Human rights committee launches inquiry into right to privacy and digital revolutionWidespread data collection practices lead to self-censorship and discrimination even though most users are not fully aware of how much their privacy is being infringed, a parliamentary committee has been warned.On Wednesday, the human rights committee, beginning its inquiry into the right to privacy and the digital revolution, published evidence from privacy and data protection organisations including the Information Commissioner’s Office, Liberty and Privacy International. Continue reading...
Cybersecurity team ordered to access journalists’ email accounts, document suggestsThe report from Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur, sets out in forensic detail concerns about the behaviour of Saudi Arabia, both before and after the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.It also details the potential threats posed to journalists and academics by the kingdom’s use of intrusive spyware. Continue reading...
by Alex Hern, Keith Stuart and Keza MacDonald on (#4HG0H)
After a full week of glitzy announcements and hundreds of game teasers, the Guardian’s E3 correspondents pick their best of the show Continue reading...
Guardian investigation finds drivers who have experienced range of safety issues say companies offer little to no supportOne month into driving for Lyft around Atlanta, Alicia Dukes was sexually assaulted by a passenger on 21 April after she drove him to a gas station and back to his apartment.“He first asked me if I had any change because he wanted to leave a tip. He ended up finding a $5 bill in his pocket and gave it to me. He then proceeded to ask me if I wanted to come into his house and drink with him. I said no, I’m working right now, can you please leave,†Dukes told the Guardian. Continue reading...
According to a Guardian survey through Blind, employees are already facing negative consequences or predict problemsTechnology workers of Chinese descent say that they are experiencing backlash due to the US-China trade war and fears over Huawei, according to a survey commissioned by the Guardian through Blind, an app allowing anonymous workplace communication.“With the trade war against China and especially the Huawei case I feel like a target more and more every day,†an anonymous Amazon employee wrote in a comment on the app, which is popular among technology employees and verifies employment through work emails. “I can’t even feel comfortable about being Chinese because so many Americans see China as a threat now.†Continue reading...
Funds to support development of 20,000 new homes as San Francisco Bay Area grapples with homelessnessGoogle will invest $1bn in housing throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, a region plagued by a housing and homelessness crisis that has in part been fueled by the tech industry.The announcement comes as the tech giant prepares to expand beyond its headquarters in Mountain View and its offices in San Francisco to new campuses in San Jose and Sunnyvale. The $1bn would go toward supporting the development of 20,000 new homes over the course of 10 years, or roughly 68% of the number of units the Bay Area needs to build each year in order to meet population growth. Continue reading...
Facebook claims it wants to reach people without access to a bank account, and that Libra is the best wayOn Tuesday, Facebook announced a digital currency called Libra that will roll out for use in 2020 and allow the platform’s billions of users across the globe to make financial transactions online.The new technology threatens to change the landscape of banking and is already the subject of scrutiny, as Facebook faces increasing calls for regulation and antitrust measures. Continue reading...
Digital currency will let billions of users make transactions, but is already facing opposition from US lawmakers amid privacy concerns•Facebook’s Libra launch will extend its global domination•All you need to know about Facebook’s new cryptocurrencyFacebook has announced a digital currency called Libra that will allow its billions of users to make financial transactions across the globe, in a move that could potentially shake up the world’s banking system.Libra is being touted as a means to connect people who do not have access to traditional banking platforms. With close to 2.4 billion people using Facebook each month, Libra could be a financial game changer, but will face close scrutiny as Facebook continues to reel from a series of privacy scandals. Continue reading...
Cryptocurrency could wipe out many businesses and further concentrate corporate powerEvery week, dozens of people walk into the Sunshine convenience store in Charlottesville, Virginia, to send money to relatives in other countries. They use a service called MoneyGram, one of the two largest firms (the other being Western Union) that facilitate the conversion of US dollars into the currency of the receiving person, charging between $9.99 and $49.99 (£7.97 and £39.89) for each transaction.Many of the patrons of Sunshine alert their relatives of these transactions through WhatsApp, the encrypted messaging service owned by Facebook and used by more than 1.5 billion people around the world. Continue reading...
