Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from the Guardian: The financial campaigner James Daley has launched a 1.5 billion pound (approximately $1.5 billion) class action lawsuit against Apple over its mobile phone wallet, claiming the U.S. tech company blocked competition and charged hidden fees that ultimately harmed 50 million UK consumers. The lawsuit takes aim at Apple Pay, which they say has been the only contactless payment service available for iPhone users in Britain over the past decade.
Daley, who is the founder of the advocacy group Fairer Finance, claims this situation amounted to anti-competitive behavior and allowed Apple to charge hidden fees, ultimately pushing up costs for banks that passed charges on to consumers, regardless of whether they owned an iPhone. It is the first UK legal challenge to the company's conduct in relation to Apple Pay, and takes place months after regulators like the Competition and Markets Authority and the Payments Systems Regulator began scrutinising the tech industry's digital wallet services. The case has been filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which will now decide whether the class action case can move forward.
[...] Daley's lawsuit alleges that Apple refused to give other app developers and outside businesses access to the contactless payment technology on its iPhones, which meant it could charge banks and card issuers fees on Apple Pay transactions that his lawyers say "are not in line with industry practice." The lawsuit notes that similar fees are not charged on equivalent payments on Android devices, which are built by Google. It says that the additional costs were borne by UK consumers, having been passed on through charges on a range of personal banking products ranging from current accounts, credit cards, to savings and mortgages. The lawsuit says that about 98% of consumers are exposed to banks that listed cards on Apple Pay, meaning the vast majority of the UK population may have been affected.
Daley, who is the founder of the advocacy group Fairer Finance, claims this situation amounted to anti-competitive behavior and allowed Apple to charge hidden fees, ultimately pushing up costs for banks that passed charges on to consumers, regardless of whether they owned an iPhone. It is the first UK legal challenge to the company's conduct in relation to Apple Pay, and takes place months after regulators like the Competition and Markets Authority and the Payments Systems Regulator began scrutinising the tech industry's digital wallet services. The case has been filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which will now decide whether the class action case can move forward.
[...] Daley's lawsuit alleges that Apple refused to give other app developers and outside businesses access to the contactless payment technology on its iPhones, which meant it could charge banks and card issuers fees on Apple Pay transactions that his lawyers say "are not in line with industry practice." The lawsuit notes that similar fees are not charged on equivalent payments on Android devices, which are built by Google. It says that the additional costs were borne by UK consumers, having been passed on through charges on a range of personal banking products ranging from current accounts, credit cards, to savings and mortgages. The lawsuit says that about 98% of consumers are exposed to banks that listed cards on Apple Pay, meaning the vast majority of the UK population may have been affected.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
California became the first U.S. state to join the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), one day after the U.S. formally exited the WHO. The Hill reports: This announcement comes just one day after the U.S.'s withdrawal from the WHO became official after nearly 80 years of membership, having been a founding member of the organization. "The Trump administration's withdrawal from WHO is a reckless decision that will hurt all Californians and Americans," [California Governor Gavin Newsom] said in a statement. "California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring. We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO's Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Deel over allegations that it recruited a spy inside rival Rippling, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. From the report: An Ireland-based Rippling employee, Keith O'Brien, alleged in an affidavit filed in April that Deel Chief Executive Alex Bouaziz recruited him and gave him instructions for what information to take from Rippling. O'Brien alleged that other executives were involved in the spying plot, including Bouaziz's father, who is Deel's executive chairman and chief strategy officer.
A spokeswoman for Deel said the company isn't aware of a criminal investigation but is willing to cooperate with authorities. The company has previously said: "We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims." Unsealed court documents allege that an entity tied to Deel transferred $6,000 to an account owned by the wife of Chief Operating Officer Dan Westgarth, and that the same amount was forwarded from the account to O'Brien seconds later.
