Good morning, hope you’re doing OK. Let’s get you up to speed with five things happening in the tech world today.
1. NASA wants people to ‘live’ on the moon by 2030
Last week, after months of delays, NASA finally launched Artemis 1 to the Moon. It’s a preliminary mission in the leadup to NASA’s exploration of the Moon and Mars, with hopes to establish a human presence on both. Now, a NASA scientist says that astronauts could live and work on the Moon by 2030.
2. Tough regulation for buy now, pay later
Announced yesterday, the Australian government will be looking to close the buy now, pay later regulatory loopholes that exist in the booming space. Credit cards by another name don’t face the same regulation the likes of banks do, and the government is increasingly sceptical, specifically around unaffordable or inappropriate lending practices, poor complaints handling processes and unsolicited selling. There were around 7 million active buy now, pay later accounts in the 2021-22 financial year in Australia.
Reform in this area is long overdue. We will get the balance right between encouraging innovation and competition in these services while ensuring they are safe and reliable. https://t.co/h51K04oMgn
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) November 21, 2022
3. NSW minister pushes for ‘good faith’ hacking immunity
As reported by InnovationAus this morning, the NSW government will be pushing for changes to Commonwealth criminal laws to prevent cybersecurity researchers from being prosecuted for reporting potential bugs and vulnerabilities, including in the systems of public sector agencies, in “good faith”. Cyber Security NSW recently began developing the policy to source “more reports from the community, allowing NSW government… to proactively improve the cyber security of public systems”.
4. A time-out for leap seconds
The final countdown has begun for leap seconds. A global group of scientists and government officials voted (almost unanimously) to axe the small time adjustment method, in a change scheduled to take place by 2035. Leap seconds have been used since 1972, and over the past 50 years have caused big headaches for the tech industry. In a resolution at the bureau’s 27th meeting, the timekeeping body elected to find a new way to manage the small discrepancies between our planet’s actual position and the number on the clock.
The time has come — or will come, in 2035 — to abandon the leap second.
Member states of the international treaty governing science and measurement standards voted to ditch the technical fudge that has caused headaches since its inception 50 years ago. https://t.co/I9XV3qfikw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 19, 2022
5. Human rights campaigner sues Meta
A UK human rights campaigner is suing Facebook’s owner in the high court, with The Guardian reporting her claim is that the company is disregarding her right to object against the collection of her personal data. Tanya O’Carroll has launched a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta alleging it has breached UK data laws by failing to respect her right to demand Facebook stop collecting and processing her data.
BONUS ITEM: Buy a house in Sydney or the one from The Goonies? – it’s barely a decision.
Have a good one.