Cyberlaw

Adidas confirms a data breach via a third-party vendor, exposing user contact details. No payment or login data was affected, but the incident raises concerns about vendor-related security risks.

The BYOND platform has been hit by sustained DDoS attacks from a group demanding the release of its source code. Disruptions have left services intermittently offline, raising concerns over the ethics of coercive digital activism.

Epic's Fortnite has officially returned to Apple's US App Store after a lengthy legal battle. Apple banned the game in August 2020 for violating App Store policies by allowing players to buy the in-game currency directly from Epic.

United States President Donald Trump has signed a new law that criminalizes AI-generated Deepfakes, in an effort to stop the spread of non-consensual sexual images and videos online.

Schedule I’s removal from the Australian Steam store draws attention to the challenges developers face navigating regional classification laws on global platforms.

Pinterest is testing a new pop-up notification on the app that will encourage kids to log off the service during school hours. The pop-up will be shown to minors between the ages of 13 and 17 in the US and Canada.

Two former Columbia University students have created an AI tool that can help users cheat on anything. The tool, called Cluely, has raised $5.3 million and is available in a free and paid subscription plan.

Google is reportedly making ongoing monthly payments to Samsung to keep Gemini as the default AI assistant in One UI. The antitrust lawsuit hearing took place on April 21 and Google is expected to appeal the final decision in September.

The infamous internet forum 4chan was taken offline following a hack that acquired admin access to the site. The forum now loads intermittently (as of press time). The hack likely exploited the fact that 4chan had not updated its PHP version since 2016.

Stader Labs has launched Cabbage, an AI-powered memecoin trading platform, as part of a strategic push to combine intelligent trading tools with long-term token value creation. With real-time analytics and one-click execution, Cabbage aims to bring structure to the chaotic memecoin market. At the same time, Stader is tying Cabbage revenue directly to SD token buybacks, giving token holders a tangible stake in the platform’s success.

The founder of Nate, an AI-powered shopping app that promised a universal checkout experience, was charged with fraud Wednesday. Rather than utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence as advertised, the app allegedly used hundreds of call center employees to transact purchases.

A security investigation of iOS apps has revealed a massive privacy breach – 1.5 million user images uploaded to several specialist dating apps were publicly exposed to anyone with the URL. The developer M.A.D. Mobile has since addressed the issue, but the fix has come months after the researchers’ initial warnings.

As digital threats and crimes become more and more sophisticated, the importance of remaining informed and proactive about how to respond to them rises to match. That includes knowing what to do if you find out your personal data has been stolen, which, according to those in the legal profession, includes taking action to protect yourself from the fallout as soon as possible.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has till April 5 to sell the app to an American company. However, a new study shows more Americans are now opposed to the ban as compared to two years ago.

The next release of iOS, version 18.4, will bring several improvements, including non-English languages for Apple Intelligence. However, iPhone Mirroring is conspicuously absent from the most recent release candidate of iOS 18.4 distributed in the EU.

ChatGPT accused a Norwegian man of murdering his two sons and jail time of 21 years. OpenAI is now in trouble once again in Europe for producing egregious falsehoods under GDPR regulation.

Although the policy guidance that encourages local use of open-source RISC-V chips is not official yet, the insiders familiar with the inner workings of the Chinese government who spoke to Reuters claim that this could happen before the end of the month. No less than eight government bodies are involved.

Apple is facing a lawsuit lodged by consumers regarding the carbon neutrality of Apple Watch Series 9, Watch SE, and Watch Ultra 2. The lawsuit alleges Apple was misleading in the carbon reduction of certain projects purchased as carbon offsets to advertise the devices as "carbon neutral."

Google will soon nix SMS authentication for Gmail logins, according to Davey Winder at Forbes. Citing inside sources, Winder claims that the search giant will soon authenticate Gmail logins using QR codes that can be scanned with a smartphone's camera.

In just a few days, Kindle users will no longer be able to download eBooks purchased through Amazon's Kindle store. The move will essentially end any potential for downloading local backups of purchased books; Kindle users will only be able to access their library via downloads directly to a Kindle device.

A controversial new app, available only in third-party app stores, has Apple spitting fire. The company cites the app, which allows users to browse adult content, as an example of harmful software it is forced to allow under the EU's Digital Markets Act.

While not using the country as its main base of operations in Europe, DeepSeek still has to comply with local data protection regulations. As a consequence, the Chinese AI company needs to provide all the details on how it handles Irish users' data to the local Data Protection Commission (DPC).

NordVPN announced a new VPN protocol today. Dubbed NordWhisper, NordVPN claims the new protocol can better mimic standard internet traffic, circumventing measures that attempt to identify and block Internet activity funneled through a VPN.

A recently revealed exploit in the Starlink system used in Subaru vehicles allowed hackers to access any connected Subaru car in the United States, Canada, or Japan and add themselves as an authorized user. With this access, hackers could discover personal data of vehicle owners, remotely unlock and start or stop a car, and download a vehicle's location history over an entire year.

