By Alexandra Alper and Karen Freifeld The Biden administration is considering closing a loophole that gives Chinese companies

The UK’s data protection regulator is to review period and fertility tracking apps over concerns around the data security of such platforms. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the review was in response to figures it had obtained from its own research, which found that more than half of women using these apps had concerns over how their data was being used. The data protection watchdog’s research showed a third of women have used apps to track their periods or fertility, and more than half of those who have used an app believed they had noticed an increase in baby or fertility-related adverts since signing up, with 17% said they had found this distressing. The ICO said its poll showed concerns around data use and how secure their data was were named as bigger fears among women than the cost of these apps or ease of use. We want to make sure women can use these services with confidence, so we’re calling for people to share their experiences Emily Keaney, ICO The regulator is now urging users to come forward and report their own experiences using tracking apps as part of a call for evidence. It said it had also contacted companies who provide period and fertility tracking apps to find out how they are processing users’ personal information. The ICO said the focus of its work would be to identify if there was the potential for harm and negative impact on users. “These statistics suggest data security is a significant concern for women when it comes to choosing an app to track their periods or plan or prevent pregnancy,” Emily Keaney, ICO deputy commissioner of regulatory policy, said. “That’s not surprising, given the incredibly sensitive and personal information involved. “We want to make sure women can use these services with confidence, so we’re calling for people to share their experiences. “This will help us understand whether there are areas that need improvement – from how easy it is to navigate privacy policies to whether people have experienced upsetting and unexpected targeted advertising. “We also know some users feel these apps bring many benefits and we’d like to hear about these too. “As with all health apps, we would expect organisations to safeguard their users’ privacy and have transparent policies in place. “This review is intended to establish both the good and bad of how the apps are working currently. “Once we have more information, we will explore next steps, but we will not hesitate to take regulatory action to protect the public if necessary.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Russian cyber-attacks ‘relentless’ as threat of WW3 grows, expert warns Warner Music sign first digital character Noonoouri and release debut single Met should thoroughly investigate cyber security practices, say experts

A group of amateur radio enthusiasts have set up a beacon in the UK that allows anyone to observe meteors as they burn through the Earth’s atmosphere. The UK Meteor Beacon project uses radio signals to identify meteorites as they pass through a 400 km-wide section of sky over England and Wales. The data is then displayed on a live online feed, with meteors appearing as blue streaks that emit a ping followed by a trailing pitch. The system captures more than 100 meteors every hour, even during times of relatively low activity. For the upcoming Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on 12 August, the frequency could be in the region of thousands per hour as Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Unlike optical astronomy, the use of radio signals mean that meteors can be observed in nearly any weather conditions at all hours of the day and night. It also means that the system can pick up smaller meteors that may not appear as ‘shooting stars’ to the naked eye. This method of observation could potentially lead to the discovery of new meteor showers, which could then be tracked to uncover previously unknown comets. The radio transmitter is based at the Sherwood Observatory near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, however receivers can be placed anywhere in the country. “The transmitter is illuminating the sky above Mansfield with radio signals that can be reflected by meteors and their trails,” Brian Coleman, who designed the system’s hardware and has a receiver in his back garden, told The Independent. “Even outside the Perseids and other meteor showers we’re seeing them at a rate of two a minute – and we can observe them day and night no matter what the weather. Only thunderstorms and lightning can interfere with it.” It is the first meteor beacon system run by amateur radio and astronomy volunteers in the UK, and has already received funding from the Radio Society of Great Britain and the British Astronomical Association. It has also gained the attention of academic and citizen scientists keen on studying meteors. Setting up the beacon transmitter is only the first part of the project, with the four-person team now planning to design and deploy echo receivers that can be distributed throughout the country at distances of up to 1,200 km from the Sherwood Observatory. The receivers can be built for as little as £10, according to Mr Coleman, using plastic pipes and other materials found in DIY stores. His hope is that the low cost will encourage schools to set up their own receivers to develop STEM-related projects that will encourage students to explore radio engineering and astronomy. Observations of the meteors from different directions can also be used to calculate the location and trajectory of meteors, with the team currently trying to establish whether it is possible to triangulate the meteors by studying the horizontal lines and blue smudges that appear on the waterfall display. Such measurements are currently possible with military-grade pulse radar systems, but it has never been done before on this scale. If it is possible, then knowing the speed and direction of the meteors will allow them to calculate the landing spot of any meteors that make it through the Earth’s ionosphere without burning up completely. These samples can then be studied to offer a better understanding of the universe. “The ultimate ambition is to have a system like Blitzortung, which uses a network of ground-based detectors to track live lightning strikes around the planet,” Mr Coleman said. “If successful, we could observe meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere in real-time throughout the world – but there’s still a lot of work to do before we achieve that.” Read More Amateur astronomers make ‘major breakthrough’ in saving Earth from asteroids ‘It’s becoming like an airport’: How SpaceX normalised rocket launches Perseid meteor shower offers best chance to see a ‘shooting star’ in 2023 Watch live: Russian cosmonauts step out of ISS to perform spacewalk Earth hit by powerful ‘X-1’ solar flare, after fears of ‘cannibal’ blast

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After challenging T-Series to become the most subscribed channel on YouTube, MrBeast announced a collaboration with the platform's two biggest names

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday launched a $7 billion competitive grant program that

A top European Union official is touring Silicon Valley this week and reminding tech platforms including Twitter and Facebook-parent Meta about their content moderation obligations, just weeks ahead of a deadline to comply with sweeping new EU laws that will apply to large social media platforms.

