Latest News

Top Story

BigTech should pay for news, says competition regulator


By Will McCurdy

The UK should introduce a code to ensure BigTech provides adequate compensation to news publishers, said the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The news comes after Australia won a longstanding legal battle to make BigTech pay local publishers for news, which saw Facebook block 25 million Australian users from viewing news content on the platform.


NATO holds world’s biggest cyber-attack exercise

NATO is holding the biggest ever international live-fire cyber defence exercise this week.

Trackable wristband firm Buddi eyes £500m London IPO

Trackable wristband firm Buddi is preparing for a floatation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), at a valuation reported to around £500 million. The firm, founded in 2005 by Sara Murray, makes wristbands for vulnerable people, which can detect falls and allow them to contact assistance if needed.

Civil rights groups call on EU to ban tracking in online advertising

30 civil rights groups across Europe, including Amnesty International and Privacy International, have called on the EU to ban ‘unlawful tracking and surveillance’ in online advertising.

NHS Covid-19 app update blocked over privacy issues

A new update on the NHS Covid-19 mobile app has been paused after Apple and Google blocked it from their stores over privacy breaches. The NHS’ Test and Trace app was due for the update on 8 April in time for the easing of restrictions.

US senator introduces bill to ban BigTech acquisitions

Republican Josh Hawley has put forward a bill that would stop BigTech companies worth more than $100 billion from buying or merging with other businesses. The proposed legislation would impact the US’ five biggest technology companies: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

92% of UK businesses concerned about Data Services Act

Although many British companies are “cautiously optimistic” about complying with the EU’s proposal for a Digital Services Act (DSA), 92 per cent are concerned about the new regulations.

Mastercard partners with Doconomy for carbon calculator

Mastercard has partnered with Swedish FinTech Doconomy to release a new carbon calculator.
The payments giant said the solution can give consumers a snapshot of the carbon emissions generated by their purchases, which it claimed are powered by the independently verified index.
Alibaba hit with record $2.75bn anti-monopoly fine

The Chinese government has levied a record $2.75 billion fine on Alibaba following allegations of monopolistic practices, almost triple the $975 million chip manufacturer Qualcomm had to pay Chinese regulators in 2015. Alibaba, currently valued at around $608 billion, controls a significant portion of the Chinese domestic e-commerce and cloud computing markets.

Microsoft to make $16bn move into VoiceTech

Microsoft is close to finalising a deal to acquire voice recognition company Nuance Communications sources told the Financial Times. The deal would give the Burlington, Massachusetts company a $16 billion valuation, and sources said the deal could be announced in just two weeks.

Elon Musk’s Neuralink teaches Monkey to play games with its mind

Elon Musk’s brain implant company has taught a monkey how to play games using its mind. Neuralink is currently developing a fully-implanted, wireless, high-channel count brain-machine interface (BMI) which it hopes will help people with paralysis use their neural activity to operate computers and mobile devices.

View More News

Check out our latest features

What are this year’s green tech frontrunners?

Alexandra Leonards explores the environmental technologies dominating the UK budget in 2021. More than a third of UK consumers say they’d prefer future technology to prioritise climate concerns over non-essential needs. With the government recently announcing plans for a £12 billion ‘green industrial revolution,’ the British public may be in luck.

Pandemic cyber-crime separates the strong from the weak

Many were prepared for a cyber onslaught, while ill-equipped businesses fell victim when the COVID-19 hit. Alexandra Leonards explores how the pandemic drove cyber-crime and looks at the UK response to the rise in online attacks. The disruption of an atmosphere of crisis and an influx of workers into home offices has created an online haven for cyber criminals.

Deepfakes: is perception more dangerous than reality?

Paying too much attention to fake videos could undermine the notion of truth when it comes to online content. Alexandra Leonards explores the dangers of perception, the rise of ‘shallowfakes,’ and discovers how to tackle deepfakes while they’re still in their infancy.

BigTech faces up to a big racial diversity problem

The recent wave of protest sparked by the killing by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis has raised the issue of racism for corporations across sectors and geographies – and none more so than the tech industry. As young and cool as many big technology companies portray themselves, the majority are still overwhelmingly white, particularly in leadership and technical positions.

View More Features

© 2019 Perspective Publishing     Privacy & Cookies