A former Apple engineer who fled to China five years ago has been charged with stealing the company’s self-driving car technology. The US Justice Department charged Weibao Wang, 35, for stealing large troves of data from Apple, including trade secrets and technology related to autonomous systems that are used to design self-driving cars. Mr Wang was charged with six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets, according to a press release issued by the department. “Innovation is alive and well in Silicon Valley – indeed, throughout the Northern District of California,” said US attorney Ismail J Ramsey. “Unfortunately, there will always be some who cheat the system by stealing and profiting from the fruits of others’ labour. The Wang prosecution is but one example. We are pleased that the Disruptive Technology Task Force renews energy and focus on securing innovation for those who actually create it.” The former Apple engineer was a resident of Mountain View in California and began working with the tech giant in 2016. He had signed a confidentiality agreement for the project for which he was working on, and very few people at the company knew about it at that time. He began working as staff engineer with the US-based subsidiary of a Chinese company and was working to develop self-driving cars, the indictment said. The company was identified only as “Company One” in the indictment. Mr Wang was also accused of waiting for more than four months before telling Apple that he was resigning, after he signed a new employment agreement with “Company One”. After the last day of his employment at Apple, on 16 April 2018, Apple’s officials found in their logs that he had accessed large troves of confidential data in the final days of his stint at the tech giant. His Mountain View home was searched on 27 June 2018. Law enforcement agents discovered “large quantities of data taken from Apple prior to his departure” during the search, for which Mr Wang was present. After telling the agents that he had no plans to travel, he purchased a one-way ticket to Guangzhou, China, and boarded a flight that same night. In a press conference, Mr Ramsey said Mr Wang remained in China and he could face 10 years in jail, if extradited and convicted. This is the third incident of a former Apple employee being charged for stealing of documents for China. Two other Apple employees have previously been charged in similar cases involving theft of trade secrets, reported the BBC. Read More Elon Musk calls working from home ‘morally wrong’ How many more rapists and killers are in Met? Police force ‘institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic’ says damning report The Independent backs calls for jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai to be released

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Apple has launched a new campaign highlighting the importance of keeping health data private – and the dangers of not doing so. The ads look to highlight iPhone features that Apple says ensure that it is able to collect data on its users, but not cause them embarrassment or threats by allowing other people to get hold of it. It does so by depicting a doctors waiting room in which the various health complaints of patients are broadcast to everyone, and suggests that people who are not sufficiently protecting their privacy may accidentally be doing the same on the internet. Lauren Cheung, a doctor and senior manager on Apple’s clinical team, told The Independent that the campaign grew out of Apple’s commitment to the “three core principles throughout all of our work on health: actionability, scientific validation, and privacy”. That means ensuring that the data collected is useful, and that it is “based in science” to ensure that it is accurate, she said – but also that it is protected. “First, there’s probably nothing more sensitive than health data,” she said, “so it should always be a priority to protect it. “Second, we believe our users should expect the same confidentiality from their technology as they do from their doctor. I’m a physician myself, and I know just how sensitive some conversations are; my patients are telling me information that sometimes they’ve never told anyone else.” The campaign will come in the form of the new TV ad – which is voiced by actor Jane Lynch and directed by Craig Gillespie, the director of I, Tony and Cruella – as well as billboards in 24 regions around the world, Apple said. But Apple is also publishing a white paper online that highlights the ways that Apple protects health data on the iPhone and other products. That includes encrypting all of the data that is stored within the Health app, apart from the Medical ID that is available to people who find a phone and gives important information that might be used to treat its owner. It also means that data in the Health app can only be shared with other apps when owners give their explicit permission. That sharing does mean that third-party developers are able to get access to people’s data, and so those users are not only trusting Apple but also other companies. But Apple stressed that those developers are nonetheless subject to rules that try to keep that data safe. That includes the “granular control that users have over sharing their health data”, said Katie Skinner, head of privacy engineering at Apple. That gives users the option not only to choose who they are sharing health information with, but also which bits of their health information they intend to share. The same granular choice is also present when Apple conducts studies in collaboration with different organisations, which have already worked to gather information that helps research on topics such as heart health and hearing levels. Users can choose what they share with those researchers and Apple is not told whether people have done so. “Additionally, any third-party app that reads or writes health data must comply with our terms in the developer agreement and our App Store guidelines”, which includes rules that require that the data is only used for health and fitness purposes. That requires for instance that it is not used for advertising purposes or sold on to other companies who might do the same. If third-party apps do not comply with those rules, then they can be kicked out of the App Store. Apple also has an app review process that is intended to ensure that any apps comply before they are made available. Ms Skinner also said that a member of the privacy team works on every new health feature, which “really means that they’re designed with privacy in mind”. “Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right, and so we’ve built privacy protections into each one of our products and services,” she said. Apple has run similar privacy campaigns in the past, highlighting for example its work to protect users’ browsing information and to stop it being sold through data brokers. It did not point to any specific incident that had led it to focus on health data this time around, but said that customers were particularly focused on the security of their health data. “I think we're proud of the great health story we have for privacy,” said Ms Skinner. “Privacy is important across the board, but we know users believe that health data is really sensitive.” Promoting the privacy of Apple’s health services also ensures that people are able to trust them, said Dr Cheung, ensuring that people feel comfortable with using their devices to track their health. “We know that health data is sensitive – it’s one of the most sensitive pieces of information you can have,” she said. “And we do really feel like it is important for users to trust her devices the same way that they would trust their doctors. “We want to support our users in understanding that the same applies to their health information on our devices.” Apple’s launch of the campaign came just days ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference event, where it shows off new software updates for all of its platforms. That is likely to include new changes for the Apple Watch and its WatchOS operating system, which might include new updates to the health and fitness tools that are central to Apple’s marketing of the wearable. Read More Apple is making a ‘mixed reality’ headset. Here’s what that future might look like Montana TikTok ban ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘impossible to enforce’ Apple and Samsung use AI to make phones more accessible for disabled people Apple releases its first transparent product in years New iPhone feature can recreate your voice perfectly after just 15 minutes 75% of Irish data watchdog’s GDPR decisions since 2018 overruled – report

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Microsoft has rolled out its communities feature on Teams for Windows 11. The Discord-like feature,