Cyberlaw

Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij dismisses recent GTA 6 leaks as inconsequential, arguing they are unlikely to affect the game’s launch or long-term success. Take-Two is taking a harder line, giving Discord until September 4 to disclose the identity of leaker CyberLeek under a DMCA subpoena.

OpenAI switches on ChatGPT Ads in 31 European markets on 24 August. Only Free and Go users see them, and in the EEA and Switzerland there is no personalization at launch, so there is nothing to consent to yet. The free plan still hides an ads-free option that costs you messages and tools.

Germany has no legal waiting period before a disconnected mobile number is handed to someone new. Deutsche Telekom itself describes cases where numbers are released after 30 days. Whoever gets that number also receives the one-time codes for the previous owner's accounts. The US regulates this. What you should clear out today.

ChatGPT for Teens went live on August 18. OpenAI now estimates your age from the topics you discuss, the times you use the app and how old your account is. Guess wrong and an adult account picks up teen restrictions. Here is how to check yours and get them lifted.

Six signs are supposed to give away a synthetic voice on the phone. Two of them appear in no source at all, three are technically obsolete, and the one that still works has nothing to do with sound. The largest listening study to date also shows that people are not getting better at catching fakes. They are getting worse at believing real voices.

Twitch uses creator content to train Amazon's generative AI models. The setting arrived on August 12 already switched on for every account, with no announcement. It covers streams, chat, VODs, clips and images. Here is where the setting can be found and what it does not cover.

German group HateAid has reported Meta, Ray-Ban, Oakley and four retailers to Frankfurt prosecutors, arguing the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer breaks a law against devices disguised as everyday objects. Regulators were already reviewing a sales ban.

Halloween: The Game has been effectively banned from sale in Australia and New Zealand. Developer IllFonic has not confirmed whether it will modify the asymmetrical horror title ahead of its planned September 8 launch.

A New Mexico court has fined Meta $567 million and ordered changes to Facebook and Instagram. Accounts belonging to users under 18 get a hard cap of 90 hours a month across both apps, no push notifications overnight, and hidden like counts. The ruling also draws a line around Meta's AI chatbots.

Two FIDO2 keys, same standard, same price. One asks for a PIN, the other just needs a tap. On most models no PIN is set at the factory, and whether you are asked at all is usually the website’s decision. We read the manuals from Yubico, Token2, Nitrokey, OnlyKey, Feitian and Google.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is facing a new civil lawsuit alleging that the iOS App Store allows children to download and play casino-style gambling games without proper age-verification checks, even as other legal challenges persist.

Four AI chatbots, one forbidden task: a fake news post carrying a made-up claim. ChatGPT produced almost all of them and the most convincing ones, Gemini even faked the New York Times and the BBC. Copilot added a visible AI label, Meta AI refused the false claim. The odd part: German outlets were easier to fake than English ones.

Apart from robotic vacuums and lawnmowers or humanoid robots, the FCC ban on foreign connected devices includes much more gear. A ban on smart inverters, for instance, could wreak havoc on off-grid and emergency home backup setups.

The transparency rules of the EU AI Act apply from today. If you publish deepfakes or AI-written text professionally or for money, you have to label it visibly, on YouTube as much as on your own blog. The grace period until December covers providers such as OpenAI and Google, not you.

Google's Gemini Spark agent can now open Chrome, use your logged-in accounts and saved passwords, and start a flight booking for you. That part is US-only. And despite Google calling Spark worldwide, it is still unavailable in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Nigeria.

More than 1,290 employees of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Meta signed the open letter Pacing the Frontier on July 28. They want the US government to help build tools for a verifiable brake on AI development. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki and Ilya Sutskever are among the signatories.

The FTC, alongside California and Utah, sued a major US telehealth provider Hims and hers on July 29. They alleged that it shared patients' sensitive health data with advertisers like Meta and Snap despite promising privacy, and made cancelling subscriptions difficult.

The U.S. government under Donald Trump wants to ban the import of new robots. While this ban is primarily aimed at humanoid robots, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has clarified that vacuum and mopping robots, robotic lawn mowers, and transport robots are also affected.

