• Facebook upholds politicians’ right to lie in online ads

    Since the 2016 US presidential election, the vast influence of political advertising – particularly using misleading and false statements – has become a prominent subject of debate. Discussions about how to ensure that political advertising is fair, truthful and transparent have intensified in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. In October 2019, Twitter announced that it would ban all political advertising . Weeks later, Google announced its plans to ban microtargeting of political adverts . However, Facebook has maintained that it will not remove or fact-check lies in lucrative political adverts, such as the false accusations made by the Trump campaign about Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden and his family in October last year. In an appearance before Congress last year, CEO Mark…

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  • YouTube disables advertising and data collection on children’s content

    The changes, which include limitations on data collection and advertising, are a step towards addressing  concerns from advocacy groups who complained the video service has breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which forbids tracking and targeting users aged 13 and under. As part of the changes to the site, YouTube said it will seek to better distinguish which content is intended primarily for children, relying on a combination of self-identification from creators and software. Furthermore, under the new rules that the video-sharing platform has introduced, such content cannot run with personalised advertisements. YouTube added it will assume any viewer of child-friendly content is underage, treating that data as subject to COPPA rules. It has also limited other…

  • Modern Michelangelo: scientists 3D print David’s microscopic double

    Michelangelo's original statue of David, which was completed in the early sixteenth century, is among the world’s most famous works of art. While the 5.17m original was sculpted from marble, many replicas since have been created in bronze, plaster and fibreglass. Now, ETH Zurich scientists have created a unique version of the famous statue by 3D printing a millimetre-scale David in pure copper. The researchers created two tiny sculptures: a 1mm David and a second one which is ten times smaller (merely the height of the other's pedestal). 3D printing such small structures can be troublesome due to the difficulty achieving the required resolution. ETH Zurich Image credit: Exaddon Both statues were created using a 3D-printing technique developed by ETH Zurich…

  • Google and Facebook ‘dominance’ bad for consumers, says watchdog

    In the UK, people spend a third of their time online using sites owned by either Google (such as YouTube) or Facebook (such as Instagram), rendering attention on these platforms extremely valuable to advertisers. According to the watchdog’s interim report [PDF] , Google accounted for more than 90 per cent (£6bn) of all UK revenue earned from search advertising in the UK in 2018. Meanwhile, Facebook accounted for almost half (more than £2bn) of display advertising revenue. Google paid approximately £1bn to be installed as the search engine on mobile services, with the “vast majority” of payments going towards Apple. The companies also strengthened their dominance through greater access to market data (such as through new search queries to train algorithms) and personal data collection for…

  • Economic output connects with mobile coverage

    UK districts with the largest gaps in 4G mobile coverage create much less value for the local economy, a new E&T analysis reveals. The findings are a result of a data analysis that evaluated local districts’ 4G outdoor mobile coverage as reported by the communications regulator Ofcom.  E&T compared local districts’ gross value added (GVA), the value generated by any unit engaged in the production of goods and services, with the areas of worst 4G mobile signal coverage with respect to ‘outdoor premises’. This is the most suitable measure, according to Ofcom, as it focuses on areas with people and buildings rather than unpopulated countryside. E&T found GVA in low-coverage areas is considerably lower than that for well covered districts. Graham Payne, founder of StrattoOpencell, with a background…

  • Calls to ban fossil fuel adverts as global carbon emissions increase more slowly

    The group said that BP frequently presents itself as “part of the climate solution” in its ads, which typically show wind turbines and other forms of renewable energy. But ClientEarth said that 96 per cent of the company’s annual spend is on oil and gas projects and it is one of the world’s biggest polluters. They advocate a “tobacco-style warning” which lets consumers know that claims the company is rapidly transitioning to clean energy are largely misleading. The environmental legal charity has triggered an official complaint under the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international set of rules governing corporate conduct. The complaint is being submitted to the Government’s UK National Contact Point, which is responsible for implementing…

