Microsoft is to give its non-executive staff a $1,500 (£1,080) bonus for their work during the pandemic. The company told the BBC it was a symbol of appreciation “during a uniquely challenging year”. It added: “We are proud to recognise our employees with a one-time monetary gift.” In the first quarter of 2021 Microsoft’s profits […]
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Trump sues Twitter, Google and Facebook alleging ‘censorship’
Former US president Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against tech giants Google, Twitter and Facebook, claiming that he is the victim of censorship. The class action lawsuit also targets the three companies’ CEOs. Mr Trump was suspended from his social accounts in January over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riots, […]
China’s ‘midnight patrol’ cracks down on young gamers
Chinese gaming giant Tencent is rolling out facial recognition to stop children playing between 22:00 and 08:00. The “midnight-patrol” technology will stop “tricks” circumventing the government curfew, introduced in 2019 with a cap on what young gamers could spend on in-game transactions, it says. The bans require gamers to register with their official IDs, linked […]
Audio editor Audacity denies spyware accusation
Audio-edit software Audacity has denied accusations its new privacy policy has transformed it into “possible spyware”. The open-source free tool, with 100 million users worldwide, is popular with podcast and music editors. Its updated policy says data can be shared with its Russia-based infrastructure company, WSM, as well as regional law enforcement. Audacity says the […]
US companies hit by ‘colossal’ cyber-attack
About 200 US businesses have been hit by a “colossal” ransomware attack, according to a cyber-security firm. Huntress Labs said the hack targeted Florida-based IT company Kaseya before spreading through corporate networks that use its software. Kaseya said in a statement on its own website that it was investigating a “potential attack”. Huntress Labs said […]
Sir Richard Branson sets 11 July to make spaceflight
Sir Richard Branson has named the date he’ll fly to the edge of space. It will be 11 July, or very soon after. He’ll be a passenger in the back of the Unity rocket plane his Virgin Galactic company has been developing in the US for the better part of two decades. The vehicle can […]
India’s Bharti invests $500m in UK space start-up OneWeb
UK-based space start-up OneWeb has received a cash injection of $500m (£361m) from Indian firm Bharti Global. The deal means Bharti will now take a 39% stake, making it the biggest shareholder in the satellite provider. The UK government is also a major shareholder after it and Bharti put in $1bn to buy OneWeb out […]
Council workers suspended over TikTok cemetery videos
Three council workers have been suspended over “insensitive and disrespectful” TikTok videos filmed at a cemetery. Derby City Council said it was “extremely disappointed” by the videos, filmed at Nottingham Road Cemetery. The clips, viewed thousands of times, show two men dancing while carrying a coffin and another joking around near an open grave. The […]
EU approves data flow to UK but adds sunset clause
Flows of personal data from the EU to the UK will continue, after the European Commission adopted two “data adequacy” decisions. The decisions include a sunset clause, which runs out after four years. They will be renewed only if the UK ensures an adequate level of data protection, the commission said. UK firms had been […]
Is Windows 11 the beginning of the end for Skype?
Microsoft has officially announced Windows 11, its new operating system which will replace the current version over the next few years. Among all the new features are two seemingly small but related things that jumped out. First – Microsoft Teams, the video-calling app which saw a boom during 2020’s pandemic, will be integrated into Windows […]