A spokeswoman for Deel said the company isn't aware of a criminal investigation but is willing to cooperate with authorities. The company has previously said: "We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims." Unsealed court documents allege that an entity tied to Deel transferred $6,000 to an account owned by the wife of Chief Operating Officer Dan Westgarth, and that the same amount was forwarded from the account to O'Brien seconds later.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The White House doubled down after posting a digitally altered photo of Minnesota protester Nekima Levy Armstrong, dismissing it as a "meme" despite objections from her attorney and comparisons to reality-distorting propaganda. "YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country I share with you this message: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter," White House spokesperson Kaelan Dorr wrote in a post on X. The Hill reports: The statement came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo of Armstrong's arrest Thursday showing Armstrong with what appears to be a blank facial expression. However, the White House later posted an altered version of the same photo that shows Armstrong crying.
Armstrong's attorney Jordan Kushner said in an interview with CNN that an agent was recording Armstrong's arrest on their cellphone. "I've never seen anything like it. It's so unprofessional," Kushner said. "He was ordered to do it because the government was looking to make a spectacle of this case. I observed the whole thing. She was dignified, calm, rational the whole time." Kushner went on to call the move to alter the photo "a hallmark of a fascist regime where they actually alter reality."
Armstrong's attorney Jordan Kushner said in an interview with CNN that an agent was recording Armstrong's arrest on their cellphone. "I've never seen anything like it. It's so unprofessional," Kushner said. "He was ordered to do it because the government was looking to make a spectacle of this case. I observed the whole thing. She was dignified, calm, rational the whole time." Kushner went on to call the move to alter the photo "a hallmark of a fascist regime where they actually alter reality."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: When TikTok users in the U.S. opened the app today, they were greeted with a pop-up asking them to agree to the social media platform's new terms of service and privacy policy before they could resume scrolling. These changes are part of TikTok's transition to new ownership. In order to continue operating in the U.S., TikTok was compelled by the U.S. government to transition from Chinese control to a new, American-majority corporate entity. Called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, the new entity is made up of a group of investors that includes the software company Oracle. It's easy to tap "agree" and keep on scrolling through videos on TikTok, so users might not fully understand the extent of changes they are agreeing to with this pop-up.
Now that it's under U.S.-based ownership, TikTok potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data. Here are the three biggest changes to TikTok's privacy policy that users should know about. TikTok's change in location tracking is one of the most notable updates in this new privacy policy. Before this update, the app did not collect the precise, GPS-derived location data of U.S. users. Now, if you give TikTok permission to use your phone's location services, then the app may collect granular information about your exact whereabouts. Similar kinds of precise location data is also tracked by other social media apps, like Instagram and X.
[...] Rather than an adjustment, TikTok's policy on AI interactions adds a new topic to the privacy policy document. Now, users' interactions with any of TikTok's AI tools explicitly fall under data that the service may collect and store. This includes any prompts as well as the AI-generated outputs. The metadata attached to your interactions with AI tools may also be automatically logged. [...] This change to TikTok's privacy policy may not be as immediately noticeable to users, but it will likely have an impact on the types of ads you see outside of TikTok. So, rather than just using your collected data to target you while using the app, TikTok may now further leverage that info to serve you more relevant ads wherever you go online. As part of this advertising change, TikTok also now explicitly mentions publishers as one kind of partner the platform works with to get new data.
Now that it's under U.S.-based ownership, TikTok potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data. Here are the three biggest changes to TikTok's privacy policy that users should know about. TikTok's change in location tracking is one of the most notable updates in this new privacy policy. Before this update, the app did not collect the precise, GPS-derived location data of U.S. users. Now, if you give TikTok permission to use your phone's location services, then the app may collect granular information about your exact whereabouts. Similar kinds of precise location data is also tracked by other social media apps, like Instagram and X.
