Facebook’s secret number and stalking shoppers: top stories you should read

Would you still be as keen to post your life updates on Facebook if you realised that while most of your ‘friends’ had seen the post, only a tiny percentage actually cared enough to like or comment? Are you okay with retailers using your Wi-Fi hungry phone to figure out which aisles you frequented in their store? Is Instagram really the death of ‘serious’ photography? And what is all the fuss about PRISM?

These are just some of the questions raised by this week’s roundup of some of the most interesting tech stories we’ve found on the web.

Attention, shoppers: store is tracking your cell

Is your phone’s Wi-Fi always on, checking for new networks to connect to? Well, retailers may be using it to virtually follow you around their store. That’s just one of the takeaways from this article by the New York Times that investigates how shops are testing out the offline equivalent of cookies, using everything from facial recognition to surveillance cameras to your browsing habits on their app in a bid to optimise their business and predict what you’d be likely to buy.

The number Facebook doesn’t want you to see

Do you sometimes hit that share button on Facebook and feel like your carefully-crafted update has disappeared into the void? Wouldn’t it be nice if Facebook told you how many of your friends had actually seen your post, not only people who liked and commented on it? While they’re okay with sharing that information to brands and advertisers, it’s unlikely average users will ever get that option — this article explains why.

Everything you need to know about PRISM

Confused about exactly what Edward Snowden has set in motion? The Verge has put together a cheat sheet to explain more about the program which reportedly gives the NSA access to data from internet giants like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft.

The iPhone didn’t kill cameras, it made us want better ones

In a counter argument to the popular ‘Instagram-and-those-dumb-filters-are-killing-real-photography’ view, this piece suggests that while sales of point-and-shoot cameras may be declining as they’re replaced by ever-advancing mobile phone cameras, the fact that a decent camera is now so easy to carry and use wherever you are may actually be making more people interested in photography. That quest for better photos seems to be leading more and more people to consider investing in even better DSLR cameras.