Gmail’s spam filters have come under fresh scrutiny after US FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson accused Google of suppressing Republican fundraising emails while letting similar Democratic messages through. Direct Accusation from the FTC In a letter dated 28 August 2025, Ferguson wrote directly to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, alleging that Gmail’s filtering system may be violating US consumer protection law…
Chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) are giving out fake or incorrect login URLs, exposing users to phishing risks, according to research from cybersecurity firm Netcraft. In tests using GPT-4.1 models, including Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot, only 66 per cent of login links provided were correct. The rest pointed to inactive, unrelated, or unclaimed domains that scammers could…
A small, flexible cooling device developed by UCLA scientists can continuously reduce surrounding temperatures by up to 16°F, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional air conditioning. A Compact, Solid-State Breakthrough in Cooling Researchers at UCLA have unveiled a new cooling technology that operates without refrigerants, fans or compressors. Instead, it uses layers of flexible polymer films that expand and…
ChatGPT offers four distinct pre-made ‘personalities’, namely : cynic, robot, nerd, and listener. You can ask for your content to be output through any (or all) of these different personality-types, thereby giving you the ability to get different responses, according to each personality type. Depending on your audiences and/or research, getting different perspectives could be very useful indeed. [Note…
Use Word’s Document Inspector to remove potentially sensitive metadata, such as author names and comments, to protect your information when sharing documents. – Go to File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.– Select the types of metadata to inspect and remove.– Run the inspection and review the results.– Remove the metadata as needed. This helps ensure…
Hundreds of thousands of conversations with Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot have been discovered in Google Search results, while China has released DeepSeek V3.1 as a direct rival to GPT-5, together raising urgent questions about privacy, competition and security in the AI market. How the Grok Leak Happened The exposure of Grok transcripts was first reported by Forbes, which identified…
In this tech insight, we look at how hidden metadata (embedded in files, emails, images and documents) is increasingly being used by scammers to profile, deceive and attack UK businesses, and how firms can protect themselves. What Is Metadata and Why Does It Matter to Businesses? Metadata is often described as “data about data”. It is the invisible layer…
Two former Harvard students are preparing to launch a pair of ‘always-on’ AI smart glasses that record and transcribe every conversation, which offers wearers an unprecedented digital memory and real-time information, but which also raises concerns about privacy and surveillance. Who Is Behind the Project? The device, named Halo X, has been developed by AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio,…
The UK government has backed down from its demand that Apple create a “back door” into its encrypted systems, ending a high-profile dispute that drew in Washington and sparked widespread criticism from privacy campaigners and industry experts. How the Row Began The confrontation began late last year when the UK Home Office issued Apple with a “technical capability notice” under the…
A growing number of UK companies are moving away from VPNs and adopting proxy services instead, while regulatory pressures and changing business needs reshape the digital tools used for online operations. Regulatory Drivers Behind the Shift The trigger for this apparent trend has been the UK’s Online Safety Act, which came into force on 25 July 2025. The law…
