News

Social media technology

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Internet companies should provide real-time data on disinformation, Lords told

  Fact-checking experts tell House of Lords inquiry that upcoming Online Safety Bill should force internet companies to provide real-time information on suspected disinformation, and warn against over-reliance on AI-powered algorithms to moderate ...

• February 23, 2021 23 Feb'21

  AI powers reputational damage insurance policy

  Reputational damage has an immediate impact on a company’s share price, and brand loyalty built over many years can be lost in an instant

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Swedish police fined for unlawful use of facial-recognition app

  Sweden’s data watchdog has found that Swedish police failed to conduct the data protection checks required by law before using controversial facial-recognition tool

• February 15, 2021 15 Feb'21

  Digital investments will add £232bn to UK economy by 2040

  The UK economy could grow by £232bn over the next two decades if investments in digital technologies continue

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  Verizon Business, Deloitte gain retail edge with 5G

  Operator’s 5G and mobile edge compute technology, coupled with IT consultancy’s retail industry and solution engineering experience, aims to improve store operating efficiency and enhance the customer experience

• February 10, 2021 10 Feb'21

  Dating app users warned to watch out for scammers

  A vast amount of money was lost to romance scammers last year, and with millions of people isolated in lockdown the problem is getting worse, according to a report

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Facebook sued for data-sharing practices with third parties

  Data protection claim filed in London against social media giant for its alleged failure to give at least one million users in England and Wales meaningful control over their personal data

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Data breaches are a ticking timebomb for consumers

  Damage from data breaches goes far beyond the impact to the target organisation – an obvious fact that is too often overlooked, says F-Secure

• February 04, 2021 04 Feb'21

  Revolut rewrites policy to include permanent remote working

  Challenger finance firm Revolut is redesigning its office spaces and introducing permanent remote working policies

• January 29, 2021 29 Jan'21

  Commerzbank announces big job cuts and branch closures

  German bank is closing hundreds of branches and cutting thousands of jobs as it reshapes for the digital age

• January 27, 2021 27 Jan'21

  Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine

  Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices

• January 22, 2021 22 Jan'21

  ICO resumes adtech investigation

  The UK Information Commissioner’s Office was criticised for ending its investigation into alleged malpractice in advertising technology, but has now resumed its probe

• January 22, 2021 22 Jan'21

  Google threatens to cut off Australia

  Google’s threat to end its Australian Search operation comes in the face of new legislation that would force it to pay media publishers for news content

• January 20, 2021 20 Jan'21

  HSBC closing more branches as customers turn to digital channel

  Bank announces branch closures as it reshapes its network for the digital age

• January 19, 2021 19 Jan'21

  Click fraud levels reach new heights in pandemic

  Small companies risk losing £10,000 a year, and enterprises as much as £520,000, to cyber criminals as click fraud volumes spike

• January 14, 2021 14 Jan'21

  All EU states can take data protection cases against Facebook, says EU court

  An opinion from the European Court of Justice has the potential to lead to a flood of privacy complaints against Facebook if upheld

• January 13, 2021 13 Jan'21

  Court to rule on Facebook data sharing after Schrems drops legal challenge against Irish regulator

  Irish High Court says it will issue a judgment as soon as possible over a draft decision by Ireland’s data protection commissioner to order Facebook to stop the transfer of data about EU citizens to datacentres in the US

• January 12, 2021 12 Jan'21

  Parler collapse opens door to phishing attacks

  The shutdown of controversial social media site Parler, and the publication of huge amounts of user data scraped by ethical hackers, is giving cyber crime experts cause for concern

• January 08, 2021 08 Jan'21

  Tech sector reacts to Trump social media bans

  Facebook, Instagram and others moved to limit US president’s social media access after the violence in Washington DC, but experts have condemned them for acting too slowly, while disinformation about the riots persists

• December 29, 2020 29 Dec'20

  Top 10 financial services stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 financial services IT stories of 2020

• December 22, 2020 22 Dec'20

  Top 10 retail technology stories of 2020

  Computer Weekly looks at what 2020 had in store for the retail industry – just how did technology help retailers adapt to changing customer behaviour during the pandemic?

