FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

How Facebook is ‘expanding efforts’ to help protect elections in 2019
Facebook has released an article explaining how it will strengthen its platform, with this year’s elections in mind. In a blog post, titled ‘Expanding our efforts to protect elections in 2019′, a number of interesting points were discussed and highlighted. The report was jointly compiled by Facebook’s Katie Harbath... Read more
EU, Germany Propose New Tax On Tech Companies
But will it remain temporary? For decades, wealthy businesses and their owners have relied on offshore accounts and registering companies in places like the Cayman Islands in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, and the tech industry is no exception. With companies like Amazon, Facebook, Apple,... Read more
Google Challenges Record $5 Billion EU Antitrust Fine 
Alphabet subsidiary, Google, has appealed the record $5 billion fine EU regulators imposed on the tech firm earlier this year. “We have now filed our appeal of the EC’s Android decision at the General Court of the EU,” Google said in an email to Reuters. Google’s main argument against... Read more
Amazon Removes Nazi-Themed Paraphernalia From Website 
Global e-commerce giant Amazon has begun the process of removing items that contain or have an association with Nazi and white supremacist symbols from its website.  The move by Amazon follows a series of complaints from lawmakers and a 24 page in depth report from two racial equality advocacy groups.  The story didn’t really... Read more
Another Amazon S3 Exposure Compromised Voter Records
This isn’t a good time to be accused of tampering with voters’ personal information, but that hasn’t stopped yet another “person who should know better” from leaving their Amazon S3 server exposed and unprotected. This time, the villain is one of those companies that dials your phone number against... Read more
Trump’s China Tariffs Are Hitting Tech Industry Hard
The tech industry is speaking out against Trump’s new tariffs on China imports. Donald Trump threatened some major tariffs on foreign imports–and somehow, even on goods made in the US by companies that are not American but have tens of thousands of US employees building their products–and after a... Read more
After Facebook And Twitter Crackdown, Nazis Move to Google Plus
Neo Nazis and other closely associated extremists surge to Google Plus with some ‘plus’ communities having hundreds or thousands of followers in their circles. At least somebody’s still using it? News has emerged this week, that following a severe crackdown by mainstream social media outlets such as Facebook and... Read more
New EU GDPR Rules All But Ends Unsolicited Email Marketing in Europe, and Everywhere Else
Europe’s new rules on data have had a devastating effect on businesses that rely on email marketing, according to a new report just published by CNBC. The European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) hasn’t even been in effect for a month, but according to the newly published... Read more
Tech Industry Takes A Stand On Immigrant Separation
Google, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, Tesla, and YouTube are among those weighing in. When it comes to the political sphere, the business sector plays an obvious role. After all, the decisions made in the halls of government have an impact on the ways businesses operate. But several tech... Read more
Manafort Jailed, Largely Due To “Encrypted” Messages
While Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort is jailed awaiting trial, his WhatsApp and Signal messages have been subpoenaed. Encrypted messaging apps and email service providers are popular with users, not just for personal security or business-related communications. Apps like WhatsApp initially became the domain of collaborative partners who needed... Read more
Is Tech Making Politics More Secure, Or Less?
Growing global concerns over the security and integrity of elections raises questions about the future of technology in politics. Another day, another headline, another speculation about foreign state-sponsored interference in the last US presidential election. But before the saga can weigh on you any further, take heart in this... Read more
Apple To Begin Publishing Global Government App Takedown Requests
…but not the ones it takes down itself. Apple has announced that it will soon start providing statistics for app takedown requests from governments around the world. The news comes in the tech giant’s latest Transparency Report that it publishes bi-annually. The aim of the report is to highlight... Read more
Amazon Lashes Out At Seattle ‘Head Tax’
City council ruling causes anger within tech sector and beyond. Ever since Jeff Bezos grew his little online bookstore into a Midas-style money making machine, lawmakers have been scrambling for ways to get a piece of their profits. The wave of so-called “Amazon Taxes” that swept the country a... Read more
Facebook Faces Summons In UK
Mark Zuckerberg faces formal summons from UK MPs. It’s been a tough year or so for Facebook. From allegations of supporting (if not outright colluding with) foreign interests who may have swayed the presidential election with political ads to accusations that user data was harvested, sold, and allowed to... Read more
Facebook Moves Millions Of Users Data To US To Avoid European Privacy Laws
Zuckerberg’s promise to uphold ‘spirit’ of new EU data protection rules quietly put to the side just days after making it… The social media giant, Facebook has begun moving user data from its servers in Ireland back to the USA in order to avoid having to comply with new... Read more
EU Knows Facebook Has A Privacy Problem
Upcoming GDPR rules mean data compliance will be mandatory.  In the digital age, information is the new hot-ticket currency. Often, companies, third-parties, and even cybercriminals would rather get their hands on users’ data than money, since the potential payoff from having access to sensitive information could be exponentially higher... Read more
Trump Officially Bans Kaspersky For US Federal Use
After months of speculation, Donald Trump signs new legislation that officially bans the use of Kaspersky Lab products within any part of the US government.  By signing the new defence spending bill into law, the President has purged the Moscow-based antivirus firm from any and all federal agencies amid growing concerns it was vulnerable to Kremlin influence, despite the company’s continual denials.  “Considering the grave... Read more
Twitter Employee Intentionally ‘Deactivated’ Trump Account On Last Day Of Work
@realDonaldTrump feed temporarily taken down – internal review begins. US President Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account briefly vanished without warning on Thursday, leading some to celebrate, and others wondering what was going on. The vanishing feed was only temporary however, and has since been restored. It now seems that... Read more