  • Google removes hundreds of Trump video ads

    A boom in attention-grabbing digital advertising by political parties has sparked debate among politicians, regulators, and platforms about how to balance freedom of speech with a responsibility to prevent manipulation, such as through viral deception and inappropriate micro-targeting. In recent months, some of the world’s largest online companies have been pressured into taking a stand against manipulative political advertising, which can spread very quickly on social networks, boosted by algorithms prioritising controversial and ‘engaging’ content. The issue is considered pressing, given the risk of the upcoming 2020 US presidential election being manipulated (including by state actors) as was the case in 2016 . According to a report from CBS News, Google and its subsidiary YouTube have…

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  • Trump campaign rages at Facebook’s hint about political ad restrictions

    Facebook has not confirmed any changes to its policy on political advertising. However, the Wall Street Journal has reported that it is discussing the possibility of introducing some restrictions on political ads with representatives from both the Republican and the Democratic parties. Earlier this week, Google announced that it would place restrictions on political advertising by preventing campaigns from using micro-targeting tools . Micro-targeting by digital political campaigns – which allows for individuals to be targeted based on their interests and psychological profiles, interactions with sites and pages, and even their contact information – has attracted concern, amid a larger controversy surrounding the negative impacts of online platforms on democracy. Google’s decision came…

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  • Google bans micro-targeting tactics for political advertising

    Google will no longer permit political advertisers to target their sponsored content on YouTube, Search and other Google products beyond selecting for age, gender and location (post code). Political advertisers will continue with ‘contextual targeting’ e.g. targeting ads at individuals engaging with content about certain political issues. Campaign managers, including those representing 2020 US presidential contenders, were informed of the change this week by Google. Jenna Lowenstein, deputy campaign manager for Democratic hopeful Cory Booker, announced on Twitter that Google said: “Political affiliation ads will no longer be able to target Custom Affinity, Custom In-Market, Remarketing, Customer Match, Similar Audiences, onboarded DMP lists, or the use of 1P [first-party] or 3P [third-party…

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  • Sharing 3D-printed gun blueprints ruled illegal (again)

    The ruling is another reversal in a long-running legal case over the legality of distributing the computer-aided design (CAD) files online, allowing anybody to manufacture their own unregistered lethal weapon using a 3D printer or milling machine. Defense Distributed, an organisation which develops CAD files for firearms, was engaged in a legal battle with the US State Department for several years over its distribution of CAD files for the ‘Liberator’: the first fully 3D-printed handgun. The dispute began in May 2013 after the files were uploaded and the State Department requested that they were removed, arguing that they violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which restricts the export of military equipment. The files were removed after being downloaded more than 100,000…

  • Labour politician requests freeze of Google’s Fitbit acquisition

    Tom Watson, the s hadow secretary for digital, culture, media and sport, has  urged the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) regulator to freeze the acquisition of FitBit by tech giant Google . According to Watson, acquisitions such as that of Fitbit by Google should be paused “until the CMA’s market study is concluded and its recommendations are implemented”. Watson wrote that he has long been concerned about the data monopolies that dominate the tech market, including  Google .  "These companies hold and gather an unprecedented amount of data on users which is then monetised through micro-targeting and advertising to amass huge profits and power," he said. "Meanwhile, the digital giants themselves remain unaccountable, unregulated and see themselves as above the law. They have run…

  • £1bn plan will see mobile operators share infrastructure to reach 95 per cent 4G coverage

    While networks are already launching 5G coverage in urban areas, the current plan is still to ensure 95 per cent 4G coverage across the UK by 2025. The new initiative will see operators EE, O2, Three and Vodafone share their phone mast infrastructure in certain areas to provide additional coverage to 280,000 homes and businesses and 10,000 miles of roads. Earlier this month, uSwitch.com expressed concern about the low availability of 4G in rural areas , while only 28 per cent of the country is expected to have 5G by the end of 2019. The newly proposed Shared Rural Network would see £530m invested in a network of new and existing phone masts that all networks would share, to be matched by £500m investment from government. It is hoped that better 4G connectivity will make flexible working…

