All eyes on the UK Supreme Court today as it will rule on £2bn lawsuit by 4m Brits against Google November 10, 2021 Should a billion-pound legal action against Google over claims it secretly tracked millions of iPhone users’ internet activity be allowed to go ahead? The UK’s highest court will give its verdict at 9.45am today. Former Which? director Richard Lloyd, supported by the campaign group Google You Owe Us, wants to bring a “representative action” against [...]
UK data on emissions must be improved to meet net zero target, says IT industry leads November 10, 2021 Data on emissions must be improved to meet the UK’s net zero target, the IT industry has urged. More than 70 per cent of technology experts lack confidence that key policymakers and departments have access to the right data, a survey by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT has revealed. The data needs to be [...]
The virtual metaverse requires very real-world regulation November 9, 2021 Regulators tend only to emerge in the spotlight of public scrutiny when something goes wrong. FCA bosses have spent the last couple of years being wheeled in front of Select Committees to explain the collossal cock-ups that led to the London Capital & Finance minibond scandal – including its former boss Andrew Bailey, who despite [...]
MPs reject change to telecom security law that bars China’s Huawei from 5G network November 9, 2021 New legislative rules aimed at blocking the installation of Huawei technology in the UK’s 5G network have been rejected by MPs. The Telecommunications (Security) Bill should force providers to stop installing equipment by the Chinese phone-maker in the UK’s 5G networks and also sets out a road map to remove high-risk vendors altogether. The House [...]
Space: Reversing net zero progress or climate saving grace? November 9, 2021 The new space age, dubbed Space 2.0, could unleash a raft of climate benefits, such as real-time modelling – but the carbon-dense sector has environmental advocates nervous. Prince William has criticised the second revival of the space race and emerging space tourism which billionaire’s Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have been gunning for [...]
Billionaire entrepreneurs like Bezos and Musk are changing the economics of space November 9, 2021 Billionaire entrepreneurs using their wealth to launch successful space companies has made the sector far more accessible to smaller start-ups. The reliability of the space launches from the likes of Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, due in part to their vast financial backing, has dragged down insurance prices for smaller firms in the [...]
UK satellite company Inmarsat agrees £5.4bn takeover by U.S. rival Viasat November 8, 2021 The British satellite communications company Inmarsat has agreed a $7.3bn (£5.4bn) takeover by the U.S. rival Viasat.
Cyber security giant McAfee goes private in a $14bn deal November 8, 2021 The cyber security company McAfee goes private in a $14bn deal with a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Advent International The deal comes as a pandemic-driven shift to remote working and a rise in cyber attacks have spurred demand for antivirus and digital security software. The company, founded by technology entrepreneur John McAfee [...]
NHS to receive £250m in bid for more diagnostics tech as patient backlogs grow November 8, 2021 The National Health Service (NHS) is set to receive a £248m injection in a bid to modernise its diagnostics as pandemic-induced patient backlogs grow. The government funds, which will be invested over the next year, will see NHS labs to share patient results, tests and scans quicker between different hospitals and doctors, cutting the time [...]
UK fintech body slams government for ‘ducking’ to roll out sector strategy November 8, 2021 UK fintech’s industry body, Innovate Finance, has attacked the government for inaction in delivering on its recommendations for the sector in the Kalifa report, published earlier this year. Adam Jackson, director of policy at Innovate Finance, said: “The main policy and regulation recommendation that has been ducked so far is for a FinTech strategy. “Kalifa [...]