[...] Rather than an adjustment, TikTok's policy on AI interactions adds a new topic to the privacy policy document. Now, users' interactions with any of TikTok's AI tools explicitly fall under data that the service may collect and store. This includes any prompts as well as the AI-generated outputs. The metadata attached to your interactions with AI tools may also be automatically logged. [...] This change to TikTok's privacy policy may not be as immediately noticeable to users, but it will likely have an impact on the types of ads you see outside of TikTok. So, rather than just using your collected data to target you while using the app, TikTok may now further leverage that info to serve you more relevant ads wherever you go online. As part of this advertising change, TikTok also now explicitly mentions publishers as one kind of partner the platform works with to get new data.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Jeffrey Snover, the driving force behind PowerShell, has retired after a career that reshaped Windows administration. The Register reports: Snover's retirement comes after a brief sojourn at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, following a lengthy stint at Microsoft, during which he pulled the company back from imposing a graphical user interface (GUI) on administrators who really just wanted a command line from which to run their scripts. Snover joined Microsoft as the 20th century drew to a close. The company was all about its Windows operating system and user interface in those days -- great for end users, but not so good for administrators managing fleets of servers. Snover correctly predicted a shift to server datacenters, which would require automated management. A powerful shell... a PowerShell, if you will.
[...] Over the years, Snover has dropped the occasional pearl of wisdom or shared memories from his time getting PowerShell off the ground. A recent favorite concerns the naming of Cmdlets and their original name in Monad: Function Units, or FUs. Snover wrote: "This abbreviation reflected the Unix smart-ass culture I was embracing at the time. Plus I was developing this in a hostile environment, and my sense of diplomacy was not yet fully operational." Snover doubtless has many more war stories to share. In the meantime, however, we wish him well. Many admins owe Snover thanks for persuading Microsoft that its GUI obsession did not translate to the datacenter, and for lengthy careers in gluing enterprise systems together with some scripted automation.
[...] Over the years, Snover has dropped the occasional pearl of wisdom or shared memories from his time getting PowerShell off the ground. A recent favorite concerns the naming of Cmdlets and their original name in Monad: Function Units, or FUs. Snover wrote: "This abbreviation reflected the Unix smart-ass culture I was embracing at the time. Plus I was developing this in a hostile environment, and my sense of diplomacy was not yet fully operational." Snover doubtless has many more war stories to share. In the meantime, however, we wish him well. Many admins owe Snover thanks for persuading Microsoft that its GUI obsession did not translate to the datacenter, and for lengthy careers in gluing enterprise systems together with some scripted automation.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:
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Rescue efforts at Mount Maunganui site switch to recovery operation that police say could take several days
Efforts to rescue at least six people buried by a landslide at a New Zealand holiday park ended on Saturday, with police shifting into a recovery operation.
Police Supt Tim Anderson said human remains had been uncovered on Friday night beneath the mountains of dirt and debris that crashed into a campsite in Mount Maunganui on Thursday, adding that it could take several days to locate all of the victims due to the unstable ground.
Continue reading...WASHINGTON (ANP/AFP) - De Amerikaanse regering heeft kritiek op uitspraken van president Donald Trump over het optreden van NAVO-landen in Afghanistan van de hand gewezen. Trump zei rond zijn bezoek aan het World Economic Forum in Davos dat militairen van NAVO-bondgenoten in Afghanistan de frontlinie zouden hebben gemeden.
Dat leidde tot felle kritiek uit onder meer het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Nederland. De Britse premier Keir Starmer noemde Trumps opmerkingen "beledigend en ronduit afschuwelijk". Hij benadrukte dat 457 Britse militairen in Afghanistan zijn gesneuveld.
De Nederlandse demissionaire minister David van Weel (Buitenlandse Zaken) stelde dat Trump niet de waarheid sprak. Volgens hem waren Trumps uitspraken "niet respectvol" tegenover de NAVO-bondgenoten die in Afghanistan actief waren, zoals Nederland.