Smallest, cheapest Samsung flagship has most of what makes the S10 line good, but with a flat screen and one camera fewerThe Galaxy S10e is Samsung’s attempt to offer a flagship smartphone experience in a smaller body and at a lower cost, which mostly works.The formula is simple: take the same processor, reduce the memory a little and squeeze it into a smaller, less complicated body. Continue reading...
by Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent on (#4HAWT)
Rights group argues powers of MI5 and GCHQ to obtain and store data breach human rights“Bulk hacking†powers exploited by the intelligence services to access electronic devices represent an illegal intrusion into the private lives of millions of people, the high court has been told.In its latest challenge to the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), the civil rights organisation Liberty has argued that government surveillance practices breach human rights law. Continue reading...
When Radiohead were held to ransom by hackers, they shrugged and put 18 hours of unheard material online for free. But for other artists, having music leaked can be devastatingIn 1997, Radiohead imagined a future in which technological dependency and out-of-control consumerism had merged to form a dark, digital void. OK Computer, the band’s third album, painted prescient pictures of riot police at political rallies and anxious lives lived in suburbs surrounded by endless motorways. The digital advances promising to bring us together, it seemed to warn, would instead corrode and cause chaos.Last week’s big Radiohead news wouldn’t have sounded out of place on that album’s technosceptic vision of tomorrow. The band had been hacked, guitarist Jonny Greenwood revealed on Tuesday, and 18 hours of unreleased music from their OK Computer sessions stolen. Pay $150,000, they were warned, or this archive would be uploaded to the internet for free. The only thing more frustrating to frontman Thom Yorke than the situation, fans joked, was the fact he hadn’t thought to mention sinister cybercriminals holding people to ransom on OK Computer in the first place. Continue reading...
The social network is likely to release details of its cryptocurrency this week: and it won’t be much like BitcoinFirst it had your friends, then it had your pictures, then it had your diary. Now, in the latest effort to entwine its systems still further into the everyday lives of its users, Facebook wants to get into your wallet.On Tuesday, the social media behemoth is expected to reveal its own cryptocurrency, which has variously been called Libra and GlobalCoin. However, unlike other cryptocurrencies, the new creation will not have been founded in the spirit of libertarianism, outside the backing of established, conventional authorities. Instead, it appears to have the endorsement of more than 12 corporations, from Uber to PayPal, Visa and Mastercard. Continue reading...
The tech founders said they were not like the evil capitalists of old. We should have known betterRemember the time when tech companies were cool? So do I. Once upon a time, Silicon Valley was the jewel in the American crown, a magnet for high IQ – and predominately male – talent from all over the world. Palo Alto was the centre of what its more delusional inhabitants regarded as the Florence of Renaissance 2.0. Parents swelled with pride when their offspring landed a job with the Googles, Facebooks and Apples of that world, where they stood a sporting chance of becoming as rich as they might have done if they had joined Goldman Sachs or Lehman Brothers, but without the moral odium attendant on investment backing. I mean to say, where else could you be employed by a company to which every president, prime minister and aspirant politician craved an invitation? Where else could you be part of inventing the future?But that was then and this is now. It’s taken an unconscionable length of time, but the tide of approbation has turned. Tech has suddenly lost its halo. Everywhere one looks, we find groups sharpening knives for a critique or an attack on big tech. In an interesting essay in the Atlantic, for example, the commentator Alexis Madrigal identifies no fewer than 15 different groups preparing ambushes. They include angry conservatives and progressive politicians, disillusioned tech luminaries, competition lawyers, privacy advocates, European regulators, mainstream media, scholarly critics, other corporations (telecoms firms, for example, plus Oracle and other business-software companies, for example), consumer-protection organisations and, last but not least, Chinese internet companies. With enemies like these, the US tech companies are suddenly discovering that they really need some friends. Continue reading...
One of E3’s surprise standouts puts you at the centre of a Groundhog Day mysteryOne of the surprise standouts at E3 this year was the indie time-looping point-and-click adventure 12 Minutes. In this stylish thriller, players are cast as a nameless everyman. Sitting down with his wife at the beginning of the game he gets some big news: they’re having a baby. But minutes later, a cop bursts through the door with an arrest warrant for her, and the startling accusation that she murdered her own father years earlier.Related: Keanu, comebacks and a new console: the 10 biggest stories of E3 2019 Continue reading...
Keanu Reeves lent Hollywood glamour to Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII wowed everyone and Microsoft revealed (limited) details about Xbox One successor Project ScarlettNext to some of the games console announcements of E3s past – such as Sony’s $599 PlayStation 3, or the Wii U’s confusing reveal, which left attendees wondering whether it actually was a new console – Microsoft’s Project Scarlett announcement went pretty well. It’s coming late next year, it’s a new Xbox with four times the power of the current one, and it’ll launch with Halo Infinite. But the absence of a name for the thing, or a fancy box to look at, felt strange. Instead, we got a lot of tech specs and a video of the product team talking up the machine’s capabilities. It’s good to know a new console is coming, but what we really want to know is how much it will cost and what it can do. Continue reading...
Wary of being tracked and targeted like activists inside China, protesters are keeping a low profile onlineIn early June, Ivan Ip, 22, joined a public chat group on Telegram called “Parade 69â€, named for a mass demonstration planned in central Hong Kong to protest a bill allowing for the transfer of suspects from the city to China. According to Ip, an administrator of the group of more than 30,000 people, they discussed things like bringing sunscreen, water, and umbrellas to block the sun or rain.Two days after the protest, which saw as many as one million Hong Kong residents march against the proposed extradition law, authorities arrived at Ip’s apartment in the evening. Banging on the door, they yelled: “Police! Open up the door!†Continue reading...
Chrystia Freeland said move would set a dangerous precedent while Meng Wanzhou will challenge extradition requestCanada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, has dismissed a suggestion that Ottawa block the extradition of a top executive from China’s Huawei to the US, saying it would set a dangerous precedent.Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested on US fraud charges in Vancouver last December, will challenge Washington’s extradition request at hearings that are set to begin next January. Continue reading...
Hacker accessed passwords and list of purported clients, including Australian government agencies – but company says these were only demonstration accountsThe American cybersecurity giant Symantec has downplayed a data breach that allowed a hacker to access passwords and a purported list of its clients, including large Australian companies and government agencies.The list extracted in the February incident, seen by Guardian Australia, suggests that all major federal government departments were among the targets of a hacker who also claimed to be responsible for Medicare data being available for sale on the dark web. Continue reading...
Rightwing academic enlists failed Ukip MEP candidate Carl Benjamin to test subscription-only platformJordan Peterson, the controversial academic, has launched a new anti-censorship website that will only take down offensive content if specifically ordered to by a US court.The psychology professor from Toronto said that Carl Benjamin, the failed Ukip MEP candidate who speculated about raping the Labour MP Jess Phillips, had agreed to test the subscription-only site, named Thinkspot. Continue reading...
The end of consoles, the dawn of streaming subscriptions and a lack of clarity. E3 might not be changing but the way we play isDespite the absence of Sony PlayStation, this year’s annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles delivered the usual whirlwind of new game announcements, trailers, marketing bluster and performative fandom. For years the entire thing has been streamed on YouTube, Twitch and half the world’s gaming websites, everything from showy press conferences to long demonstrations, transforming the event from a games industry conference to a kind of mid-year Christmas for both game marketers and enthused players watching at home (or paying around $1,000 to attend in person).So far, so expected. This is what E3 is now, and though the sense of mystery and anticipation has dimmed significantly in this age of instant streaming, Twitter hot-takes, online leaks and teaser trailers for teaser trailers, there’s still a thrill to it. Continue reading...
FlintyMcQwerty asked for tips to fix or avoid problems with the operating systemPlease share all your favourite tips, tricks and techniques for harnessing the power, panache and pulchritude of Windows 10. (Apologies, Jack, for my ineluctable tendency to alliterate.) FlintyMcQwertyLast week’s answer provoked a lot of discussion about Windows 10. I can’t do anything about the more hysterical complaints but many issues can be resolved by spending a few minutes in the settings app. I’m therefore accepting FlintyMcQwerty’s invitation to explain a few of them. Continue reading...
Firm has uncovered emails that appear to show chief executive’s connection to potentially problematic practices, WSJ reportsFacebook has uncovered emails that appear to show Mark Zuckerberg’s connection to potentially damaging privacy practices at the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.The emails were uncovered as part of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation that began after the Guardian reported that the personal data of 50 million Facebook users had been improperly harvested by Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that worked on Donald Trump’s election team and the winning Brexit campaign. Continue reading...
