Science and Tech

Microsoft says it has “listened to feedback” following a privacy row over a new tool which takes regular screenshots of users’ online activity. It was labelled a potential “privacy nightmare” by critics when it was unveiled in May 2024 – prompting the tech giant to postpone its release. It now plans to relaunch the artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool in …

Facebook parent company Meta has been fined €91m (£75m) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) following an investigation into the storage of passwords. An inquiry was launched in April 2019 after Meta notified the DPC that it had inadvertently stored certain passwords of social media users on its internal systems without encryption. The DPC submitted a draft decision to …

BBC For Tyler Kay and Jordan Parlour, justice for what they posted on social media has come fast and heavy. Kay, 26, and Parlour, 28, have been sentenced to 38 months and 20 months in prison respectively for stirring up racial hatred online during the summer riots. Charges in the aftermath of the disorder felt like a significant moment, in …

Companies are being warned about the increasing use of AI to carry out so-called CEO Fraud. More victims are coming forward with their stories of being targeted using generative AI techniques and one case in Hong Kong reportedly saw an AI clone used during a video meeting to trick staff into losing $25m. But while some fear the rise of …

Getty Images In July a botched software update caused chaos for the airline industry worldwide When the CrowdStrike software bug bricked 8.5 million computers around the world on 19 July, some of the first people to notice the effects were air travellers. Anthony Bosman, an academic at Andrews University in Michigan was trying to board his flight from Michigan to …

BBC The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, has hit back after not being invited to the UK government’s International Investment Summit. He was not invited due to his social media posts during last month’s riots, the BBC understands. “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted pedophiles in order to imprison people for social media …

Instagram owner Meta says Dame Judi Dench and John Cena will be voice options for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Users will also be able to get information from AI versions of Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key or Kristen Bell. Meta will be hoping this use of celebrity chatbots goes better than its last attempt. In September 2023, it debuted what it …

Ubisoft has announced its highly-anticipated upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed until next year. Instead of releasing it on 12 November as previously planned, it has been pushed back to 14 February 2025. It follows the disappointing performance of another of the firm’s major titles, Star Wars Outlaws, and concerns from some about how Ubisoft is being run. …

Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink claims it can bring superfast broadband to ‘almost anywhere on Earth’. It is the largest satellite internet provider around the world, and has already launched in several African countries. But will it be the solution to Africa’s patchy broadband access? Reporter: Debula Kemoli Edited by: Ali Abbas Ahmadi

More than 600,000 people, including many celebrities, have fallen for a hoax claiming to deny Facebook and Instagram owner Meta the right to use their images for training artificial intelligence (AI). Film stars James McAvoy and Ashley Tisdale, as well as former NFL player Tom Brady, are among those who re-shared the fake “Goodbye Meta AI” message on Instagram stories. …