Technology
FTC and DOJ sue TikTok for alleged violations of children’s privacy
US Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are suing TikTok and ByteDanceTikTok’s parent company, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law requires digital platforms to notify and obtain parental consent before collecting and using personal information from children under 13.
IN press release In a filing Friday, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection found that TikTok and ByteDance “allegedly knew” they’d to comply with COPPA but spent “years” knowingly allowing thousands and thousands of children under 13 to make use of their platform. TikTok did so, the FTC alleges, even after reaching a settlement with the FTC in 2019 over COPPA violations; as part of that settlement, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million and implement steps to forestall children under 13 from signing up for the platform.
“Since 2020, TikTok had a policy of keeping accounts of children it knew were under 13 years old alive unless the child had explicitly admitted their age and other strict conditions had been met,” the FTC wrote in a press release. “TikTok reviewers allegedly spent an average of five to seven seconds reviewing each account to determine whether it belonged to a child.”
TikTok and ByteDance maintained and used underage user data, including for ad targeting, even after employees raised concerns and TikTok reportedly modified its policy to not require explicit age disclosure, in accordance with the FTC. More devastatingly, TikTok continued to permit users to enroll for third-party accounts like Google and Instagram without verifying they were over 13, the FTC added.
The FTC also found an issue with TikTok Kids Mode, TikTok’s supposedly more COPPA-compliant mobile experience. The FTC alleges that Kids Mode collected “significantly more data” than was obligatory, including details about users’ activities on the app and identifiers that TikTok used to create profiles (and shared with third parties) to forestall user churn.
The FTC found that when parents asked to delete their child’s account, TikTok made it difficult for them to accomplish that and often didn’t comply with their requests.
“TikTok has knowingly and repeatedly violated children’s privacy, endangering the safety of millions of children across the country,” FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a press release. “The FTC will continue to use the full scope of its authority to protect children online — especially as companies deploy increasingly sophisticated digital tools to surveil children and profit from their data.”
TikTok shared the next with TechCrunch in an email: “We disagree with these allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are untrue or have already been addressed. We pride ourselves on our efforts to protect children and will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with rigorous safeguards, proactively remove suspicious underage users, and have voluntarily launched features like default screen time limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”
The FTC and DOJ are proposing to impose civil fines on TikTok and ByteDance of as much as $51,744 per violation, per day, and to issue a everlasting injunction to forestall future violations of COPPA.
Technology
US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident
Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.
In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”
Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.
Technology
It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500
Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.
The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.
The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.
More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)
Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.
The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.
Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.
In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers
According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.
However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.
Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
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