Microsoft has made a major change to its proposed takeover of the developer of Call of Duty, in yet another attempt to get it completed. The company is hoping to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, or £54 billion, in what would be one of the biggest sales ever. But it has faced intense regulatory scrutiny, including by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which has looked to block the deal. Now it has said that it has sent a fresh proposal for how the takeover would work in an attempt to convince the CMA that the deal should go ahead. But it has stressed that there is still no “green light” for the deal. It came as the regulator confirmed on Tuesday that Microsoft‘s original plan to buy the computer games company “cannot proceed”. Under the new proposal, Microsoft would sell off its rights to offer games via the cloud for new or existing Activision PC or console games for the next 15 years outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It will instead sell those rights to Ubisoft, a rival developer known for the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games series. This is designed to ensure that gamers have access to Activision Blizzard’s games, even on consoles and computers not made by Microsoft. The CMA will now launch a new probe into this deal, a so-called Phase 1 investigation. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “The CMA has today confirmed that Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision, as originally proposed, cannot proceed. “Separately, Microsoft has notified a new and restructured deal, which is substantially different from what was put on the table previously “This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments.” Microsoft president Brad Smith said: “Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services.” It marks a new twist in the case, the biggest fight the CMA has taken on since gaining new post-Brexit powers. At one point the case looked like as though it would only end after a court battle. In January 2022 Microsoft announced that it planned to buy Activision Blizzard, the company behind the Call Of Duty and World Of Warcraft games, for an eye-watering sum. When the UK was still an EU member, a deal of that size would have been assessed by regulators in Brussels. But after Brexit the CMA now has the power to investigate such deals itself. Although both companies are American, both have significant businesses in the UK so their tie-up could have a significant impact on competition here. Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said: “For us, nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture: our merger agreement with Microsoft, closing deadline, and the cash consideration to be paid for each Activision Blizzard share at closing remain the same. “We will continue to work closely with Microsoft and the CMA throughout the remaining review process, and we are committed to help Microsoft clear any final hurdles as quickly as possible. “This has been a longer journey than expected, and I am very proud of how focused everyone has remained on delivering great games.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Japanese scientists hoping for a message from alien life imminently iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life Meta could finally launch Threads feature everyone is waiting for Japanese scientists hoping for a message from alien life imminently iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life

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Daniel Zhang, the former CEO of Alibaba, has stepped down from his position in the tech giant’s cloud division, in a move that has shocked industry leaders. The 51-one-year-old had taken charge of the cloud division just months ago. Since the announcement by Alibaba, the component stock dropped 3 per cent on Monday in Hong Kong. “The board of our company expresses its deepest appreciation to Mr Zhang for his contributions to Alibaba Group over the past 16 years,” Alibaba said in a statement. Eddie Yongming Wu will succeed Mr Zhang as the acting chairman and CEO of its cloud unit, according to the statement. Nearly three months ago, Mr Zhang quit as company chief and said that he wanted to take care of the spin-off of its cloud business. Now, as Alibaba announced his exit from the cloud division amid the biggest-ever restructuring of the company, Mr Zhang’s exit has come as a surprise to analysts. “We were surprised by the announcement,” Citi analysts wrote on Monday. “Mr Zhang may have wanted to step back from the public spotlight, in our view,” they added, according to CNN. The cloud division is currently estimated to be worth $41bn - $60bn. However, analysts said the reams of data it oversees puts it at risk of facing regulatory scrutiny from both domestic and international regulators. Alibaba split into six business groups – including cloud, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment – in March in a major restructuring. “Daniel has expressed his wish to transition away from his role as chairman and CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group,” Alibaba said in the letter. “Following careful consideration, the Alibaba board respected and accepted Daniel’s decision and appointed Eddie as acting chairman and CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group, effectively immediately.” Citi analyst Alicia Yap was quoted as saying by CNBC on Monday that “investors may be concerned that the timing and process of AliCloud’s spin-off may be affected”. She added that Citi will continue to monitor developments and that they are awaiting any new announcements. CNN reported that in an internal letter to employees, Joseph C Tsai, chairman of Alibaba Group, said that he and Mr Wu are looking forward to embracing “the next phase” of Alibaba’s development. “This past March, we embarked on our most ambitious reorganisation in Alibaba’s 24-year history – “1+6+N” – in order to position the company for the future,” he wrote on Sunday, referring to the company’s organisational structure after the restructuring – 1 holding company, six business groups and various businesses. “Under Daniel’s and our team’s dedicated efforts, the reorganisation is making steady progress while our business continues to grow.” Read More Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announces new CEO and chairman in major management reshuffle Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says it will not sell shares in Ant's buyback program Chinese livestreamers set their sights on TikTok sales to shoppers in the US and Europe How Google reshaped the world – and is about to do it all over again Update your iPhone immediately The new iPhone could be the most expensive ever by far

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