News

Apple CEO escalates battle with Facebook over online privacy

Apple CEO Tim Cook fired off a series of thinly veiled shots at Facebook and other social media companies Thursday, escalating an online privacy battle pitting the iPhone maker against digital services that depend on tracking people to help sell ads. “Too many are still asking the question ‘how much can we get away with?’ […]

IMF: Vaccines will power 5.5% global economic growth in 2021

The spread of COVID-19 vaccines will power a stronger global economic recovery in 2021, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday. After sinking 3.5% in 2020, the worst year since World War II, the global economy will grow 5.5% this year, the 190-country lending organization predicted. The new figure for 2021 is an upgrade from the […]

Debate heats up over how countries tax Big Tech companies

An international debate over how countries tax big U.S. technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook is heating up, presenting a challenge for President Joe Biden’s new administration. A mid-year deadline is on the horizon for talks about a global deal to defuse trade disputes with France and other countries that are imposing go-it-alone […]

Apple to crack down on tracking iPhone users in early spring

Apple says it will roll out a new privacy control in the spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people. The delay in its anticipated rollout aims to placate Facebook and other digital services that depend on such data surveillance to help sell ads. Although Apple didn’t provide a specific date, the general timetable […]

Regulator says Australia must address Google ad dominance

A lack of competition for Google and a lack of transparency in the digital advertising supply chain needed to be addressed because they were impacting publishers, advertisers and consumers, Australia’s competition watchdog said on Thursday. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released its interim report on its inquiry into the Google-dominated digital advertising services industry […]

Norway to fine dating app Grindr $11.7M over privacy breach

Gay dating app Grindr faces a fine of more than $10 million from Norwegian regulators for failing to get consent from users before sharing their personal information with advertising companies, in breach of stringent European Union privacy rules. The Norwegian data privacy watchdog said Tuesday that it notified Grindr LLC of its draft decision to […]

Walmart to build more robot-filled warehouses at stores

Walmart is enlisting the help of robots to keep up with a surge in online orders. The company said Wednesday that it plans to build warehouses at its stores where self-driving robots will fetch groceries and have them ready for shoppers to pick up in an hour or less. Walmart declined to say how many […]

Under Biden, China faces renewed trade pressure

The U.S.-Chinese trade war isn’t going away under President Joe Biden. Biden won’t confront Beijing right away, economists say, because he wants to focus on the coronavirus and the economy. However, Biden looks set to renew pressure over trade and technology grievances that prompted President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2017. […]

Google says Chrome cookie replacement plan making progress

Google says it’s making progress on plans to revamp Chrome user tracking technology aimed at improving privacy even as it faces challenges from regulators and officials. The company gave an update Monday on its work to remove from its Chrome browser so-called third-party cookies, which are used by a website’s advertisers or partners and can […]

Russian hack of US agencies exposed supply chain weaknesses

The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn’t bother trying to break one by one into the networks of each department. Instead, they got inside by sneaking malicious code into a software update pushed out to thousands of government agencies and private companies. It wasn’t surprising that […]