Google has agreed to pay a fine of $12.25 million for knowingly failing to report that its Fitbit Ionic smartwatch had a battery overheating defect that could cause severe burns to users. In total, 78 burn injuries were reported to the company from 2018 to 2020, before it finally recalled the product in March, 2022.

PowerSchool, one of the largest student management software providers, was hacked earlier this month. Details of the hack have surfaced, with the malicious actor claiming they stole personal data for over 62 million students and 9.5 million teachers.

The AI assistant Humphrey, named after the sitcom "Yes, Minister," aims to enhance secure document storage, including digital driving licenses. Although it will be launched in months, Humphrey has already been subjected to accusations that its name makes it not trustworthy due to the negative traits of the TV character.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order blocking the enforcement of the TikTok ban by the United States for a period of 75 days.

The US Supreme Court upheld a law signed into power in March 2024, requiring TikTok sell its US operations to an American buyer or leave the US market. Millions of US TikTok users potentially face a blackout on Sunday, January 19. Update: TikTok has been shut down.

PayPal subsidiary Honey is now being sued by the influential PC hardware review group GamersNexus. It is taking legal action as a response to claims made by YouTube channel MegaLag concerning the browser extension's “deceptive trade practices”. GamersNexus editor-in-chief Steven Burke asserts that Honey needs to be taken to account in this manner given the damage done to content creators and consumers alike.

Social media age restrictions are coming to Indonesia as soon as possible, according to the country's officials. This temporary measure aims to protect children while the government is working on a law to set a minimum age for using such platforms, similar to Australia's recent under-16 social media ban.

A French woman has fallen victim to a perfidious love scam in which AI-generated images of Hollywood star Brad Pitt were used to gain her trust. Over a period of two years, perpetrators posing as Brad Pitt stole around the equivalent of around $854,000 from the woman.

DJI will no longer prevent US drone owners from flying their drones in restricted no-fly zones — i.e. in controlled airspace, near wildfires, or in and around other sensitive areas. Instead, the responsibility to avoid these restricted areas will now fall entirely on drone operators.

ByteDance Ltd. may ban TikTok users in the US from using the app starting this Sunday, as the company still hasn't found a buyer. However, there is a chance of someone like Elon Musk stepping in at the last minute to keep the social media services now provided to over 170 million US TikTok users alive.

After going through its biggest policy change since 2016, scaling back fact-checking partnerships and automated content removal, Meta aims to fight EU censorship. However, while Mark Zuckerberg claims that the EU data laws censor social media, they say that the local regulations only target illegal content.

Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, has announced he is leaving the company. Clegg was previously the UK's deputy prime minister. He will be succeeded by Joel Kaplan, Clegg's deputy and a prominent US Republican.

According to a report from TechCrunch, several VPN apps, including the widely used Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, have been removed from Indian app stores. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued orders to remove several apps from the stores.

Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement in the class action lawsuit that claims Siri recorded private conversations when activated accidentally. The suit says Apple shared these recordings with third-party advertisers.

A new report by the Financial Times says that phishing attacks, personalized using AI, are now targeting high-level executives at firms like eBay and Beazley.

The Indian government has delayed the implementation of market caps for UPI payment apps to December 2026. The proposal, made in 2020, suggested a hard cap market share for UPI payment companies, prohibiting them from taking more than 30% of the market.

Nvidia has completed its acquisition of Israeli AI start-up Run:ai after approval from the EU. The start-up has said it will open-source its software "to help the community build better AI, faster."

The US Treasury Department has said that its network was compromised by state-sponsored Chinese hackers who managed to gain remote access to employee workstations and accessed unclassified documents.

Cariad, the software side of Volkswagen, has suffered a self-inflicted data leak. Due to a what seems to be a configuration error, the company left sensitive data about a number of its customers and their vehicles available online for months.

At the end of last week, the European Commission announced that the Common Charger Directive, which was approved in October 2022, is finally going live. Now, all devices sold in the EU—including smartphones, tablets, cameras, keyboards/mice—must support USB-C charging. However, the rules will target laptops only starting in late April, 2026.

Netflix has filed a lawsuit against Broadcom, accusing the company's subsidiary, VMware, of infringing patents related to virtual machines. Netflix says Broadcom and VMware infringed five patents.

The White House has announced that the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has opened an inquiry into Chinese trade practices for "foundational" semiconductors. China has strongly objected to the move.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission is set to declare Google guilty of violating the country's antimonopoly act, according to a new report from Nikkei. The problem stems from Google's contracts with smartphone manufacturers.

The Italian Data Protection Authority has fined OpenAI €15 million for violating GDPR laws. The agency said OpenAI processed personal information without legal basis and ordered it to run a six-month information campaign in Italy.

Donald Trump, the US President-elect, showed support for TikTok at his first rally since the presidential elections last month. The Chinese social media platform is fighting against a law that will see it banned in the US in January.