Eliana Willis

ZDNETSome T-Mobile customers might soon be able to claim a full year of free satellite texting.Last month, T-Mobile expanded its Starlink satellite messaging program beyond its own borders and allowed AT&T and Verizon customers to sign up for the beta test of the service. Also: T-Mobile’s most loyal customers are about to see their bills rise – here’s how muchThis meant that users of three of the biggest wireless providers in the nation had access to satellite-powered texting to send messages without a cell signal. All you have to do is…The test for AT&T and Verizon users is free until July, but those customers have a chance to take advantage of an offer for a free year of satellite texting. All you have to do is switch carriers.According to an email sent to customers, T-Mobile will offer a year of free Starlink satellite texting to any customer who is currently enrolled in the beta test and transfers their number from AT&T or Verizon to T-Mobile before the trial period ends in July.”An exclusive offer for beta registrants,” the email reads. “Switch to T‑Mobile today and you’ll receive a free year of satellite coverage for every line you register in the beta.” The offer is good for up to 12 lines and applies to any T-Mobile plan except Go5G Next. There’s no indication that existing T-Mobile customers will receive a discount. More

Meta/ZDNETMeta’s controversial “community notes” system will begin rolling out next week. It incorporates the same open-source rating algorithm that Elon Musk used to address political bias and misinformation on X.Also: How to protect your privacy from Facebook – and what doesn’t workOn Thursday, the company announced in a blog post that Meta will begin testing the new community notes system on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads with users in the US starting March 18, 2025, before expanding to other countries. Communuty Notes waitlist remains openThe company’s blog post said that 200,000 people have signed up to become Community Notes contributors, and the waitlist remains open for those who wish to participate. However, Meta will “gradually and randomly” admit contributors off the waitlist to the program and “will take time to test the writing and rating system before any notes are published publicly.” Also: Can Digg’s return fix what ails social media today? Reddit’s cofounder is betting on itMeta also revealed that it’s embracing X’s Community Notes model, which allows contributors to write and rate notes, but notes “won’t be published unless contributors with a range of viewpoints broadly agree on them,” as well as adopting X’s open-source algorithm as the basis for its rating system. It further iterates in the post that “as our own version develops, we may explore different or adjusted algorithms to support how Community Notes are ranked and rated.”In January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his social media platforms would abandon their current third-party fact-checking process and replace it with a system similar to the community notes model used by X, formerly Twitter. In a video explaining the decision, Zuckerberg criticized the current system and, in an effort to “restore free expression,” alluded to the fact that the social media platforms’ third-party fact-checkers have been prone to “political bias” and “too much censorship.” Also: Instagram is testing a Discord-like feature – for you and 249 friendsTo contribute to Community Notes, editors must live in the US, be over 18, have an account over 6 months old and in good standing, and have a verified phone number or two-factor authentication. Contributors won’t be able to write notes on advertisements at launch but can contribute to “almost any other forms of content.” Moreover, Community Notes will be available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, and Portuguese. More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The EufyCam S3 Pro is available separately for $220 or in a two-pack with the HomeBase 3 for $550. This EufyCam is an excellent 4K outdoor security camera that delivers on its night vision promises, features no monthly fees, and has dual motion detection to reduce false alerts. The biggest downsides […] More

Adam Breeden/ZDNETMultiple screen options for the Sony Bravia X90L are on sale at Best Buy. Discounts range from $300 off on the 55-inch model to $1,200 off for the 98-inch display.ZDNET’s key takeawaysWhat the Sony Bravia X90L More

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Amegat Qi2 Wireless Charging and Cooling Pad More

Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images If you strip away all the buzzwords about enterprise artificial intelligence, such as “agentic AI,” the reality is that companies are learning what works in practice as they experiment with the technology, according to data tools giant Databricks. Also: 10 key reasons AI went mainstream overnight – and what happens next “We’re still […] More

ZDNETAmid growing concerns over Chinese AI models like DeepSeek, new research suggests that fears may be overblown – at least when it comes to data privacy. In fact, some popular US-based AI chatbots might be collecting even more of your personal information.When DeepSeek debuted its flagship open-source AI model in January, the American tech industry was thrown into hysteria. Some embraced the competition — claiming this is “AI’s Sputnik moment” — but others? Well, not so much. Still, about 12 million users worldwide downloaded the AI chatbot two days after its launch. Numerous privacy and security concerns quickly surfaced about it, prompting private and government organizations to ban DeepSeek’s use in the US and abroad.Also: 5 ways to use generative AI more safely – and effectivelyBut here’s the twist – despite all the frenzy, DeepSeek isn’t the biggest data offender out there. Curious to know how your favorite AI chatbot stacks up when it comes to privacy? Let’s look at what Surfshark’s researchers have found.AI chatbots collect and track user dataRecent data from Surfshark, a well-known VPN provider, uncovered that Google Gemini is the most data-intensive AI chatbot app. DeepSeek, however, comes in fifth out of the 10 most popular applications. The researchers analyzed the privacy details of the following chatbots that are the most popular on the Apple App Store: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Grok, Jasper, Poe, Claude and Pi. Then, they compared the types of data each application collects, whether it collects any data linked to its users, and whether the app includes third-party advertisers.Also: Google claims Gemma 3 reaches 98% of DeepSeek’s accuracy using only one GPUThe investigation led the researchers to determine that Google Gemini collects significantly more personal data than its competitors. The app gathers 22 out of 35 user data types, including highly sensitive data like location data, user content, the device’s contacts list, and browsing history. Ultimately, it far outpaces the data collected by the other popular chatbots included in the study. Only Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity were found to collect precise location data, but about 30% of the chatbots were found to share sensitive user data, like location data and browsing history, with third parties such as data brokers. Thirty percent of these chatbots also track user data. In particular, Copilot, Poe, and Jasper collect data to track their users, which means that the user data collected from the app is linked with third-party data for the purpose of targeted advertising or ad measurement metrics. More