Green party peer Jenny Jones on the shocking lack of regulation around the technologyThe Guardian is right to oppose automated facial recognition (Editorial, 10 June), but in spite of concerns from MPs and peers, parliament has hardly discussed the issue. As the person who organised the only debate on the subject in the House of Lords, I have started legal action against the police for failing to have a regulatory framework for its use. It’s shocking that we are allowing the police and companies to set the rules as we abolish privacy in public spaces, because ministers are failing to act.The difference between ourselves and the likes of China and Russia is that we have a fairly open democracy, but this is no defence against state oppression and commercial exploitation if politicians fail to recognise that when our face becomes an identity card, all the rules change.
As day three of the E3 video game conference begins, here are the biggest stories from Xbox, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Square Enix and NintendoWe are in a transitional period for video games: new console technology is right around the corner, but most of the industry’s big players aren’t quite ready to show their cards. Sony has removed itself and the PlayStation from this year’s E3 conference, leaving Microsoft to take centre stage on the first day of this year’s event.Microsoft announced the next Xbox console, Project Scarlett, albeit with maddeningly few details beyond rather abstract technical specifications. It will be on sale towards the end of 2020, and forms one half of Microsoft’s video game strategy – the other half being a cloud-powered service that lets you play Xbox games anywhere, on any screen. Halo Infinite will be a Project Scarlett launch game – but will also be playable on Xbox One. Continue reading...
New app comes months after Apple cracked down on Facebook for similar apps that paid users for extensive data on phone usageA new Facebook app will allow users to sell the company data on how they use competitors’ apps.Facebook announced on Tuesday that it is recruiting participants to download its new app Study from the Google Play store. Once it is downloaded, it will transmit data with Facebook on what other apps the users have, what features they use, and how much time is spent on them. Continue reading...
Ridesharing company says test flights of Uber Air’s helicopter-like ‘flying car’ will begin next yearMelbourne will be the first city outside the US to host trials of Uber Air, a service the company describes as “aerial ridesharing†that will shuttle people from rooftop to rooftop for the price of an UberX.The company has flagged test flights will begin next year, with commercial operations to start in 2023. Continue reading...
Residents ‘in disbelief’ at alleged lack of consultation over installation of facial recognition technology in East Perth camerasPerth City council is pressing ahead with a trial of facial recognition technology to be installed in cameras across East Perth, despite concerns from privacy experts and local residents.The network of 30 cameras is set to go live within weeks, amid complaints there has been no proper local consultation since the plans were revealed last year. Continue reading...
The Japanese video game giant leans heavily on its established hits for the Nintendo Switch’s 2019-20 lineupIn a Nintendo Direct broadcast today, the Japanese video game giant laid out the lineup for its Switch console for the rest of 2019 and early 2020. Introduced by newly installed Nintendo of America executive Doug Bowser – no, not that Bowser – it was light on surprises, but the highlights were a new Animal Crossing game, New Horizons, and a teaser for the sequel to the phenomenally accomplished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.Related: E3 2019: all the video game news so far, from Final Fantasy VII to Watch Dogs Legion Continue reading...
Foxconn senior executive says company has more than enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the US outside of ChinaApple’s iPhone could escape Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China.Foxconn, one of Apple’s largest suppliers, has moved to reassure consumers and investors that prices and supplies of the Apple’s iPhone will not be affected by the ongoing US-China tariff war. Continue reading...
Thom Yorke describes hours of recordings from OK Computer sessions as ‘not v interesting’, while climate activists thank the band for ‘unprecedented support’Radiohead have released a vast collection of unreleased tracks made during the sessions for 1997 album OK Computer, after a MiniDisc archive owned by frontman Thom Yorke was hacked last week by an unnamed person, who reportedly asked for a $150,000 ransom to return the recordings.The band have now made the 18 MiniDisc recordings, most of them around an hour in length, available on Bandcamp for £18. Proceeds will go to climate activists Extinction Rebellion. Continue reading...
Cybersecurity company says keeping older versions of software online can pose risksThe average FTSE 250 company exposes 35 different avenues of attack for would-be hackers, according to a report, despite the vast majority having “serious issues†with keeping business-critical systems up to date.According to the cybersecurity company Rapid7’s report, created by scanning for systems and devices used by FTSE 250 corporations that are visible on the public internet, the 35 different “attack surfaces … [are] neither good nor bad, but each exposed node … potentially boosts the opportunity for attackers to gain a foothold. Continue reading...
