US blocks Amazon’s attempts to ban shareholder vote on facial recognition software April 5, 2019 US authorities have blocked an effort by Amazon to prevent its investors from voting on two proposals about the sale of the company’s facial recognition service. Investors had put forward proposals for a potential audit of its facial recognition software, known as Rekognition, over concerns about breaches of privacy and civil rights. Read more: Millions [...]
Game over? Competition watchdog to probe console video gaming autorenewals April 5, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today launched a consumer law investigation into the console gaming sector. The watchdog said the investigation would focus on the auto-renewal practice of Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox. Read more: Astro Bot Rescue Mission is the PlayStation VR's killer app It said it was “concerned about whether some of [...]
Google scraps AI ethics board after just a week amid controversy over board member April 5, 2019 Google has scrapped its AI ethics board only a week after forming it following a controversy over its choice of board members. The tech giant last week unveiled its newly-formed Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) to oversee the ethical development and use of its AI research and products. Read more: Here's how much Google [...]
Some things are better left unread – here’s why you need to ditch the office email April 5, 2019 Email can feel like a quick, modern form of communication, but in reality it could not be more outdated. In the world of business, we’ve been using this same format for decades. And now the wear marks are starting to show. Sure, email is easy enough to use. It has its advantages. But the conversations [...]
Tesla’s Musk and SEC ordered to settle out of court within a fortnight April 5, 2019 Tesla billionaire Elon Musk said it was “most likely” that he and the US markets watchdog would be able to settle their differences. A US judge ordered yesterday that the two come to an agreement within a fortnight, and said she could rule on whether Musk violated his recent fraud settlement with the regulator if they [...]
Government set to hold social media firms responsible for harmful content April 5, 2019 Bosses of social media giants such as Facebook could be held responsible for rampant harmful content on their platforms, the government is set to warn next week. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will legislate for a new statutory duty of care which will be funded through a levy on media companies, according to a [...]
Snapchat set to shed users to Instagram after controversial 2017 redesign April 4, 2019 Snapchat will see a decline in users from this year as an ill-fated redesign pushes people to rival social media platforms, a new report has stated. This year 14.5m people in the UK will use Snapchat, down 2.3 per cent on last year, according to a forecast published by Emarketer. Read more: Fraudsters use Facebook [...]
MIT cuts ties with Huawei and ZTE as China security concerns mount April 4, 2019 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has cut its ties with Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE amid concerns over cyber security risks. The US university said it would not be accepting new engagements or renewing existing ones with the two companies after beefing up its risk review process. Read more: It's make your mind [...]
For safety’s sake, we need to rethink our address system April 4, 2019 Back when I worked in the music events industry, a huge part of my time was spent trying to get bands and equipment to the right place, on time. It was far more difficult than I’d ever imagined, and it was painfully clear to me that street addressing is totally inadequate for directing people from [...]
Sheryl Crow asked Twitter for help fixing her Tesla – Elon Musk replied April 4, 2019 When Sheryl Crow turned to Twitter to solve a problem with her Tesla, she got an answer straight from the top as Elon Musk took a moment to help her out. The billionaire-turned-troubleshooter weighed in after the US singer took to Twitter to complain of a problem that had crippled her high-performance electric car. Read [...]