Business news

Consumer & Gadgets

Exploring the hidden costs of free apps

Procrastination, sleep deprivation and reduced focus are part of the price we pay for free mobile apps. This is according to researchers at Linköping University and RISE, who have investigated the costs hidden behind the ...

Business

Legal system fails to protect people from malicious copyright cases at the cost of sexual privacy, study warns

Changes need to be made to the UK legal system to protect people from exploitative litigation designed to prey on vulnerabilities, a new study warns.

Business

US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial

The US Department of Justice said on Tuesday it would demand that Google make profound changes to how it does business and even consider the possibility of a breakup, after the tech juggernaut was found to be running an illegal ...

Business

Canadian urban mobility is woefully lacking, but building a better future is still possible

Canadian cities are falling behind globally when it comes to efficiently moving people. Long commute times, high congestion rates and infrastructure that is vulnerable to climate change are symptoms of a mobility crisis.

Business

Samsung third-quarter forecast misses expectations

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it expected third-quarter profits to jump almost three-fold, but fell short of market expectations as it struggled to leverage robust demand for chips used in artificial intelligence servers.

Business

US industrial policy may strengthen EV battery supply chain

Vehicle electrification is an important pathway to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The supply chain for electric vehicle battery materials relies heavily on China, a dependency that can leave the US vulnerable to ...

Business

EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China

EU countries gave a definitive green light on Friday to hefty additional tariffs on electric cars made in China, despite strong German opposition and fears it will trigger a trade war with Beijing.

Business

What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has become an AI powerhouse after securing Silicon Valley's largest-ever funding round. The company now faces the challenge of delivering on its promise to become the next Apple or Google.

Business

Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court

Social media platforms such as Meta's Facebook must limit the use of personal data including someone's sexual orientation for targeted advertising, the European Union's top court ruled Friday.

Business

Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition

Ireland's data watchdog said Friday it will probe whether budget airline Ryanair's use of facial recognition to check the identity of customers booking through third-party websites violates EU privacy laws.

Business

Six things Australia needs in its national EV strategy

At Australia's first National Electric Vehicle Summit recently, long-awaited discussions focused on EVs (electric vehicles), their stymied rollout and the introduction of measures—such as fuel efficiency standards—to ...

Business

Musk subpoenas Twitter whistleblower in buyout battle

Elon Musk has formally subpoenaed a Twitter whistleblower to share information about spam accounts at the social network, as the billionaire fights in court to back out of a massive buyout deal.

Business

Facebook agrees to settle Cambridge Analytica privacy suit

Facebook has reached a preliminary agreement in a long-running lawsuit seeking damages from the social network for allowing third parties, including the company Cambridge Analytica, to access users' private data.

Business

Crypto firms say US sanctions limit use of privacy software

The Treasury Department is facing pushback from the cryptocurrency industry over sanctions imposed on a firm accused of helping to launder billions of dollars—with some funds going to North Korean hackers.

Business

Reducing carbon emissions in blockchain technologies

The environmental impact of blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Now, researchers from Qatar University have analyzed policy tools and interventions ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Meta removes fake accounts tied to pro-US influence campaign

A covert online persuasion campaign to cast the U.S. and its allies in a positive light in the Middle East and Central Asia—as well as to bash its adversaries—was disrupted by Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter Inc., which ...

Business

TikTok stars boycott Amazon in activism push

TikTok influencers boasting collectively more than 51 million followers say they won't work with Amazon until the e-commerce colossus delivers key concessions to workers and halts anti-union efforts.

Internet

US regulator queried Twitter on false accounts

Twitter faced scrutiny from US market regulators over how the platform calculates the number of false or spam accounts, a topic at the heart of the firm's legal battle with Elon Musk.

Business

5 takeaways from Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko

Startling new revelations from Twitter's former head of security, Peiter Zatko, have raised serious new questions about the security of the platform's service, its ability to identify and remove fake accounts, and the truthfulness ...