  • Commercial 3D printers emit traces of toxic fumes, study finds

    Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology collected particles emitted from 3D printers and conducted several tests to gauge their impact on respiratory cell cultures. “All of these tests, which were done at high doses, showed that there is a toxic response to the particles from various types of filaments used by these 3D printers,” said Professor Rodney Weber, who led the research. The researchers looked closely at the chemical composition of the particles and their potential for toxicity. 3D printers often function by melting plastic filaments and then depositing the solution layer upon layer to form a custom object. Heating the plastic releases volatile compounds, some of which form ultrafine particles emitted into the air near the printer and the object. Previous research…

  • Rural UK areas still lacking 4G coverage as 5G rolls out

    While all major UK carriers are set to introduce 5G by the end of this year, nearly a third of the country is still frequently forced to rely on the 3G network. 5G is set to be launched initially in urban areas, with London and Cardiff being offered four 5G networks, while customers in Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester will have the choice of three providers. The new networks may take some time to come to more rural areas of the UK, especially considering that the limited range of the technology renders it less suited for broad coverage than previous generations. Only 28 per cent of the country will have 5G by the end of 2019, with 72 per cent of the population left without access to fifth-generation connectivity in the near future, uSwitch said. The digital divide is highlighted…

  • BT installs 5G network in rural Wales to demonstrate driverless pod capabilities

    The benefits of the new tech were highlighted by BT at the 100 th Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, with visitors able to see 5G technology demonstrations including a connected driverless pod at the showground. The vehicle has been touted as one of the first self-driving pods in the world to be connected to a live 5G network, with the vehicles designed to be used across a wide range of environments and industries. The pods make use of 5G to stream data in real time, including 3D mapping models, video from the on-board safety cameras and ‘infotainment’ for passengers. Nick Speed, BT Group director for Wales, said: “5G is the next generation of mobile technology and will transform the way we live and work. We’re hugely excited about what we can do with 5G today and in the…

  • Hackers expose Russian-backed Tor demasking project

    The hackers, belonging to a group known as 0v1ru$, stole 7.5TB of data from SyTech, a contractor for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The stolen information was shared with another hacking group and journalists. The group replaced the SyTech homepage with a large picture of ‘Comfy Guy’, also known as YOBA, a trolling icon popular among Russian internet users. For the time being, SyTech has hidden its website. Approximately 20 secret projects were revealed by the hackers, mostly commissioned by a military service connected to the FSB. These included projects to collect information about social media users (Nautilus), to search email servers belonging to large companies (Mentor), to find vulnerabilities in the peer-to-peer BitTorrent system used to share media, and to disconnect…

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  • Sandvik reveals 3D-printed diamond composite

    Diamond may be the most lusted-after and enduring stone on Earth but it is also a factory’s best friend. It is extremely useful in industry, being 15 times harder than any other natural material. Diamond coatings, blades, and tips are found on wear-resistant tools across a range of fields, including mining, surgery, and drilling. The hardness of diamond is a double-edged sword; while useful for cutting and shaping other materials, it is incredibly difficult to reshape itself. Even the development of synthetic diamond in the 1950s did not allow for complex shapes to be formed, as synthetic diamonds can only be formed into a handful of simple geometric shapes. Now, Stockholm-based Sandvik has become the first in the world to 3D-print diamond powder, opening up countless possibilities for…

  • Additive manufacturing can give historic treasures a new lease of life

    George Santayana once said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” History, as Santayana would see it, allows us to understand why we live the way we do – and why it varies across the globe. Displays of historical treasures from different periods of time provide us with an even deeper understanding. While displaying these invaluable items may be a wonderful opportunity to cultivate knowledge, there have been numerous examples of ancient artefacts being destroyed or damaged. For example, the funeral mask of Tutankhamun, which was discovered in 1922, was damaged in 2014 by a worker at the museum where it was on display. Curators glued the broken beard back onto the mask, resulting in further – and more noticeable – damage. Of course, it is not only human error…

  • Sandvik created a smash-proof, 3D printed guitar, then challenged rock legend Yngwie Malmsteen to smash it

