The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for a ban on the use of AI-based predictive policing systems and the processing of biometric data that leads to mass surveillance. Areas The resolution seeks to ban the use of facial recognition technology and AI in several key areas: – Police use of facial recognition technology in public places. –…
After experiencing two outages in a week, one lasting more than six hours, and a whistleblower at a Senate Committee hearing alleging potentially harmful effects from Facebook’s algorithms, some are asking ‘what’s going on with Facebook?’ Whistleblower Recently identified former Facebook employee turned whistleblower, Frances Haugen, was found to be behind a series of leaks reported in the US Wall…
In this feature, we take a look at how a multi-billion-dollar market obtains, uses, and sells our location data. Report A GVR report estimates that the global location intelligence market was worth USD 12.2 billion in 2020. This market uses our phone/device location data. There are many different interlinked players in this market ecosystem from app companies, collectors, data…
After a recent report found that poor domain security has left most Global 2000 companies vulnerable to the threats of phishing and brand abuse, we take a closer look at domain security and how businesses can maximise their protection against popular threats. CSC Research – Domains Dangerously Under-Protected Recent research by US-based CSC, which describes itself as “a world leader…
In this tech-insight, we take a look at what QR codes are used for, review some well-known security risks, and outline what action you can take to protect yourself from malicious QR codes. Quick Response (QR) Codes A QR code is a machine-readable (e.g., by smartphones), matrix barcode invented in 1994 by the Japanese Toyota subsidiary automotive company Denso…
Amazon has entered the B2B insurance market through a partnership with Superscript and is offering cyber insurance to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK. Cyber Insurance? Cyber insurance protects businesses (and individuals providing services for businesses) by helping with the compensation costs that can arise from Internet-based risks and handling data. For example, businesses may face costs resulting from…
Independent broadband network providers (altnets) have been angered by Ofcom’s decision to take no action over anti-competition concerns about (BT) Openreach’s “Equinox” offer. What Is Equinox? The Equinox Offer from BT’s Openreach essentially proposes that big ISPs can buy discounted wholesale Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband products. Openreach’s Equinox Offer gives ISPs (e.g., TalkTalk or Sky) cheaper/discounted prices for Openreach FTTP…
Alphabet subsidiary X, the Moonshot Factory’s ‘Project Taara’ is claiming 99.9 per cent uptime within the first 20 days of a light beam/laser broadband project. What Is It? Laser-based broadband uses wireless optical communications (WOC), which has been described as “like fibre, but without the cables”. In short, invisible beams of light, about the width of a chopstick, are used…
The inventor, innovator, EV pioneer (with the C5), electronics and tech businessman Sir Clive Sinclair died recently, aged 81. Circuit Design Born in Richmond, Surrey in 1940, and knighted in 1983 for his contributions to the UK’s computer industry, Sir Clive Sinclair started out by designing a circuit for a DIY kit radio (while studying for his A ‘Levels)…
In this article, we look at some of the key issues surrounding the planned 2025 PSTN switch-off, the move to VoIP, and what options businesses have going forward. What’s Happening? Back in April, BT Openreach announced that starting from the end of this year (and finishing in 2025), it will be “switching off the UK telephone network as we know…
