I. Technology
5 Facebook faces mass legal action over data leak
Facebook users whose data was compromised by a massive data leak are being urged to take legal action against the tech giant. About 530 million people had some personal information leaked, including, in some cases, phone numbers. A digital privacy group is preparing to take a case to the Irish courts on behalf of EU citizens affected.
Facebook denies wrongdoing, saying the data was ‘scraped’ from publicly available information on the site. Antoin Ó Lachtnain, Director of Digital Rights Ireland (DRI), warned other tech giants its move could be the beginning of a domino effect. ‘This will be the first mass action of its kind but we’re sure it won’t be the last,’ he said. ‘The scale of this breach, and the depth of personal information compromised, is gob-smacking.’ He added: ‘The laws are there to protect consumers and their personal data and it’s time these technology giants wake up to the reality that protection of personal data must be taken seriously.’
DRI claims Facebook failed to protect user data and notify those who had been affected. The data leak was first discovered and fixed in 2019, but was recently made easily available online for free. DRI said individual users who take part in the legal action could be offered compensation of up to €12,000 (£10,445) if it is successful – based on what it says are similar cases in other countries.
‘If successful this could well set a precedent and open the door to further class action down the line,’ Ray Walsh, a digital privacy expert at ProPrivacy, told the BBC. ‘Big Tech might then find that being made to compensate individual users is a strong reminder to work harder on privacy compliance,’ he added.
The Irish Data Protection Commission announced its decision to launch an investigation into the leak. It will assess whether any parts of the GDPR or Data Protection Act 2018 were infringed by Facebook. If found to be in breach, the social media giant could face fines of up to 4% of its turnover.
Responding to DRI’s legal case, a Facebook spokesman said: ‘We understand people’s concerns, which is why we continue to strengthen our systems to make scraping from Facebook without our permission more difficult and go after the people behind it.’
He also pointed to other firms involved in similar recent leaks. ‘As LinkedIn and Clubhouse have shown, no company can completely eliminate scraping or prevent data sets like these from appearing. That’s why we devote substantial resources to combat it and will continue to build our capabilities to help stay ahead of this challenge,’ he said.
(Source: bbc.com, dated 16th April, 2021)
6 Crypto firm Coinbase valued at more than oil giant BP, hit a market value of nearly $100bn
Cryptocurrency firm Coinbase, which runs a top exchange for Bitcoin and other digital currency trading, hit a market value of nearly $100 billion (£72.5 billion) in its stock market listing.
Shares debuted on the Nasdaq at a price of $381, but later closed below $330. The initial valuation put Coinbase ahead of many well-known firms, such as oil giant BP and key stock exchanges. The listing was seen as the latest step toward cryptocurrencies gaining wider acceptance among traditional investors.
The price of Bitcoin surged more than 300% last year – and has climbed even higher in 2021 – as firms including Tesla, Mastercard and BlackRock unveiled plans to incorporate digital currencies into their businesses. It hit a record of more than $63,000 on 13th April, 2021, ahead of the Coinbase listing.
Less well-known digital currencies have also made gains with Dogecoin, which was created as a joke, rising more than 70% to more than 13 cents. US-based Coinbase, which makes money primarily by charging transaction fees, has benefited from the soaring demand.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase had more than 56 million users across more than 100 countries and held some $223 billion in users’ assets at the end of March. It reported $1.8 billion in estimated revenue in the first three months of 2021 – more than its total for all of 2020 – as interest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies boomed.
(Source: bbc.com dated 15th April, 2021)
7 NASA chooses SpaceX to build Moon lander
NASA has chosen Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to build a lander that will return humans to the Moon this decade. This vehicle will carry the next man and the first woman down to the lunar surface under the space agency’s Artemis programme. Another goal of the programme will be to land the first person of colour on the Moon.
The lander is based on SpaceX’s Starship craft, which is being tested at a site in southern Texas. SpaceX was competing against a joint bid from traditional aerospace giants and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as Alabama-based Dynetics. The total value of the contract awarded to Musk’s company is $2.89 billion.
‘With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,’ said Kathy Lueders, the organisation’s head of human exploration.
‘This critical step puts humanity on the path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.’
The Artemis programme, initiated under the Trump administration, had targeted a return to the lunar surface in 2024. But a shortfall in funding of the landing system has made that goal unattainable.
Elon Musk has been developing the Starship design for years. Resembling the rocket ships from the golden age of science fiction, it is a crucial component of the entrepreneur’s long-term plans for settling humans on Mars. For now, though, it will serve as the lander that ferries astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface.
(Source: Yahoo.com dated 16th April, 2021)
8 Google makes it easier for users in India to take calls and messages while driving
Texting or even taking a call while driving is an extremely dangerous thing to do. However, many people across the world continue to do so while putting their and others’ lives at great risk. Google is now rolling out a feature that will make it easier for users to take calls and reply to messages while driving their cars.
According to Google’s support page for Maps, Google Assistant Driving Mode is now rolling out in Google Maps to Android users in India.
