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Following Matt Hancock’s abrupt departure after breaking social distancing guidelines, concerns were raised that the former health secretary, as well as minister Lord Bethell, had potentially conducted government business across improper channels – including private email accounts. An investigation may also include other online forms of communication, such as WhatsApp. Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s Information Commissioner, said on July 6 that the data protection watchdog is now investigating the Department of Health and Social Care, branding the suggestion that officials are using these accounts to “conduct sensitive official business” as “concerning....

In its finding, the ICO detailed how Clearview AI failed to inform people in the UK that it was collecting their images from the web and social media to create a global online database that could be used for facial recognition; failed to have a lawful reason for collecting people’s information; failed to have a process in place to stop the data being retained indefinitely; and failed to meet data protection standards required for biometric data under the General Data Protection Regulation....

According to Deloitte’s press release earlier this week, CEOs have expressed cautious optimism that their organizations have adjusted and adapted to the challenges faced in 2021, including the lingering pandemic. “A new normal appears to be setting in whereby business leaders simply expect new challenges to arise continuously and are confident they can manage through them to achieve positive business results while making a real difference in society,” said Deloitte CEO Joe Ucuzoglu....

I know this because I just saw a headline in the Wall Street Journal that read: “Business travel is coming back.” Then again, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky insists: “Business travel as we know it has changed forever.” I confess I recently took my first cross-country business trip for a very long time and concluded that the changes were slight. Other than the mask, it all felt very normal. Some airlines, though, had already raced ahead with changes long before the pandemic began....

On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said that Pavel Stassi and Aleksandr Skorodumov, of Estonia and Lithuania, have now been jailed for 24 months and 48 months, respectively. The 30 and 33-year-old duo were accused of providing online hosting services that are known as bulletproof – a popular option for cybercriminals who need a host that will turn a blind eye to criminal activity. Bulletproof hosting providers, often found on the Dark Web, may host malware, explicit abuse material, or e-commerce platforms offering illegal wares such as criminal hacking tools, drugs, and weaponry....

“The United States urges Canada to abandon any plans for a unilateral measure and instead redouble its commitment to the rapid implementation of pillar one of the October 8 OECD/G20 agreement and the completion of a multilateral convention in 2022,” the USTR said. “Should Canada adopt a DST, USTR would examine all options, including under our trade agreements and domestic statutes.” Canada’s proposed digital services tax, if enacted, would see companies that earn over €750 million globally and CA$20 million in Canada per fiscal year be slapped with a 3% tax “on revenue from certain digital services”....

JBS released a statement on Monday admitting that “some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems” were brought down by an “organized cybersecurity attack” on Sunday. The company is the second-largest meat and poultry processor in the United States and accounts for nearly one-quarter of all the beef produced in the country as well as one-fifth of all pork. JBS has shut down all of the affected systems and contacted the White House on Tuesday, according to a statement from deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre....

Are there times you wished for a second phone number to use for business or just to keep your real number hidden? But it’s just not worth the extra expense of getting an additional phone line… until now. Whether you are setting up a new business, sending work texts, using a dating service, selling on Craigslist, and more, you can now have an affordable second phone number with a Hushed Private Phone Line: Lifetime Subscription....

The Nomad 1 is available now for $1,399 (down from $1,599) in the Step-Thru and High Step models. In order to test a bike that could work for everyone, I spent time with the Step-Thru model, which is designed for people with heights between 5 feet, 1 inches, and 6 feet, 4 inches. The High Step option, for taller riders, has a crossbar positioned between the seat post and front forks....

According to the companies, Verizon and Project Kuiper will examine low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite use cases for agriculture, energy, manufacturing, education, transportation and emergency response. In other words, the LEO partnership can connect a lot of smart farms, plants and edge compute in addition to rural consumers with a 3,236-satellite network. Here’s a look at some of the goals for the LEO collaboration: Expand Verizon’s data networks using cellular backhaul from Project Kuiper....

