An anonymous reader writes: European privacy regulators from as number of countries has made a coordinated action against Facebook for violating data protection laws. The French CNIL has sanctioned Facebook with a 150,000 EUR fine, and the regulator from Netherlands is considering a similar action. Regulators are concerned with new privacy policies of Facebook, lack of transparency, cookie handling and tracking Facebook users on third-party sites -- all without user knowledge or control. Such coordinated move is unprecedented in the history of European data protection regulators.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader writes: European privacy regulators from as number of countries has made a coordinated action against Facebook for violating data protection laws. The French CNIL has sanctioned Facebook with a 150,000 EUR fine, and the regulator from Netherlands is considering a similar action. Regulators are concerned with new privacy policies of Facebook, lack of transparency, cookie handling and tracking Facebook users on third-party sites -- all without user knowledge or control. Such coordinated move is unprecedented in the history of European data protection regulators.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook came under fire from the FBI for not providing a custom, vulnerable version of iOS so the agency could hack into the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. Cook refused, on the grounds that it would be impossible to keep any such back door out of the hands of criminals and other intelligence agencies. His stance has now been vindicated, as stolen NSA exploits released by the Shadow Brokers hacking group were used to spread the WannaCry ransomware throughout the world. WannaCry dominated headlines briefly by infecting more than 230,000 Windows-based computers in 150 countries in 24 hours, affecting major companies and even Britain's National Health Service.

 

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook came under fire from the FBI for not providing a custom, vulnerable version of iOS so the agency could hack into the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. Cook refused, on the grounds that it would be impossible to keep any such back door out of the hands of criminals and other intelligence agencies. His stance has now been vindicated, as stolen NSA exploits released by the Shadow Brokers hacking group were used to spread the WannaCry ransomware throughout the world. WannaCry dominated headlines briefly by infecting more than 230,000 Windows-based computers in 150 countries in 24 hours, affecting major companies and even Britain's National Health Service.

 

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

An anonymous reader writes: Amazon is going to start shipping TV sets powered by the company's own smart TV operating system soon: The company began listing Element's Fire TV Edition TV sets for pre-order Tuesday, and is expected to start shipping them next month, when the devices will also reach other retailers. Amazon and Element as well as Element's sister company Westinghouse first announced Fire TV-based TV sets at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. Now, the companies shared a number of additional details, including pricing. Element's 43-inch Fire TV Edition will retail for $449. A 50-inch model and a 55-inch model will cost $549 and $649, respectively, and a $65-inch model will retail for $899. Each of these devices support 4K video, and pack a quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage for apps -- beefed-up specs that won't just guarantee smooth app performance and streaming, according to Amazon's VP of Smart TVs Sandeep Gupta, but are also meant to future-proof the device. "It will have a longer life cycle than a regular smart TV," he told Variety during a recent interview. The interface of the TV is virtually identical to that of a Fire TV box or stick, save for a few differences. There are extra tiles that let users switch their input devices to access game consoles, Blu-ray players and cable boxes.

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American envoy to the UN says direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang are possible if it stops firing missiles.

Prominent journalist Javier Valdez was shot and killed in the of Sinaloa on Monday.

Prominent journalist Javier Valdez was shot and killed in the of Sinaloa on Monday.

American envoy to the UN says direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang are possible if it stops firing missiles.

Microsoft and the United Nations (UN) have announced a five-year "landmark" partnership to develop technology to "better predict, analyze and respond to critical human rights situations," according to a statement issued today. From a report: Additionally, Microsoft will support work being carried out by the UN Human Rights Office by contributing $5 million to a grant in what the UN called an "unprecedented level of support" from a private organization. An example of the kind of technology the duo have been working on is an information dashboard called Rights View that gives UN employees access to real-time aggregated data on rights violations by country. This, it's hoped, will "facilitate analysis, ensure early warning of emerging critical issues, and provide data to guide responses," according to Microsoft.

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Ford is planning a major round of layoffs that will cut up to 20,000 jobs around the world, according to reports published Monday. From a report: Ford plans to shrink its salaried workforce in North America and Asia by about 10 percent as it works to boost profits and its sliding stock price, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters. A person briefed on the plan said Ford plans to offer generous early retirement incentives to reduce its salaried headcount by Oct. 1, but does not plan cuts to its hourly workforce or its production. The move could put the U.S. automaker on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who has made boosting auto employment a top priority. Ford has about 30,000 salaried workers in the United States. The cuts are part of a previously announced plan to slash costs by $3 billion, the person said, as U.S. new vehicles auto sales have shown signs of decline after seven years of consecutive growth since the end of the Great Recession.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A CPAN distribution of CWB

A CPAN distribution of CWB

a small lightweight SmokeBox