert tests ‘fancy’ new scanners at City Airport that don’t require passengers to remove laptops and liquids from bags

By Ailbhe Macmahon For Mailonline

Updated: 13:08 EDT, 25 May 2023