Talking Tech: How smart assistants use your data, Nepal bans TikTok

How smart assistants may be using your data, Nepal bans TikTok, Omegle shuts down. Here's the week's latest tech news:

Hey, Siri. Is your smart assistant listening to you for ads? How is that data used? Consumer Reports and researchers at Boston’s Northeastern University created fake persons to interact with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. Let’s take a deep look at how they use your conversations to create profiles. Read more on what researchers found and what it means for you.

TikTok ban. TikTok is now banned in Nepal. The Government of Nepal on Monday announced an immediate ban on the popular social media app, saying it was disrupting “social harmony," the Associated Press reported. The announcement comes just days after authorities issued a 19-point directive tightening content regulation on all social media sites. See more on the ban.

Omegle shuts down. Omegle, a popular video chat service that randomly paired strangers to connect, has shut down after 14 years, its founder announced in a statement on its website, acknowledging the platform was widely misused. Omegle has come under fire over the years for being an online hunting ground for sexual predators, a reputation that Omegle's founder Leif K-Brooks didn't refute in his post that otherwise defended the service. See more on the shutdown.

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Read on for more of the tech news this week.