Volgens het Witte Huis had Trump echter gelijk. Een woordvoerder laat aan persbureau AFP weten dat "de VS meer hebben betekend voor de NAVO dan alle andere bondgenoten bij elkaar".
SACRAMENTO (ANP/RTR) - Californië sluit zich aan bij een internationaal netwerk van de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO) dat wordt ingezet bij uitbraken van infectieziekten. Het is de eerste Amerikaanse staat die dat doet, nadat de Verenigde Staten zich donderdag officieel terugtrokken uit de VN-organisatie WHO.
Het netwerk bestaat uit meer dan 360 gespecialiseerde instellingen. Zij leveren personeel en middelen bij uitbraken van infectieziekten. Het netwerk werd onder meer ingezet tijdens de bestrijding van de coronapandemie.
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump kondigde op de eerste dag van zijn tweede termijn als president al aan zijn land terug te trekken uit de WHO. Het duurde echter nog bijna een jaar voordat dit besluit definitief werd.
Gouverneur Gavin Newsom van Californië noemde het vertrek van de VS een roekeloze beslissing. Zijn staat wil internationaal blijven samenwerken en zegt voorop te willen blijven lopen in de voorbereiding op toekomstige gezondheidscrises.
But ex-CISA boss and new RSAC CEO Jen Easterly will be there
exclusive The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency won't attend the annual RSA Conference in March, an agency spokesperson confirmed to The Register.…
Weer voor Rotterdam ☁️
Huidige temperatuur (om 01:15): 4.7°C (Bewolkt)Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ↖ 113°
Luchtkwaliteit:
- AQI: 56 🟡 (Matig)
- PM2.5: 25.1 μg/m³
- PM10: 27.5 μg/m³
Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:
- zaterdag 24 januari: Min 2.0°, Max 8.6° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: ← 111°
- zondag 25 januari: Min -0.2°, Max 4.6° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, Windsnelheid: 16.9 km/u (4.7 m/s), richting: ← 89°
- maandag 26 januari: Min -0.1°, Max 2.8° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↙ 27°
- dinsdag 27 januari: Min -0.1°, Max 3.5° (Lichte sneeuw) ❄️, Neerslag 2.7, Kans op neerslag 27%, Windsnelheid: 19.2 km/u (5.3 m/s), richting: ← 102°
- woensdag 28 januari: Min 2.3°, Max 7.0° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 0.6, Kans op neerslag 19%, Windsnelheid: 11.7 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ↖ 126°
- donderdag 29 januari: Min 2.4°, Max 5.7° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 1.5, Kans op neerslag 14%, Windsnelheid: 17.8 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: ↖ 121°
- vrijdag 30 januari: Min 3.6°, Max 7.9° (Lichte motregen) 🌦️, Neerslag 3.6, Kans op neerslag 36%, Windsnelheid: 20.1 km/u (5.6 m/s), richting: ↑ 191°
Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:
- 02:00: 4.4° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 1%, Windsnelheid: 12.6 km/u (3.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 116°
- 03:00: 4.4° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.9 km/u (3.3 m/s), richting: ↖ 128°
- 04:00: 4.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↖ 123°
- 05:00: 4.0° (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.8 km/u (3.0 m/s), richting: ↖ 122°
- 06:00: 3.7° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.4 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ↖ 122°
- 07:00: 3.8° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 126°
- 08:00: 4.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 9.0 km/u (2.5 m/s), richting: ↖ 126°
- 09:00: 3.2° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 9.7 km/u (2.7 m/s), richting: ← 103°
- 10:00: 3.0° (Bewolkt) ☁️, Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ← 96°
- 11:00: 4.1° (Zonnig) ☀️, Windsnelheid: 11.5 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ← 111°
- 12:00: 5.7° (Zonnig) ☀️, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 125°
- 13:00: 7.0° (Zonnig) ☀️, Windsnelheid: 10.1 km/u (2.8 m/s), richting: ↖ 130°
#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo