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Social media technology

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Dutch scientist receives top award for work on digital media’s effect on society

  Utrecht University media scientist José van Dijck wins the Spinoza Award and funds for her research into the effects of social media on society

• September 13, 2021 13 Sep'21

  The digital road ahead: National Highways puts technology in the driving seat

  We speak to National Highways about its multi-year plan to tech-enable the management and operations of our motorways

• September 07, 2021 07 Sep'21

  ICO in bid to end cookie pop-ups

  Outgoing information commissioner Elizabeth Denham will call on her equivalents across the G7 group of countries to collaborate on an overhaul of cookie consent pop-ups

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  WhatsApp fined €225m over GDPR breaches

  Irish data protection watchdog has issued one of the largest GDPR fines to date against Facebook-owned WhatsApp

• September 02, 2021 02 Sep'21

  Twitter tests auto-block feature for accounts at risk of abuse

  Latest Twitter feature automatically blocks abusive users, and is intended to help victims regain control of their experience on the platform

• September 01, 2021 01 Sep'21

  Tech sector spends nearly €100m a year lobbying the EU

  Study on technology firms’ lobbying efforts in the European Union shows the sector spends more than any other in trying to influence policies and legislation

• August 20, 2021 20 Aug'21

  Facebook vows to replenish more water than it consumes across its global operations by 2030

  Social networking giant is following in Microsoft’s footprints by setting itself a goal of becoming a water-positive entity by 2030

• August 05, 2021 05 Aug'21

  Around 75% of minority tech employees don’t feel a sense of belonging at work

  Research by Capgemini found just over three-quarters of global tech employees who are women or ethnic minorities don’t feel a sense of belonging at work

• July 29, 2021 29 Jul'21

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds UK spy agencies unlawfully collected personal data

  Campaign groups Privacy International and Liberty are gearing up to bring further legal action after a court found that UK spy agencies unlawfully collected phone and internet records

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  TikTok sets up cyber security hub in Dublin

  Dublin-based cyber centre will oversee the security of TikTok’s users across Europe

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Plans to address legal but harmful content ‘threaten free speech’

  House of Lords report criticises the government’s forthcoming Online Safety Bill for imposing duty of care on tech platforms to deal with ‘legal but harmful’ content, which it says threatens freedom of expression online

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  Nordic banks join forces to compete with fintechs

  Collaboration will be key for traditional Nordic banks to retain business amid intense competition from tech companies

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  UK government publishes skills-focused anti-disinformation plan

  Online Media Literacy Strategy aims to train teachers and care-givers in understanding disinformation so they can help others in safely navigating the internet

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Nordic fintech could lead the world

  Will the Nordics become the fintech and open banking innovation capital of the world?

• June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21

  LinkedIn denies exposure of 700 million user records is a data breach

  Data relating to 700 million users of the LinkedIn networking platform has appeared for sale, but the firm says it is the victim of data scraping, not a security breach

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  Zopa Bank to make profit in its first year

  Bank set up by peer-to-peer lending fintech firm expected to make a profit in its first year

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Google hands third-party cookies a stay of execution

  Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox initiative – which will see third-party cookies phased out in the Chrome web browser – has been pushed back to 2023

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Online Safety Bill unfit for purpose, says new campaign group

  Campaign group set up to oppose Online Safety Bill says the duty of care is too simplistic, cedes too much power to US corporations and will, in practice, privilege the speech of journalists or politicians

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  NSPCC, IWF help under-18s scrub their nude photos from the web

  Report Remove tool is designed to be used by under-18s to report nude images or videos of themselves that have appeared online

• June 14, 2021 14 Jun'21

  G7 commits to action on ransomware, digital privacy

  The G7 urges Russia to do more to hold criminal ransomware gangs operating from within its borders to account as it commits to more action on the issue

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  CMA secures commitments from Google on future of cookies

  The Competition and Markets Authority is opening a consultation on commitments offered to it by Google to ensure its Privacy Sandbox proposals do not harm digital advertising markets

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  Klarna takes on UK credit card providers with feature that breaks up online payments

  Fintech unicorn introduces feature to its app in the UK which will challenge traditional credit card providers

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  MP-backed push to stop tech giants claiming super-deduction tax relief thwarted

  Move to prevent the likes of Amazon using the government's new super-deduction policy to minimise their UK tax liabilities even further fails to win support in the House of Commons

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  Stockholm’s startup scene seeks more diversity

  Swedish capital has created a world-leading tech startup environment, but it still lacks the diversity of people needed to move it to the next level

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  How Virgin Atlantic used Workplace from Facebook to great advantage during the pandemic

  Virgin Atlantic was an early adopter of Workplace from Facebook. We find out how the collaboration tool has supported the airline throughout the pandemic

• May 20, 2021 20 May'21

  Pandemic tech use heightens consumer privacy fears

  Report on consumer attitudes to privacy finds evidence of a “heightened sense of fear” as digital footprints expand inexorably

