NBC News: TikTok could face a $29 million fine in the U.K. for failing to protect kids’ privacy . “The Information Commissioner’s Office issued TikTok a ‘notice of intent’ informing the Chinese-owned video app of its ‘provisional view that TikTok breached UK data protection law between May 2018 and July 2020.’ It follows an investigation into the company that began in 2019.”
downthetubes: British comic fanzines archive “The Fanscene Project” has a new online home. “Founded back in 2015 as the Classic UK Comic Zines site, artist and comic archivist David Hathaway-Price has been constantly adding to what is now The Fanscene Project… the project is an online, read-only archive of British comic fanzines, published across the last 50 years, including, with the permission of their original editors, titles such as BEM, Comic Media News, Fantasy Trader, Infinity, Speakeasy, and many more.”
Bleeping Computer: UK Police arrests teen believed to be behind Uber, Rockstar hacks. “While there are no details about the investigation, the arrest is believed to be tied to the Lapsus$ hacking group, which is suspected to be behind recent cyberattacks on Uber, Rockstar Games, and 2K.”
Reuters: UK to examine cloud services dominated by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. “Britain said it would investigate competition in cloud services, a market dominated by the ‘hyperscalers’ Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google, which together account for around 81% of revenue.”
The Guardian: Google faces €25bn lawsuit in UK and EU over digital advertising. “Google faces a €25bn (£21.6bn) lawsuit in the UK and EU that accuses the tech firm of anticompetitive conduct in the digital advertising market. The company, which is a key player in the online ad market as well as being a dominant force in search, is accused of abusing its power in the ad tech market, which coordinates the sale of online advertising space between publishers and advertisers.”
TorrentFreak: Google Removes YouTube Rippers from UK Search Results. “Google has removed several popular YouTube rippers from its UK search results. The company took this action following a notice from local music group BPI, which pointed out that local ISPs are required to block the sites due to a High Court order. In response, Google voluntarily took the same action.”
The Guardian: Surrey police accused of using ‘phantom’ traffic units on Waze app. “Surrey’s police force has been accused of operating ‘phantom units’ after traffic officers admitted to providing misleading data to a satnav app. Officers said on Twitter that they falsely reported their locations as stationary on the Waze traffic app, which suggests they may be operating a speed trap, when they were in fact driving.”
City A.M.: Google heads to court over billion pound competition row for Play Store. “Google will have to defend itself at trial over a £1bn consumer claim about Play Store, a competition judge has decided. A Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling this week found that consumer champion Liz Coll is authorised to bring an opt-out collective claim against the tech giant for alleged competition infringements.”
Fold3: New British Royal Air Force Records! . “We are pleased to announce a new collection of military records from the United Kingdom. The UK, British Air Force Lists, 1919-1945 contains a list of people who served in the British Royal Air Force between the end of the First and Second World Wars.”
Museums + Heritage Advisor: Six months on, Ukraine remains in focus. “This week marks six months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an attack which has continued to devastate the country, its museums and cultural sites among the collateral…. In March, Arts Council England (ACE) provided new guidance for museums planning to work with companies and artists from Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion. Now in August, the pace of support through exhibitions shows no signs of slowing down.”
The Conversation: Social media ads are about to change – how new rules on content marketing will affect what you see and share. “We’ve all scrolled through social media and come across a witty post shared by a friend. Perhaps it references a favourite TV show, or speaks to your current mood. If you were intrigued enough to click on it, you may have been surprised to discover it’s actually an ad for fast food, fashion or even gambling. Such ads, with no apparent connection to the product and which are not overtly trying to sell you something, are called content marketing.”
Oxford Mail: Lawyer struggles to communicate with client over Google Translate. “AN ADVOCATE said he had battled to communicate with his cannabis farmer-accused client using Google Translate – as no interpreter was available. Pham Hoang, 18, was before Oxford Crown Court accused of producing the class B drug at a commercial scale factory in a flat in Underhill Circus, Barton. The Vietnamese teenager was allegedly found at the 270-plant cannabis farm by police officers during a raid on July 19.”
BBC: Ewen Bain’s Angus Og cartoons to be digitised and conserved. “A collection of Angus Og cartoons that appeared in newspapers from the 1960s to 1989 are to be digitised and conserved. The Angus Og character was created by cartoonist Ewen Bain and his adventures were based on the fabled Isle of Drambeg in the Utter Hebrides.”
Film Stories: New website to support accessible film screenings for deaf and blind audiences launches in the UK. “A new website for the UK, which is the first of its kind, aims to make cinema accessible to all. Sidecard is a searchable database, which records details relating to film access materials, such as subtitle and audio description files.”
BBC: Tiktok: Suspected gangs tout English Channel migrant crossings on platform. “Suspected people smugglers are using TikTok to advertise illegal entry into the UK via the English Channel. The BBC has found a number of people claiming they can guarantee safe passage and calm waters for £5,000. The Home Office said posts which ‘promote lethal crossings’ were unacceptable, but there are calls for more to be done to stop people-smuggling being advertised online.”