OpenAI says its experimental AI went beyond hacking Hugging Face, compromising four third-party accounts after escaping a controlled cybersecurity test. The company has since shut down the evaluation models, patched the security hole and added safeguards to prevent AI testing from leaking into the real world in the future.

Cheap AI from China could be pushed out of reach by politics. Washington accuses Moonshot of siphoning off Anthropic's Fable and is floating restrictions on Kimi K3 and DeepSeek. Nothing has been decided, and the evidence is missing. What the agencies actually measured, and what it means for your access.

The AI Act's transparency rules take effect on August 2. Chatbots have to identify themselves and deepfakes have to be disclosed. You will barely see a visible label, though, because systems already on the market have until December. In Germany, complaints go to the Federal Network Agency.

The New York Times has documented how Meta deletes accounts with nearly a million followers without ever naming the post that broke the rules. Appeals come back rejected within days. Yet Meta says humans handle exactly these decisions. In the EU there is a route worth knowing about.

China has banned romantic AI chatbots for minors and imposed safeguards against excessive use, citing concerns over emotional dependency, declining social interaction and the country’s falling birth rate. Critics warn that the crackdown removes a valuable source of support for people experiencing loneliness or grief.

The European Commission wants to open Android to third-party AI assistants and share Google's search data. Google warns of security risks, while Apple is holding back its new Siri AI in Europe for now. The Commission points to built-in safeguards, but experts believe the companies have their own interests at stake. What the dispute means for your phone.

Products such as the Apple Watch, the Fitbit Air, and the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses are exempt from the EU Right to Repair regulation, meaning manufacturers can continue to install batteries that are virtually impossible for end users to replace.

A multinational cybersecurity advisory warns that Russian hackers are exploiting poorly secured and outdated routers to infiltrate critical infrastructure networks worldwide. Agencies urge organizations to update or replace vulnerable devices and strengthen authentication, among other things.

ChatGPT is back in WhatsApp across the EU. The European Commission forced Meta to reopen the messenger to third-party AI assistants, and OpenAI switched the service on again. Here is how to reach ChatGPT in WhatsApp, and what you should watch out for.

Sony’s plan to end physical PlayStation releases in 2028 faces legal challenges from Dutch consumer advocates and Mexican lawmakers over competition, pricing and ownership concerns. Critics argue the move would eliminate resale markets and give Sony monopolistic control over game sales.

ChatGPT provider OpenAI is alleged to be deliberately stealing technology from the Apple iPhone to use it for its own AI smartphone. At least that is what Apple claims in a lawsuit, according to which OpenAI is resorting to aggressive methods to obtain Apple’s internal information.

California and New York are advancing legislation that would require 3D printers to detect and block firearm components, aiming to curb the spread of untraceable "ghost guns." Critics question the technology’s reliability, effectiveness and privacy implications.

OpenAI has made GPT-5.6 generally available, in three tiers: Sol, Terra and Luna. Since July 9, the model has been usable in ChatGPT, in Codex, through the API and in GitHub Copilot, with Sol in ChatGPT from the Plus plan. The limited preview for select partners was the earlier stage; broad access is now here.

One gamer took extreme measures to restore access to his compromised Xbox account. The Brazilian user filed a lawsuit against Microsoft after it refused to unfreeze his digital library. A court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, and the decline of physical games could lead to more legal challenges.

Epic Games has reached a proposed settlement with former Fortnite associate producer Hayden Cohen, whom it accused of leaking confidential crossover and content details through an X account. The agreement, pending judicial approval, includes a permanent injunction barring Cohen from accessing or sharing Epic trade secrets, but does not appear to require monetary damages.

As the surveillance state in the U.S. grows, more people are finding themselves wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit. Unfortunately, the 7-year-old Flock company leading the charge has taken a hands-off approach to deal with it.

Scammers are exploiting anticipation for Grand Theft Auto 6 with polished fake websites offering bogus “VIP” or early access in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. Official preorders begin June 25, ahead of the game’s November 19 launch.