UK tax authority spent £11m to use online giant’s web-hosting services in 2018, says reportHM Revenue & Customs spent £11m to use Amazon’s web-hosting service last year, more than six times the £1.7m it received in corporation tax from Amazon’s main UK business, according to a new report.The UK tax authority was the second-biggest spender on Amazon services among central government departments, falling just behind the Home Office which spent nearly £16m last year, according to a report published by the GMB trade union. Continue reading...
by Keza MacDonald, Alex Hern and Keith Stuart on (#4GWVY)
Ubisoft has announced a new Watch Dogs game set in London in a packed conference, while Square Enix showed off Avengers and Final Fantasy VII – with 2020 release dates for both.3.19am BSTAnd that’s it for us! E3 proper begins tomorrow, but it feels a lot of the biggest announcements have already been made. Final Fantasy VII Remake, Watch Dogs: Brexit Edition and Marvel’s Avengers. A big day for gaming.3.17am BSTSurprise! It’s a live game, a la Destiny or The Division. Avengers delivers “a narrative over multiple years, with exciting new content released on a regular basis.â€â€œYou’ll assemble into teams of up to four players online, where you can master exciting abilities and muster a roster of exciting heroes. Every new hero, every new region will be delivered at no cost†And there won’t be random lootboxes or pay to win either. Continue reading...
News Media Alliance says revenue was almost as much as that of entire online news industry, although some question methodologyGoogle made $4.7bn in advertising from news content last year, almost as much as the revenue of the entire online news industry, according to a study released on Monday.According to the News Media Alliance, between 16% and 40% of Google search results are news content. Google’s revenue from its distribution of news content is only $400m less than the $5.1bn brought in by the United States news industry as a whole from digital advertising last year. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#4GWVZ)
John Suffolk says Chinese requirement to cooperate with spy agencies does not applyHuawei is not obliged to compromise its products in order to comply with China’s intelligence law, a senior executive at the company has told MPs at a UK parliamentary hearing.John Suffolk, the telecoms firm’s global cybersecurity and privacy officer, said its understanding was that China’s 2017 requirement on companies to cooperate with its intelligence agencies when requested did not apply in its case. Continue reading...
Cybersecurity report warns Chinese tech firm’s breadth exposes customers to riskHuawei’s threat to national security is inextricably linked to the company’s sheer scale, according to an analysis of the Chinese tech company from threat intelligence firm Recorded Future.Rather than focusing attention on any one area of the company’s business, analyst Priscilla Moriuchi argues corporations, consumers and organisations should instead be wary of the pure variety of products and services offered by the company, which “generates a nearly unimaginable amount of data for one company to possessâ€. Continue reading...
Two intriguing new games and fresh trailers for Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein: Youngblood make up for a lacklustre eveningThose hoping for a glimpse of Elder Scrolls VI or the highly anticipated sci-fi adventure Starfield were left disappointed at Bethesda’s E3 conference in Los Angeles on Sunday. But the publisher did make a couple of intriguing announcements, with new games from Dishonored creator Arkane Lyon and from the studio of Resident Evil legend Shinji Mikami.There were also new trailers for shooters Doom Eternal (out on 22 November) and Wolfenstein Youngblood, both of which look to be carrying on the explosively gory and adrenaline-fuelled legacies of their forebears. A massive update for beleaguered multiplayer role-playing game Fallout 76 was also announced, adding a battle royale mode called Nuclear Winter and human characters for players to meet. Continue reading...
by Presented by Jordan Erica Webber and produced by D on (#4GVH1)
Jordan Erica Webber chats to Addie Wagenknecht, who is using the YouTube algorithm to her advantage by teaching cybersecurity tips while reviewing beauty products Continue reading...
Government research suggests British tech ‘unicorns’ are only surpassed by US and ChinaBritain is creating more technology companies worth at least $1bn (£786m) than any other company in Europe, according to government research.It found that UK-based entrepreneurs have built 72 such businesses in the past 20 years, including 13 in the past year, with only the US and China surpassing that number. Germany has 29 and India has 26. Continue reading...
The next-generation Xbox video game console will debut late next year, as announced at Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference.At a press conference at E3 2019 in LA on Sunday, Microsoft announced the first details of a next-generation Xbox, the follow-up to its Xbox One console. Still known by its codename Project Scarlett, the new machine will be released in late 2020, with Halo Infinite as its leading launch title.Promising to “set a new bar for console power, speed and performanceâ€, the new machine will feature custom hardware designed by chip manufacturer AMD, which supplied the technology for both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and is also behind the architecture of Sony’s as-yet-unnamed next PlayStation. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian