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British iPhone users have shown minimal reaction to Apple's decision to disable end-to-end encryption for UK iCloud customers, challenging the company's assumption about privacy priorities, a Bloomberg columnist notes. Rather than create a government-accessible backdoor demanded under Britain's Investigatory Powers Act, Apple chose to eliminate its Advanced Data Protection feature entirely for UK customers, effectively giving both authorities and potential hackers easier access to stored emails, photos and documents. The near absence of public outcry from British consumers points to what researchers call the "privacy paradox," where stated concerns about data security rarely translate to action. According to cited research, while 92% of American consumers believe they should control their online information, only 16% have stopped using services over data misuse. The quiet reception suggests Apple's principled stand against backdoors may have limited impact if customers don't understand or value encrypted protection, potentially undermining privacy's effectiveness as a marketing differentiator for the tech giant.

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How hard can it be to add colors and percentages?

Microsoft has halted the rollout of a revamped battery indicator to Windows 11 Insiders in the Release Preview Channel.…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Meta Platforms is in discussions to construct a new data center campus for its artificial intelligence projects, with potential costs exceeding $200 billion, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta executives have informed data center developers that the company is considering building the campus in states including Louisiana, Wyoming or Texas, with senior leaders having visited potential sites this month, the report said.

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Experts warned the UK’s recent 'victory' over Apple would kickstart something of a domino effect

Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker says her company will withdraw from countries that force messaging providers to allow law enforcement officials to access encrypted user data, as Sweden continues to mull such plans.…

North Korean hackers have executed the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, draining $1.5 billion from Dubai-based exchange Bybit by compromising its multisignature cold wallet system. The attackers stole over 400,000 ethereum and staked ethereum coins without exploiting code vulnerabilities or infrastructure. Security researchers from Elliptic identified North Korean signatures in the subsequent laundering operations, consistent with the nation's ongoing cryptocurrency theft operations that fund its weapons programs. Investigators determined the hackers manipulated the user interfaces on multiple Bybit employees' devices simultaneously, tricking authorized personnel into approving what appeared to be legitimate transactions. This sophisticated attack "altered the smart contract logic and masked the signing interface," according to Bybit's disclosure. "The Bybit hack has shattered long-held assumptions about crypto security," noted researchers at Check Point. "No matter how strong your smart contract logic or multisig protections are, the human element remains the weakest link."

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All fixed for Flight Test Eight, OK?

As SpaceX prepares for a Friday launch of its next Starship flight test, Elon Musk's biz has explained that the failure of the previous test was due to a harmonic response.…

Privacy-centric Android makes more sense on this form factor than a phone

We had a play with Murena's first tablet, a Google Pixel running /e/OS, its in-house de-Googled Android 13 with additional privacy features.…

That's down on last year in terms of financial compensation and – given ink price hike – the number of supplies he is valued at

HP CEO Enrique Lores saw his total compensation shrink by a little more than $98,000 in the corporation's fiscal 2024. To mere mortals that would induce tears, but as for the executive himself, it likely just meant he had to opt for a slightly less shiny new suit.…

New research suggests that anthocyanins, the antioxidants responsible for the vibrant colors of fruits and flowers, may help counteract reproductive harm caused by microplastics. The Guardian reports: The new review of scientific literature on anthocyanins found that the compounds are probably protective against a range of plastic-induced impacts on hormones, reductions in testosterone and estrogen, decreased sperm counts, lower sperm quality, erectile dysfunction and ovarian damage. [...] Researchers said that mice exposed to microplastics, then treated with anthocyanins, showed increased sperm quality, including increased sperm count and motility, and the antioxidants overall reduced testicular damage. The new paper also pointed to research that found some microplastics reduce testosterone levels because they harm Leydig cells, which are responsible for the hormone's production. Anthocyanins seem to helped restore testosterone production and protect Leydig cells. In women, impacts on fertility and sexual development could be mitigated by anthocyanins that seem to protect hormone receptors from plastic chemicals such as bisphenol, phthalates and cadmium. The chemicals can mimic hormones, or cause hormonal responses. Microplastics in ovarian tissue cause inflammation that seems to lower levels of estrogen and other hormones. Research found that treating rats exposed to microplastics protected the ovarian tissue and normalized levels of estrogen and other hormones. "Its antioxidant properties help preserve ovarian function and potentially maintain fertility, highlighting its therapeutic potential in managing ovarian damage," the authors wrote.

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Plus: Beware of a hotspot called 'spanky'

Computing pioneer Steve Wozniak didn't set out to revolutionize the computer industry. He just wanted the respect of his fellow engineers.…

Microsoft CEO is more interested in neural nets boosting GDP than delivering superhuman intelligence

While the likes of OpenAI and Alibaba are talking up artificial general intelligence (AGI) capable of replacing humans, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella argues AI's success should be measured by its benefit to the global economy – which may come once the technology finds a killer app to match the impact of email or Excel.…

Plus: DOGE staff quit; LastPass PC, Mac gasp; and CISA warns Oracle and Adobe flaws under attack

Infosec bytes Kaspersky says it has found more than 200 GitHub repos hosting fairly convincing-looking fake projects laced with malicious software.…

Asteroid 2024 YR4, once considered a significant impact risk, has been reassigned to Torino Scale Level Zero and therefore poses no hazard to Earth. "The NASA JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) now lists the 2024 YR4 impact probability as 0.00005 (0.005%) or 1-in-20,000 for its passage by Earth in 2032," Richard Binzel, Professor of Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and creator of the Torino scale exclusively told Space.com. "That's impact probability zero folks!" From the report: Discovered in Dec. 2024, 2024 YR4 quickly climbed to the top of NASA's Sentry Risk table, at one point having a 1 in 32 chance of hitting Earth. This elevated it to Level 3 on the Torino scale, a system used since 1999 to categorize potential Earth impact events. Level 3, which falls within the yellow band of the Torino Scale, is described as: "A close encounter, meriting attention by astronomers. Current calculations give a 1% or greater chance of collision capable of localized destruction." This conforms to the second part of the Torino scale level 3 description, which states: "Most likely, new telescopic observations will lead to re-assignment to Level 0. Attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away." "Asteroid 2024 YR4 has now been reassigned to Torino Scale Level Zero, the level for 'No Hazard' as additional tracking of its orbital path has reduced its possibility of intersecting the Earth to below the 1-in-1000 threshold," Binzel continued. "1-in-1000 is the threshold established for downgrading to Level 0 for any object smaller than 100 meters; YR4 has an estimated size of 164 feet (50 meters)." [...] While 2024 YR4 poses no threat, it will still have a major scientific impact when it passes Earth in 2028 and again in 2032. On Dec. 17, the asteroid will come to within 5 million miles of Earth. Then, on Dec.22, 2032, 2024 YR4 will pass within just 167,000 miles of our planet. For context, the moon is 238,855 miles away.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: As investigators struggled for weeks to find who might have committed the brutal stabbings of four University of Idaho students in the fall of 2022, they were focused on a key piece of evidence: DNA on a knife sheath that was found at the scene of the crime. At first they tried checking the DNA with law enforcement databases, but that did not provide a hit. They turned next to the more expansive DNA profiles available in some consumer databases in which users had consented to law enforcement possibly using their information, but that also did not lead to answers. F.B.I. investigators then went a step further, according to newly released testimony, comparing the DNA profile from the knife sheath with two databases that law enforcement officials are not supposed to tap: GEDmatch and MyHeritage. It was a decision that appears to have violated key parameters of a Justice Department policy that calls for investigators to operate only in DNA databases "that provide explicit notice to their service users and the public that law enforcement may use their service sites." It also seems to have produced results: Days after the F.B.I.'s investigative genetic genealogy team began working with the DNA profiles, it landed on someone who had not been on anyone's radar:Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminology who has now been charged with the murders. The case has shown both the promise and the unregulated power of genetic technology in an era in which millions of people willingly contribute their DNA profiles to recreational databases, often to hunt for relatives. In the past, law enforcement officials would need to find a direct match between DNA at the crime scene and that of a specific suspect. Now, investigators can use consumer DNA data to build family trees that can zero in on a person of interest -- within certain policy limits.

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Plus: New figurehead of DOGE emerges and they aren't called Elon

During confirmation hearings in the US Senate Tuesday for the role of deputy director of the Dept of Homeland Security, the nominee Troy Edgar said CISA has had the wrong management and needed to be "reined in."…

Chinese robotics company Zhongqing Robotics (also known as Engine AI) posted a video of what is claimed to be the world's first humanoid robot front flip. New Atlas reports: Ten years ago, this kind of stuff simply did not exist. And now you can buy your very own open-source PM01 robot for US$13,700, according to EngineAI's website. Its specs aren't bad: 5-DoF (degrees of freedom) in each arm and six per leg. That's 23-DoF in body movement in total. The bot also boasts 221 lb-ft of torque (300 Nm), which seems like quite a punch when the little guy is only 4.5 ft (138 cm) tall and weighs 88 lb (40kg). You can watch the video here.

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Denmark is set to ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs, following a government commission's recommendation that children under 13 should not have their own smartphones. The Guardian reports: The government said it would change existing legislation to force all folkeskole -- comprehensive primary and lower secondary schools -- to become phone-free, meaning that almost all children aged between seven and 16-17 will be required by law not to bring their phones into school. The announcement marks a U-turn by the government, which had previously refused to introduce such a law. It comes as governments across Europe are trying to impose tighter regulations on children's access to phones and social media. The Danish wellbeing commission was set up by the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in 2023 to investigate growing dissatisfaction among children and young people. Its long-awaited report, published on Tuesday, raised the alarm over the digitisation of children and young people's lives and called for a better balance between digital and analogue life. Among its 35 recommendations was the need for government legislation banning phones from schools and after-school clubs. The minister for children and education, Mattias Tesfaye, told Politiken: "There is a need to reclaim the school as an educational space, where there is room for reflection and where it is not an extension of the teenage bedroom." There will be scope for local authorities to make exceptions, including for children with special educational needs, but he said mobile phones and personal tablets "do not belong in school, neither during breaks nor during lessons." He said the government had started preparing a legislative amendment.

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A massive blackout has hit Chile, leaving millions without power and disrupting transportation, businesses, and essential services across 14 of the country's 16 regions. The Associated Press reports: The National Electrical Coordinator, Chile's grid operator, said a disruption had occurred in a high-voltage transmission line that carries power from the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to the capital of Santiago in the country's central valley. It did not say what actually caused the disruption that pushed much of the country's power grid into shutdown, from the northernmost Chilean port of Arica to the southern Los Lagos agricultural region. Interior Minister Carolina Toha said hospitals, prisons and government buildings were switching on backup generators to keep essential equipment operating. In a press conference, Toha urged the public to stay calm and said officials were racing to put the grid back in operation and restore electric service across the country of some 19 million people. "It's affecting the entire electrical system of the country," she said of the breakdown in the 500-kV backbone transmission line. Toha said if all areas didn't return to normal by sunset the government would take emergency measures to avert a crisis. [...] Videos on social media from all over Chile, a long ribbon of a country stretching 4,300 kilometers (over 2,600 miles) along the southern Pacific coast, showed chaos at intersections with no functioning traffic lights, people having to use their mobile phones as torches in the underground metro and police dispatched to help evacuate office buildings.

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If there's something nasty on your employment record, extortion scum could come calling

DISA Global Solutions, a company that provides drug and alcohol testing, background checks and other employee screening services, this week notified over 3.3 million people that their sensitive information may have been stolen by miscreants.…

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: As part of a settlement announced by the state of New York's Attorney General, Letitia James, DoorDash has agreed to pay $16.75 million to more than 60,000 Dashers who were supposed to receive that money in the form of tips but instead, the company used it to cover base pay and pocketed the rest. New York's lawsuit alleged that between May 2017 and September 2019, tens of thousands of Dashers were misled by DoorDash's pay model. At the time, the company offered a guaranteed wage to drivers -- the minimum amount that they could expect to make from a job. But instead of paying that guarantee and letting drivers keep their tips, DoorDash counted the tip toward their base pay and kept what was left. [...] Per the AG's lawsuit, DoorDash showed a message to customers that said "Dashers will always receive 100 percent of the tip" -- a statement that is technically true but does not clarify that "tip" is actually the delivery drivers' wage. New York argued that disclosures explaining how tips worked were buried in online documents and "customers had no way of knowing that DoorDash was using tips to reduce its own costs." DoorDash did eventually change its payment model to ensure "earnings will increase by the exact amount a customer tips on every order," but New York's case represents drivers finally getting those tips they earned during the period when the company was less transparent about who was actually pocketing that extra cash. Dashers eligible for the settlement will be contacted by the settlement administrator so they can get their piece of the pie that was rightfully theirs in the first place.

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