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  Dodgy browser extensions put social media users at risk

  More than three million users of third-party browser extensions for Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo and others have been infected with malware, according to Avast

• December 15, 2020 15 Dec'20

  UK government unveils details of upcoming online harms rules

  Online Harms Bill due early 2021 will introduce GDPR-style fines for technology companies that breach online duty of care rules

• December 10, 2020 10 Dec'20

  French regulators fine Google and Amazon over cookie policies

  Google and Amazon rapped over their use of advertising cookies by the French data protection authorities

• December 10, 2020 10 Dec'20

  Cyber Helpline awarded lottery funding to support victims

  The Cyber Helpline, a UK charity that provides emergency support to victims of cyber crime and online stalking, is to receive funding from the National Lottery

• December 09, 2020 09 Dec'20

  Calls for Facebook break up as US issues lawsuits for anti-competitive behaviour

  Antitrust lawsuits issued by the US Federal Trade Commission and 48 attorneys general call for the breakup of Facebook following 10 years of anti-competitive behaviour

• December 08, 2020 08 Dec'20

  CMA sets out plan to regulate technology giants

  With its new Digital Markets Unit, the CMA is hoping to curb the excesses of the internet, improve competition and give more choice to consumers

• December 07, 2020 07 Dec'20

  Grindr and others patch critical Android bug

  Fixes for CVE-2020-8913 deployed as app developers shore up their defences against a disclosed Google Play vulnerability

• December 04, 2020 04 Dec'20

  What next for the now-profitable app-based Starling Bank?

  Starling bank is the first of the new breed of UK digital banks to make a profit, so where next?

• December 03, 2020 03 Dec'20

  Allied Irish Bank prioritises digital services as it cuts workforce

  Bank is cutting its operating costs by 10% with job cuts and facility closures, but will continue to invest heavily in technology

• December 03, 2020 03 Dec'20

  Lax Android app developers putting millions of users at risk

  Eight months after Google patched a critical vulnerability, developers have failed to update their apps, putting millions of users of apps such as dating services Bumble and Grindr at risk

• December 02, 2020 02 Dec'20

  Covid-19: Cyber criminals will target vaccine programmes

  Interpol issues a global alert to law enforcement as the UK becomes one of the first countries to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use

• November 27, 2020 27 Nov'20

  Lords propose making tech giants pay for using news

  Digital platforms such as Google and Facebook profit from running adverts alongside publishers’ content, but no financial compensation is given for carrying that content, says Lords committee

• November 27, 2020 27 Nov'20

  UK government ramps up efforts to regulate tech giants

  The Digital Markets Unit of the Competitions and Markets Authority aims to protect consumer privacy and lower barriers to entry for businesses

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Amazon Swedish language site will expand reach of local retailers

  Amazon launches Swedish language website and promises to make more products available in the Nordic region

• November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20

  Online kids’ game Animal Jam confirms large breach

  Cyber criminals have stolen data on 46 million Animal Jam player accounts via a third-party attack

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  EU aid funds used to train ‘unaccountable intelligence agencies’ in high-tech surveillance

  Hundreds of documents obtained by campaign group Privacy International show how the EU is supporting surveillance programmes in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Better data sharing needed to help children during pandemic

  Closing gaps in data infrastructure will help the education sector respond better to children’s needs during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Open Data Institute

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  EU moves closer to encryption ban after Austria, France attacks

  Draft resolution document setting up an EU-wide ban on end-to-end encryption is set to be waved through this week

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  GDPR lawsuit against Oracle and Salesforce moves forward

  Class action suit seeks claims worth more than £10bn over the processing of personal information

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Privacy and online safety are focus of new UKRI research funding

  Online safety research centre of excellence will look into technology to boost privacy and tackle disinformation, fake news, conspiracies and other online harms

• October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20

  UK regulators lack the skills and expertise to cope with increasing use of algorithms

  MPs told that multiple regulators will be needed to govern the ever-growing use of algorithmic systems in all areas of the economy and public sector

• October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20

  US Elections: Malicious internet domains spike as campaigns heat up

  Internet domains related to the US presidential election are 56% more likely to be malicious than regular ones

• October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20

  Public data should not be held by US tech giants

  One-off evidence sessions to follow up on the recommendations of the House of Lords AI Committee revisit the data and ethics debate

• October 12, 2020 12 Oct'20

  Five Eyes spy group again demands access to private messages

  Spooks are once again calling for the tech industry to break end-to-end encryption in messaging platforms

• October 09, 2020 09 Oct'20

  Facebook critics’ webpage removed over false phishing allegations

  Real Facebook Oversight Board alleges Facebook is trying to censor it for speaking out against the social media company’s behaviour

• October 07, 2020 07 Oct'20

  US lawmakers release big tech antitrust report

  House Democrats have published a report on the monopoly power wielded by big tech companies and how to restore competition in digital markets

• October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20

  Facebook critics launch ‘Real Facebook Oversight Board’

  Organisation formed as an ‘emergency response’ to address the ‘immediate risk’ posed by Facebook’s role in the US election

• October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20

  Fake news tops list of online concerns worldwide

  Receiving false information is a greater worry than other online risks such as cyber bullying and fraud, says the Lloyd’s Register Foundation

• September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20

  TikTok ban stayed after last-minute court case

  TikTok’s lawyers have staved off an imminent ban for the time being, after successfully arguing that it infringed rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States