News briefs for April 5, 2019.

Purism is partnering with Private Internet Access (PIA), "as its very first OEM partner to bring an unprecedented combination of tracking-free and encrypted tools and services to the people." From the Purism blog post: "By combining its signature VPN capabilities with Purism's leading secure hardware and software products, the two will create a first-of-its-kind bundle for users to set up a privacy protecting and secure environment out of the box. The addition of PIA as a VPN partner strengthens Purism's growing roster of partners and services that make its Librem line the most comprehensive privacy and security focused offering on the market."

Mozilla yesterday published its U.S Consumer Privacy Bill Blueprint 4.4.19 for federal privacy legislation in the United States. From the Mozilla Blog: "Our goals are straightforward: put people back in control of their data; establish clear, effective, and enforceable rules for those using that data; and move towards greater global alignment on governing data and the role of the internet in our lives. For Mozilla, privacy is not optional. It's fundamental to who we are and the work we do. It's also fundamental to the health of the internet. Without privacy protections, we cannot trust the internet as a safe place to explore, transact, connect, and create. But thanks to a rising tide of abusive privacy practices and data breaches, trust in the internet is at an all time low."

Feral Interactive announced that The Prophet & The Warlock DLC for Total War: WARHAMMER II is coming to Linux and macOS shortly after Windows. Total War: WARHAMMER II—The Prophet & The Warlock DLC originally was developed by Creative Assembly in partnership with Games Workshop and published by SEGA for Windows. See the Total War blog for more information on the game.

Microsoft and Canonical Launch Visual Studio Code as a Snap for Linux. Beta News quotes Canonical on the announcement: "As of today, Visual Studio Code is available for Linux as a snap, providing seamless auto-updates for its users. Visual Studio Code, a free, lightweight code editor, has redefined editors for building modern web and cloud applications, with built-in support for debugging, task running, and version control for a variety of languages and frameworks".

ChartIQ yesterday announced that its Finsemble desktop integration platform now supports Electron. From the press release: "Electron is the leading, open-source web container for writing cross-platform desktop applications using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It is the framework behind a wide range of industry-leading applications like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Skype, and thousands more. Finsemble allows engineers to quickly integrate any type of application to create customized smart desktops faster. With Electron, they can build on a modern tech stack while improving overall performance for the end user."

Google released its April Android Security Bulletin this week. According to the post, "The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability in the media framework that could enable a remote attacker using a specially crafted file to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged process." Go here to check and update your Android version.