TGIF. Let’s end the week with some tech news.
1. Google to pay $93M to settle Californian lawsuit
Starting with Google and the U.S. state of California and Reuters is reporting that the former will pay the latter $US93 million to resolve a lawsuit accusing the search engine company of misleading consumers about its location tracking practices. Per the report, the settlement resolves claims that Google deceived people into believing they maintained control over how Google collected and used their personal data, and that Google was able to “profile” people and target them with advertising even if they turned off their “Location History” setting.
2. NASA needs a little more info
NASA has released the findings from a study it did over a year into unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP), surprising many of us (/s) by saying it found no evidence that the reported sightings had “extraterrestrial origins”. Per the ABC, NASA said the top takeaway from the study is that there is a lot more to learn, with NASA administrator Bill Nelson adding: “The NASA independent study team did not find any evidence that UAP have an extraterrestrial origin, but we don’t know what these UAP are”. Incredible stuff, NASA. Oh, while we’re on the matter…
3. Belgium and Germany also reviewing iPhone 12 for radiation violations
Earlier this week, France announced that it would halt iPhone 12 sales over potential radiation emissions from the devices that surpass legal limits. Now, Germany and Belgium appear to be a bit spooked as well. Reuters reported that Belgian regulators will be assessing the radiation concerns French authorities expressed and while the phone model will still be sold in Belgium, the country’s secretary of state for digitalisation Mathieu Michel told Reuters that he reached out to Belgian telecommunications regulators to investigate all Apple smartphones. The outlet also reported that Germany was following suit.
4. Vegas is having a bad time
The Associated Press is reporting casino company Caesars Entertainment has joined MGM Resorts International in reporting that it was hit by a cyberattack. Caesars filed a report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that said it could not guarantee that personal information about tens of millions of customers was secure following a data breach September 7 and that the breach may have exposed driver’s license and Social Security numbers of loyalty rewards members. “We have taken steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor,” the company said, “although we cannot guarantee this result”. Big yikes.
5. Wesfarmers quiet domination raises concerns over data privacy
Ending back down under and The Guardian published an investigation into the owner of Kmart and Bunnings, Wesfarmers, specifically its quiet domination in the prescription business. It noted that in addition to owning Priceline Pharmacy and Soul Pattinson Chemist stores, it also scooped up InstantScripts in July for $135 million. InstantScripts provides online scripts, telehealth consultations, etc and Wesfarmers having access to alllll of this data is a concerning thought. Read the article here.
BONUS ITEM: For those times you NEED to open LinkedIn with the convenience of a five button shortcut. How freaking pointless.
Have a great weekend, you deserve it.
Image: AP Photo/John Locher