Withdrawal of moderated exam results draws wider scrutiny of data use Wired reports on the decision by the UK government to abandon the use of a statistical model designed to moderate exam grades after tests were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. There had been widespread complaints and protests about the results in which 40 per… [Read More]
News
Australian regulation ‘threatens free search services’
Google vows to fight plans to make it pay for news content Google has used an open letter to claim that proposed regulation will ‘hurt how Australians use Google Search and YouTube’, reports the Financial Times. Mel Silva, Google’s Australian Managing Director, goes on to say that the law ‘could lead to your data being handed… [Read More]
Satellite Internet open to major security threats
Ars Technica reports on a briefing at the ‘Black Hat’ security conference, in which an Oxford researcher, James Pavur, revealed the extent to which satellite internet is ‘putting millions of users at risk’, in spite of providers adopting new technologies. The research involved pointing receivers at geostationary satellites and scanning the k-band spectrum to identify internet traffic…. [Read More]
Police use of facial recognition ‘breaches human rights and data protection law’
Court ruling represents a ‘landmark legal victory’ The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a challenge by campaigners over the use of facial recognition technology by police forces, reports the Financial Times. The court ruled that there were ‘fundamental deficiencies’ in the legal framework governing its deployment, and too broad a discretion given to police officers…. [Read More]
Singapore introduces quarantine tag for incoming travellers
Government insists that new device will not store personal data The Singapore government has stated that, from August 11, tracking devices will be issued to travellers and residents from selected countries, according to the Straits Times. Details of the device have not been revealed, but it will use GPS and Bluetooth signals to track movements during… [Read More]
Big Tech CEOs defend business practices in Congress Hearing
‘Competition could render us obsolete’ The Chief Executives of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google have robustly defended their companies’ practices to a Congress antitrust hearing, claiming that they operate in markets which are already highly competitive, reports Reuters. Sundar Pichai said that ‘Google’s continued success is not guaranteed’, while Apple’s Tim Cook claimed that the company ‘does not… [Read More]