A £3 billion class-action lawsuit against Apple over alleged iCloud lock-in has been cleared for trial in the UK, potentially covering around 40 million customers who used the service between November 2018 and June 2026.

The FCC has eased import restrictions for a narrow class of Chinese-made “toy” drones, but its strict limits on weight, range, sensors, connectivity, navigation, and flight time exclude most consumer models. DJI remains effectively barred from the U.S. market, as even its smallest drones exceed the new criteria and the company remains on federal restriction lists.

Remote-controlled toys are now available at very low prices, including via direct import. A recent and relatively comprehensive study shows that many products do not meet safety standards, which may have drastic consequences.

The European Parliament is dropping Google for Qwant, a privacy-focused French search engine, as the default on MEPs' computers from June 4 — backing the EU's "digital sovereignty push", though Microsoft Office and other US dependencies are still very much in place.

Subnautica 2’s early-access launch has reportedly delivered blockbuster results, with an estimated four million copies sold in its first week and revenue potentially exceeding the milestone threshold in Krafton’s acquisition deal for Unknown Worlds. The sales surge could obligate Krafton to pay up to $250 million to the studio’s former shareholders, despite months of legal efforts to avoid the bonus tied to the game’s performance.

Many PC gamers won’t consider purchasing games anywhere but Steam. Plaintiffs in antitrust lawsuits accuse the company of acting illegally to preserve a monopoly. Gabe Newell rejected those allegations, amid rumors that Valve controls pricing outside its marketplace.

A new Marvel Rivals ban wave has resulted in hundreds of cheaters getting the axe, with a few, more serious contenders, copping a device ban. A redacted list of players has been published alongside the website for all the world to see.

The FCC has extended a waiver allowing software and firmware updates for existing foreign-made routers and drones, including TP-Link routers and DJI drones, until January 1, 2029. The decision, framed as a public safety measure, preserves security patches and bug fixes for millions of devices while broader national security restrictions and legal challenges continue.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says he is “deeply disappointed” by BioShock 4’s prolonged delay, citing years lost to creative directions that failed to work. The troubled Cloud Chamber project has since undergone an internal review, layoffs, and leadership changes as 2K attempts to refocus the long-awaited sequel.

Accused of monopolistic practices, Sony has agreed to pay $7.8 million in damages to consumers. The PlayStation Store is the only marketplace that sells digital PS4 and PS5 games. Buyers eligible for the payout must have bought a retail voucher for a qualifying title between 2019 and 2023.

The EU’s common charger directive has officially expanded to include laptops as of April 28 2026. Following the expiration of a 16-month transition period, all new laptops sold in the European Union with a power rating of 100W or less must now support USB-C charging. This regulation aims to reduce environmental impact by cutting 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually and saving consumers millions of euros.

The largest home security company in the United States, ADT, confirmed it suffered a data breach on April 20. This breach involved the compromise of customers' personally identifying information. A hacker group known as ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility and issued a ransom threat.

Square Enix says it has reached a court-backed settlement with a Final Fantasy XIV content creator accused of harassing staff, securing an apology, financial compensation, and a ban on similar conduct after obtaining the uploader’s identification. The move follows a recent case against the blog Netoge Sokuho and coincides with another FF14 news aggregator, Umadori Sokuho, voluntarily shutting down and issuing an apology amid the company’s broader anti-harassment push.

Build A Rocket Boy employees, represented by the IWGB Game Workers Union, have unionized to pursue legal action alleging the studio installed Teramind surveillance software, including keylogging, screen recording, and microphone monitoring, without consent, potentially capturing activity in workers’ homes. Although the software was reportedly removed in March after a collective grievance, the union says management has not disclosed what data was collected, where it was stored, or why it was deployed, and has also filed a separate claim over last summer’s redundancy process that cut 300 jobs.

The US International Trade Commission declined to review a ruling that Apple’s redesigned blood-oxygen feature in the Apple Watch does not infringe Masimo’s patents, effectively ending the case and averting a US ban. The decision caps a six-year dispute that previously led to an import exclusion order and prompted Apple to rework the pulse-oximetry system to keep the feature available.