‘Thanks to the new driving-friendly Assistant interface, you can easily get more done while keeping your focus
on the road. Use voice to send and receive calls and texts, quickly review new messages across your messaging apps in one place,’ noted Google on the support page.
Google Assistant will also read out texts so that people don’t have to look down at their phones. Android users will also get alerts for incoming calls which they can answer or decline with their voice.
Google says that Driving Mode ensures that users can do all this without actually leaving the navigation screen. This will ensure to a certain extent that distractions are minimised for the driver.
How does Driving Mode work in Google Maps?
Google explains that it’s quite simple to get started with Driving Mode. Users simply have to begin navigating to a destination with Google Maps and tap on the pop-up to get started. Another way to get started is head to Assistant settings on your Android phone or say ‘Hey Google, open Assistant settings.’ Then simply select ‘Transportation,’ choose ‘Driving Mode’ and turn it on.
The feature is currently available for Android users only and will work on phones running Android version 9.0 phones or higher with 4GB RAM.
(Source: newskifactory.com dated 17th April, 2021)
II. Motivational
9 Meet CA Bhavani Devi, the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics
In 2004, a shy 11-year-old girl walked into Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the first time, tightly clutching her mother’s hand. A new student at Muruga Dhanushkodi Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Tondiarpet, Chadalavada Anandha (CA) Bhavani Devi had just learnt the term ‘fencing’ as part of the ‘Sports in Schools’ initiative started by the late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
Vishwanathan P, who would soon be her first coach, looked on from the parapet, and put the little girl to a 30-second test. ‘I don’t remember what the test was. But right then I knew she had the talent,’ laughs Vishwanathan. In 30 seconds, she secured a spot in the school’s fencing classes, one among 40 other girls.
Cut to 15th March, 2021 in Budapest, Bhavani, now 27, made history by becoming the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics and will represent India at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Currently ranked 42nd in the world and 1st in the country, the sabre fencer from Old Washermanpet qualified through the Asia / Oceanic Zone of official rankings after Hungary lost to South Korea in the quarter-finals of the Sabre Fencing World Cup.
Wielding a sword, dressed in an electric suit and mask that flickers when the opponent’s weapon lands a jab, her swift, calculated footwork and mental focus brought her this honour after failing to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. She states, ‘In 2016, I realised that there is a limit to which you can put pressure on yourself. It backfires.’
Seventeen years on, Bhavani still wears a coy, almost uncomfortable, smile when put in the spotlight. In the few days she got to spend at home before flying to Italy to resume coaching, she has had little time to relax.
Bhavani remembers starting with bamboo sticks. The little equipment they had was saved for competitions. ‘We used all sorts of things to practice,’ she reminisces. ‘We would go to the stadium at 5.30 am every day and from there to school. In the evening, from school back to the stadium and then return home. This was the routine for years.’
Catching the public bus on time to get to the stadium and back was a struggle, she remembers. ‘But, we still enjoyed the process.’ Vishwanathan quips, ‘She was a “jolly” child, and it was fun to train her.’
The 40-member fencing group at school quickly diminished and five years down, Bhavani was the sole participant. Fencing then was still an unknown sport in India with no big achievements to point out, she says. ‘Some wanted to focus on education. Some felt fencing was not good for girls. There were no job prospects in the sport unlike athletics or volleyball.’
Many asked if the sport was ‘safe enough’ for a girl to pursue. Bhavani’s mother Ramani, a constant and perhaps the most significant presence in her life, nipped such negative comments in the bud. Ramani says, ‘“Why should you bother,” I asked them. The girl is interested in this, so let her be.’
The proud mother is now preparing to fly to Tokyo to watch her daughter’s most anticipated competition. Time and again, Bhavani reiterates that her parents – her late father was a priest and her mother a homemaker – were her biggest support. She says, ‘Many ask her if she is proud to be “Bhavani’s mother”, but it’s the other way round. I am proud to be her daughter.’
She finished Class X, packed her bags and moved to Thalassery where she continued her studies and trained at the same time. In 2017, she became India’s first international gold medallist at the Women’s World Cup held in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Bhavani says there is a surge in the interest towards fencing in India. ‘Earlier, when I used to win international medals many wouldn’t understand what the excitement was about,’ she recalls. But now, people have started recognising the equipment.
Modern fencing is a combination of three disciplines: the épée, the sabre, and the foil. While in épée, the entire body is a valid target area, in sabre, the upper body becomes the target, and in foil, only the torso can receive a strike. Weapons used in each also differ in terms of their make and flexibility.
Bhavani specialises in sabre fencing, in which a typical competition lasts only ten minutes. Has she ever felt intimidated? ‘I have never been afraid, even my parents haven’t for that matter. You can get hurt anywhere, it’s all about how you take care of yourself,’ she says.
With only months to the Olympics, Bhavani recalls the times she had to travel to international competitions alone. This time though, she has the entire country backing her. With her trademark shy smile, she concludes, ‘I will make you all proud. I am confident.’
(Source: thehindu.com dated 31st March, 2021)
