In a public letter to Congress on 8 June 2020, US tech company IBM announced it would no longer endorse the usage of facial recognition technology in law enforcement.
Facebook has introduced a new feature that will allow users to archive or delete posts in bulk, allowing you to “curate your presence on Facebook to more accurately reflect who you are today”.
Thomas Le Bonniec, a 25-year-old former Apple contractor has identified himself as the source of anonymous leaks about Apple’s dubious voice recording practices. He announced his decision by writing an open letter to EU regulators, calling on them to take action.
Most COVID-19 lockdown exit plans include one central strategy: contact tracing apps. The development of such applications has become a contentious topic, creating a rift between Big Tech companies and many European governments.
A District Court in the Netherlands has ordered a grandmother to delete photographs of her grandchildren under GDPR, which she uploaded to her Facebook and Pinterest accounts without the parents’ permission.
Wildly popular videoconferencing service Zoom acquires Keybase, a start-up with encryption expertise, following “Zoombombing” issues (uninvited members joining a meeting).
Many have hailed data as the new oil. In half a century the internet has rapidly invaded the lives of its 4.33bn users which has created a new widespread commodity: data. According to the World Economic Forum, the planet produces 2.5 quintillion bytes of it every day. As the capacity of data analytics software has advanced, so has the profitability of collecting large quantities of data. For example, personal data (information not limited to: your health records, banking providers and products, location, beliefs and personal preferences) is worth a lot to advertisers who can use it to specifically target a desired audience. Deriving value from data has helped to create powerful world tech leaders. Some of the most valuable companies in the world (by market value) are tech companies like Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon and Facebook, collectively referred to as GAFAM companies. These companies’ business models are, at least in part, driven by the monetisation of data, which they collect and sell to various buyers.
Leading human rights committees claim that the NHS contact tracing app is unlawful and therefore potentially ineffective, arguing that new legislation is necessary to ensure users’ data is not violated.
Despite unresolved regulatory concerns, London’s Metropolitan Police has expanded its use of live facial recognition technology (LFR) in London.
Before lockdown began, 6 of the most popular TikTok stars of the UK moved into a shared house together in a move which increased both their profile and the platform as a whole.