As part of its annual Safer Internet Day promotion, Google is giving users the chance to increase their security and get 2GB of extra Google Drive storage space. Google’s Security Checkup allows you to review the security settings of your Google account, including options to add a recovery phone number, strengthen your password, check which devices have accessed your account etc. If you complete the Security Checkup by February 11th, you will received 2GB of extra Google Drive storage space, which can be applied to Gmail and Google Photos. You can complete the Security Checkup from the My Account page. 

This week Google will also publish a number of articles on Medium by privacy and security professionals. Hosted by Kevin Poulsen, contributing editor of Wired, the virtual roundtable project aims to educate non-experts on the urgency and consequences of online security. The assembled panel of contributors includes Patrick Heim, Head of Trust and Security at Dropbox, Michael Coates, Trust and Security Officer at Twitter, and Alex Stamos, Chief Security Officer at Facebook. The experts were initially asked to answer two questions: What are society’s more urgent technological vulnerabilities today? And what will they be 10 years from now? As Poulsen writes, "This week we’re asking them to look up from their daily battles and fix their eyes on the future. What will it take to make the next decade safer than the last?” 

Facebook held its annual Hackathon event last month and founder Mark Zuckberg enumerated some of the notable prototypes on his Facebook wall yesterday. The 50th hackathon in the company’s history was a 24 hour event with hundreds of engineers from across the world, including London, Tel Aviv, and California. Some of the prototypes noted by the Facebook founder include a camera that uses artificial intelligence to allow users to control it with their voice and an artificial intelligence chat bot that allows new Facebook employees to ask questions about the company. One prototype that might impact Facebook users in the future is an artificial intelligence engine which recognizes people in videos “to make sure you always see videos with the people you care about.” Perhaps it is a sign of things to come as video becomes an increasingly important component of Facebook’s Timeline.