Facebook admits uploading email contacts of 1.5m new users in latest privacy blunder April 18, 2019 Facebook has admitted it “unintentionally” uploaded the email address contacts of 1.5m new users since 2016 in the latest privacy misstep for the social media giant. The data scraping happened during the verification process for new accounts, when users were asked to supply their email address password and Facebook kept a copy of their address [...]
Microsoft Outlook and Hotmail accounts accessed by hackers April 15, 2019 Microsoft has admitted that hackers had access to some of its Outlook, Hotmail and MSN email accounts for at least three months. The software company would not say how many accounts were compromised in the breach that lasted from 1 January to 28 March. Hackers stole login credentials for a Microsoft customer support agent and [...]
Watchdog plans crackdown over children’s online safety April 15, 2019 Social media giants must limit their collection of personal data from children or face fines of up to £17m, the UK data watchdog has warned. The Information Commissioner’s Office will today open consultation on a code of practice which online platforms such as Facebook and Snap must meet in order to better protect children’s privacy. [...]
Nothing but the truth: Inside Facebook’s UK fact-checking war room April 15, 2019 The war against fake news on social media has been raging since 2016, though it wasn’t until January this year that Facebook decided to take its fight to the British shores. “If this is a war room, I don’t know who the generalissimo would be,” jokes Will Moy, director of the fact-checking charity Full Fact [...]
Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp down across Europe for more than three hours April 14, 2019 Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp left users frustrated today after going offline across the UK and Europe for more than three hours. The three social network giants, which are owned by Facebook, went down at about 11am, according to monitoring website Down Detector. Facebook is having issues since 6:36 AM EDT. https://t.co/BLSiYCF9KL RT if it's down [...]
China is proving a tough market for western brands – here’s the common mistakes that companies keep making April 12, 2019 Last week, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its 2019 growth forecast for the Chinese economy to 6.3 per cent, up from 6.2 per cent. For comparison, the UK economy is only expected to grow 1.2 per cent this year. It’s worth noting these figures, because they highlight why many brands in the UK and elsewhere [...]
China’s mobile brands have global ambitions – this will have a big impact on the digital marketing ecosystem April 12, 2019 With the world’s online mobile population growing day by day, and a home market dominated by giants such as Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba, Chinese app developers are increasingly looking to market their apps abroad. I have seen first-hand this shift from a focus on the domestic market to a much more global viewpoint. And I [...]
Facebook and the tech giants are welcoming government regulation – that’s a panic signal for all of us April 9, 2019 Last year, I met someone who had previously worked for a big tech firm in its “free speech” unit. What had happened to make him come and slum it among us mortals in the (badly paid) policy world? Answer: the unit had been shut down. It’s in this context that you should see the milquetoast [...]
Lush ditches social media amid switch to influencer marketing April 9, 2019 Cosmetics retailer Lush is cutting down its social media presence in a bid to encourage one-to-one contact with its customers. The soap specialist has revealed its plan to “switch up social”, saying from next week it will interact with punters over live chat on or its website, or by email or phone. Read more: Social [...]
Music rights firm One Media IP sees profits soar as it cashes in on streaming April 9, 2019 Shares in music rights company One Media IP jumped as much as 15 per cent this morning after it reported a huge rise in profits for the full year. One Media posted a 16 per cent rise in revenue to £2.7m in the year to the end of October, while pre-tax profit soared 63 per [...]