During the holiday season, Verizon had a variation of this deal with the Apple Watch SE and the Beats Fit Pro. You could get an iPad (9th generation) and Apple Watch SE for free if you opened lines for each, plus a free pair of Beats Fit Pro with the purchase of a 5G iPhone with a new line or upgrade. That deal has changed in the new year but still retains its luster....

Dubbed One Unlimited for iPhone, this new plan combines subscriptions to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ with Verizon’s own unlimited calling plan. Customers choosing a single line on this new plan will receive individual subscriptions to all five of those services, while customers with two or more lines will instead gain access to family subscriptions. More: Here’s everything Apple announced during its ‘Far Out’ event Verizon says this plan represents an “annual value of up to $480 included for a family,” based on the $20-per-month subscription cost of a standalone Apple One plan and other calculations....

ViLab and Actoplus Holding said in a joint statement Tuesday they would collaborate to create and manage “virtual idols” or celebrities, which could be assigned to carry out various commercial functions such hosting livestreaming events, brand endorsement, and both online and offline marketing campaigns. ViLab is a Hong Kong-based metaverse services provider that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to develop virtual identities and behaviour. Also based in Hong Kong, Actoplus offers e-commerce and digital marketing services in Greater China and other Asian markets, to a clientele that includes lifestyle and fashion brands such as Evisu and Geox....

A. A. Puryear, chief of public affairs for the Virginia National Guard, told ZDNet that the organization was notified in July about a possible cyber threat against the Virginia Defense Force and began an investigation immediately in coordination with state and federal cybersecurity and law enforcement authorities to determine what was impacted “The investigation determined the threat impacted VDF and Virginia Department of Military Affairs email accounts maintained by a contracted third party, and there are no indications either VDF or DMA internal IT infrastructure or data servers were breached or had data taken,” Puryear said....

The pandemic has transformed our lives, including our appetite for internet bandwidth. So, how much bandwidth do we need? According to John Horrigan, a senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute, and former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) research director, it’s not a hard number. After all, “not all online activities require the same speeds: For a group video call, 2.5 Mbps speeds suffice, while streaming videos may require 25 Mbps for high-definition quality....

(A screenshot from a McDonald’s ad.) Except for inflation and the lack of human beings who want to work at McDonald’s, that is. There’s another aspect, though, that brings more than a frisson of discomfort to Big Mac customers’ innards. It’s the thought that McDonald’s will soon be no more than a cold-hearted vending machine, there to dispense burgers and dispense with smiles and humanity. The company is already rigorously testing robot drive-thru ordering....

Not for COVID-19. But for not writing as much as I intended or wanted. I love writing and analysis and being opinionated and trying to at least explain existing ground – if not break new ground. And, while I don’t think that my opinion is much more than that, I owe it to myself to put it out there. So, my No. 1 New Year’s Resolution is to write a lot more....

When you run a Web site, an application, or a service on GCP, Google keeps track of all of the resources it uses – specifically, how much processing power, data storage, database queries, and network connectivity it consumes. Rather than lease a server or a DNS address by the month (which is what you would do with an ordinary Web site provider), you pay for each of these resources on a per-minute or even per-second basis, with discounts that apply when your services are used heavily by your customers on the Web....

Industries seeing significant jumps in employment include leisure and hospitality (likely as a continuing response to pent-up demand from the early COVID era), health care (also echoes of COVID), and construction. These numbers, of course, reflect broad and general employment, from knowledge workers to bricklayers. There are implications for technology professionals, suggesting there will be no letup in skills shortages in specialized areas. Even if companies opt to either cut back or compensate for their skills shortages with artificial intelligence, robots, and digital business flows, this means even more work for the people needed to design, build, program, and maintain such systems....

The first major update is the ability to leave a WhatsApp group chat without having to notify the entire group. The only person that will be notified of your departure will be the admin of the group which is a big change from its current model which, awkwardly, notifies the whole group chat of your departure. Another new feature is being able to control who sees when you are online....