TECHNOLOGY

Facebook Inc. on Friday said it was suspending political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked for President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, after finding data privacy policies had been violated. Facebook said in a statement that it suspended Cambridge Analytica and its parent group Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) after receiving reports that they did not delete information about Facebook ...

The chief executive of a company that created highly-secure smartphones allegedly used by some of the world’s most notorious criminals has been indicted. Canadian-based Phantom Secure made “tens of millions of dollars” selling the modified Blackberry devices for use by the likes of the Sinaloa Cartel, investigators said. The charges marked the first time US authorities have targeted a company ...

Crypto-currencies and digital cash systems have become a key way for cyber-thieves to launder stolen funds, suggests research. Alongside its use in ransomware, virtual cash was also helping clean up other sources of stolen cash, said criminologist Dr Mike Maguire. Bitcoin’s anonymity made it attractive to tech-savvy thieves, he said. Dr McGuire drew on interviews with cyber-thieves, police reports and ...

How far should the two mightiest web giants go to police the content they enable? This week Google acted to ban crypto-currency advertising, while Facebook banned a far-right group. Stream or download the latest Tech Tent podcast Listen live every Friday at 15:00 GMT on the BBC World Service Tech Tent looks at growing evidence that the social media firms are now actively editing what ...

Adrian Lamo, a computer hacker best known for passing on information that led to the arrest of Chelsea Manning, has died aged 37. In online messaging conversations, Manning confided in him, describing confidential military material Manning had sent to Wikileaks. Wikileaks published the video of a US helicopter strike that killed seven people, including a journalist working for the Reuters ...

Shares of Snap are down for a second straight day after the social media giant received pointed criticism from Rihanna over a third-party ad that appeared to make light of domestic violence. On Thursday, Snap shares plunged nearly 4 percent, wiping out roughly $800 million from its market value, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNN, and during Friday ...

UN investigators have accused Facebook of playing a “determining role” in stirring up hatred against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. One of the team probing possible acts of genocide said Facebook had “turned into a beast.” About 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar’s military launched an operation in August against “insurgents” in Rakhine state. Facebook has said there is ...

or decades, technology has been mainly driven by Westerners and that’s why most applications and features until in recent times have had western themes. But a group of African content creators are determined to change this trend in a big way. Primarily, they are hoping African users can identify and relate to these themes ,thereby owning their personal devices. Afrocomix ...

Spanish Youtuber Sonia Sae, who uses her channel to share advice on how to live on a plant-based diet, has come under fire for putting her pet fennec fox on a vegan diet after photos of the shockingly thin animal were shared online. Animal activists and some of Sonia Sae’s own followers have accused her of animal cruelty after the ...

A robot that can solve a Rubik’s cube puzzle in 0.38 seconds has been developed by two researchers in the US. The current world record is 0.637 seconds, which was set by German engineer Albert Beer and his robot Sub1 Reloaded. The researchers realised they could solve the cube more quickly by using a different type of motor in their ...