Associated Press

News Agency

Gaza-based journalists in Hamas chat blocked from WhatsApp

A few hours after the latest cease-fire took effect in the Gaza Strip, a number of Palestinian journalists in the coastal enclave found they were blocked from accessing WhatsApp messenger — a crucial tool used to communicate with sources, editors and the world beyond the blockaded strip. The Associated Press reached out to 17 journalists […]

India's national carrier says hack leaked passengers' data

Personal data of an unspecified number of travelers has been compromised after a company that serves India’s national carrier was hacked, Air India said. The hackers were able to access 10 years’ worth of data including names, passport and credit card details from the Atlanta-based SITA Passenger Service System, Air India said in a statement […]

Florida law seeks to rein in large social media companies

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday that seeks to punish social media platforms that remove “conservative ideas” from their sites, though it is not clear if it would pass constitutional muster because it might violate the First Amendment. The new law will enable the state to fine large social media companies […]

Russian to be deported after failed Tesla ransomware plot

A Russian man was sentenced Monday to what amounted to time already served and will be deported after pleading guilty to trying to pay a Tesla employee $500,000 to install computer malware at the company’s Nevada electric battery plant in a bid to steal company secrets for ransom. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, appearing by videoconference from […]

A new reason to swipe right? Dating apps adding vax badges

The White House is pushing a new reason to swipe right: vaccination badges and “super swipes” for people who’ve gotten their coronavirus shots. The Biden administration said Friday it’s teaming up with dating apps to showcase the benefits of getting a shot. Apps like Hinge, Tinder, Match and Bumble are offering special incentives to people […]

Reporter's driverless van ride: Cool tech, freaky turns

The annoyed shopper paced around and knocked on the windows of a minivan blocking him from leaving his Costco parking spot. He didn’t seem to notice, or care, that there was no one inside. A colleague and I had called for the Waymo ride — our first in a fully driverless vehicle — and quickly […]

Apple CEO faces tough questions about app store competition

Apple CEO Tim Cook described the company’s ironclad control over its mobile app store as the best way to serve and protect iPhone users, but he faced tough questions about competition issues from a judge Friday about allegations he oversees an illegal monopoly. The rare courtroom appearance by one of the world’s best-known executives came […]

China authorities name 105 apps for improper data practices

China’s internet watchdog said Friday it had found Bytedance’s Douyin, Microsoft Bing, LinkedIn and 102 other apps were engaged in improper collection and use of data and ordered them to fix the problem. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said that the 105 apps violated laws by excessively collecting and illegally accessing users’ personal information, […]

WhatsApp denies it will drop privacy update for Turkey users

Turkey’s competition watchdog said Friday it was told by WhatsApp that the chat app won’t apply a controversial privacy update following an investigation, but the announcement was contradicted by the Facebook-owned app, which said it still plans to roll out the update for Turkish users. It’s a fresh sign of the confusion between regulators and […]

EU signs new deal with Pfizer-BioNTech, Hungary opts out

The European Union’s executive arm on Thursday finalized a third vaccine contract with Pfizer and BioNTech through 2023 for an additional 1.8 billion doses of their COVID-19 shot to share between the bloc’s countries except for Hungary, which opted out of the deal. The European commission said the contract, which was agreed on behalf of […]