• May 18, 2021 18 May'21

  Irish High Court dismisses legal bid by Facebook over EU-US data transfers

  Latest twist in long-running legal battle sees Facebook lose legal bid to prevent the Irish Data Protection Commissioner suspending its transfer of data about European citizens to the US

• May 13, 2021 13 May'21

  Refuge launches tech safety site for domestic abuse victims

  Created with the help of survivors, Refuge’s resource site offers guidance on protecting yourself from tech-enabled domestic abuse

• May 12, 2021 12 May'21

  UK government publishes Online Safety Bill draft

  Bill builds on previous commitments by the government, which has added new measures to uphold democracy and freedom of speech while making tech giants more accountable

• May 07, 2021 07 May'21

  Reddit enlists HackerOne to run public bug bounty programme

  Online community platform is opening up its HackerOne bug bounty programme to any ethical hacker who cares to have a look under the bonnet

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Government urged to add scam protections to Online Safety Bill

  Group of organisations calls for the government to use the Online Safety Bill to protect people from cyber scams

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Tech startups turn to digital PR platform for media exposure

  Digital PR platform Newspage helps early-stage tech startups with limited resources increase their visibility to journalists and news organisations

• April 22, 2021 22 Apr'21

  ToxicEye malware exploits Telegram messaging service

  The Telegram instant messaging service is being used by malicious actors to manage a remote access trojan called ToxicEye

• April 18, 2021 18 Apr'21

  Government puts Facebook under pressure to stop end-to-end encryption over child abuse risks

  Facebook faces growing government pressure to abandon its plans to offer users end-to-end encryption to secure the privacy of their messages as the NSPCC raises concerns about child protection

• April 15, 2021 15 Apr'21

  Ireland’s DPC launches probe into Facebook leak

  The Irish Data Protection Commission has launched an ‘own volition’ inquiry into the leak of data from 500 million Facebook profiles

• April 13, 2021 13 Apr'21

  Covid-19 left people feeling vulnerable to cyber crime

  Around 15 million people in the UK experienced cybercrime in the past 12 months, with a cumulative 64 million hours wasted dealing with the fallout

• April 09, 2021 09 Apr'21

  Egypt, Italy and US most affected in Facebook leak

  Researchers at VPN firm Surfshark have been analysing data on 533 million people leaked from Facebook

• April 09, 2021 09 Apr'21

  NCSC: Using your pet’s name as a password is very stupid

  If your email password is still Rex, Rover or Mr Fluffles, it’s probably best to change it, the NCSC has said

• April 07, 2021 07 Apr'21

  Facebook ducks calls to apologise over huge data leak

  Facebook gives its side of the story as data on millions of its users leaks, but is yet to apologise for security lapses that put half a billion people at risk of compromise

• April 07, 2021 07 Apr'21

  Digital Markets Unit starts work on codes of conduct for tech giants

  Digital markets regulator officially launched to ensure tech giants such as Facebook and Google cannot exploit their market dominance to crowd out competition and stifle innovation online

• April 06, 2021 06 Apr'21

  Facebook data leak could be outside scope of GDPR

  Regulators may be unable to do much about leaked data on 533 million Facebook users, as it seems to have been stolen before GDPR came into force

• March 29, 2021 29 Mar'21

  Big Tech eclipses telecoms and arms giants as biggest lobbying spenders

  Facebook and Amazon are spending more on lobbying and campaign contributions than any other companies in the US, including those in the arms and telecommunications sectors that have traditionally been the highest political spenders

• March 25, 2021 25 Mar'21

  Facebook disrupts Chinese espionage operation

  Social media giant’s in-house security team has tracked down and disrupted a long-running Chinese campaign targeting the Uighur Muslim minority

• March 12, 2021 12 Mar'21

  Web founder calls for ubiquitous, safe internet access for young people

  Internet access has a direct correlation to GDP. On the 32nd birthday of the world wide web, its founder calls for improvements to safe access

• March 11, 2021 11 Mar'21

  UK digital regulators set out plans to strengthen cooperation

  Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum outlines plans for the coming year, marking a shift towards a more collaborative regulatory approach

• March 09, 2021 09 Mar'21

  UK's Starling Bank reaches unicorn status

  UK app-based bank Starling reaches unicorn status following its latest round of funding

• March 03, 2021 03 Mar'21

  Pandemic brings good online sales growth for smaller retailers

  IMRG data shows smaller retailers did ‘astronomically well’ in online sales growth after Covid-19 took hold last year

• March 01, 2021 01 Mar'21

  What it means to be born digital

  We speak to Robert Wigley about his new book, Born Digital, which looks at the societal impact of Generation Z

• February 26, 2021 26 Feb'21

  Nordic startups strive to fuel international e-commerce transformation

  Nordic startups are developing technology for retailers that want to improve the customer experience when buying online

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Is Clubhouse safe, and should CISOs stop its use?

  With more concerns being raised over the privacy and security of social media app Clubhouse, we consider whether security teams should consider restricting or stopping employees from using it