    In the film, Malmsteen plays the guitar in front of an excited crowd in a rock club outside Miami - after which he does his very best to destroy it… Sandvik, a world-leader in material innovation and manufacturing, engineered the smash-proof guitar to demonstrate how advanced, precise and sustainable the company’s techniques are. “We don’t make products for consumers, so people don’t realize how far in the forefront our methods are,” says Klas Forsström, President of Sandvik Machining Solutions. “Creating a smash-proof guitar for a demanding musician like Malmsteen highlights the capabilities we bring to all complex manufacturing challenges.” Malmsteen, named one of the ten greatest electric guitar players in the world by TIME Magazine, is known for his virtuoso performances - as well…

  • Austrian government floats ban on online anonymity

    According to the draft law, internet users would be required to register their real names and addresses in order to leave online comments. This law would apply to all major websites: those with more than 100,000 registered users, those who make more than €500,000 (£430,000) per year, or who receive press subsidies of at least €50,000 (£43,000). The draft law allows exemptions for e-commerce sites, and those with different business models, such as those which do not earn money from content or advertising. The idea is that malicious comments can be traced back to the people behind them, who can subsequently be held accountable. While users will be able to continue using screen names to post online, authorities would retain a way of finding the true identity of users if necessary (for instance…

  • Cornish phone boxes converted to provide 4G signal on the beachfront

    Many of the coastal areas typically have poor signal due to their relatively rural locations. Meanwhile, telephone box usage is currently falling dramatically, with around a 20 per cent drop annually. In 2017 it was found that a third of phone boxes were only used once a month and many never used at all, prompting BT to scrap 20,000 of them. Vodafone will adapt the boxes in Polzeath and Sennen Cove in Cornwall to provide 4G coverage in a 200-metre radius, as well as allowing customers to make use of a range of connected devices such as pet trackers. The network said that mobile coverage can often be difficult to provide in remote areas and coastal locations due to the local topography and the lack of power and fibre cables needed to link up masts. The Government’s current target is to…

  • Demystifying 5G seminar 21st May 2019 - Grasp the technology, seize the opportunities

    2019 is the year mobile network operators will begin to roll out 5G services. The technology is designed to be almost infinitely flexible to support a wide variety of services, and is therefore highly complex. So while there are many new opportunities to be discovered, there is also a lot to learn. As the ancient saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Of course, the early steps on this journey are somewhat tentative. The 5G-infrastructure deployments this year will be Non-Standalone (NSA); using 5G frequencies for high-speed data exchanges while relying on 4G technologies to manage connections to infrastructure and servers. So far, the test specifications for 5G devices are not fully finalised. For NSA, although the 3GPP TS38.521-3 transmitter and receiver tests…

  • Major US telecoms carrier may have lied about 4G coverage, FCC finds

    Although the FCC did not name the carrier found guilty, its testing was sparked by a complaint filed against Verizon, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the US. In August, the Rural Wireless Association (RWA) – which represents small rural wireless carriers – filed a complaint against Verizon , claiming that the telecommunications company had “grossly overstated” its 4G coverage in government filings. Verizon and other companies had been requested to file maps and data laying out their 4G coverage in 2017. According to the RWA, Verizon’s filings were inaccurate and could block smaller companies from gaining support from the $4.5bn (£3.6bn) public Mobility Fund to subsidise the expansion of rural wireless coverage over the next decade. The RWA had submitted speed test results…

  • Enterprise security threat posed by unofficial Snapchat and Facebook use

    According to research from Maintel, a managed communications provider, a substantial proportion of employees would like to use consumer-grade tools such as Snapchat or Facebook Messenger for work.  With this trend only set to increase, businesses are faced with the security implications of their employees using unsanctioned tools, as well as the challenge of implementing and policing their use if sanctioned.  Maintel’s survey of 1,000 employed adults found that:  24 per cent of workers said they would like Snapchat to be approved by their employer, as well as 19 per cent for Twitter and 17 per cent for Facebook Messenger. In an average working day, two or more hours are spent on Instagram (41 per cent), Facebook Messenger (32 per cent), and WhatsApp (29 per cent). Instagram…

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