Facebook rebranded its Internet.org app as Free Basics in September

Facebook's effort to provide Indians with free access to a limited number of internet services has run into trouble.

India's telecoms regulator has asked the mobile network that partnered with the US firm to put their Free Basics offer on hold.
Data fees are relatively expensive in India, and the initiative aims to prevent this being a deterrent.
But critics of the Free Basics service say it runs contrary to net neutrality principles.
They suggest data providers should not favour some online services over others by offering cheaper or faster access.
A spokesman for Reliance Communications - the mobile network that had supported the scheme - confirmed it would comply with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's demand.
"As directed by TRAI, the commercial launch of Free Basics has been kept in abeyance, until they consider all details and convey a specific approval," a spokesman told

Facebook has paid for large adverts in the local press to defend Free Basics

He added that the watchdog had only explained its decision by saying it wanted to "examine the details and intrinsics" of the offer, but had not provided further detail.

However, the Times of India quoted a source who confirmed the decision was indeed related to the net neutrality controversy.
"The question has arisen whether a telecom operator should be allowed to have differential pricing for different kinds of content," they said.
"Unless that question is answered, it will not be appropriate for us to continue to make that happen."
Facebook said that it would continue to lobby for its scheme.
"We are committed to Free Basics and to working with Reliance and the relevant authorities to help people in India get connected," a spokeswoman said.

'Millions more online'

Facebook launched Internet.org as a partnership with several mobile operators in emerging economies in 2013 as a means to "introduce people to the benefits of the internet".

Net neutrality has proved to be a hot topic in India this year

The associated app, which provides access to selected services, was renamed as Free Basics earlier this year.
Content includes pages from selected local news and weather forecast providers, the BBC, Wikipedia and various health services.
It is offered in 36 countries and Facebook says it believes more than 15 million people have been brought online who would otherwise not be using the net.
Reliance began offering the scheme in February and then extended it to all its subscribers in November, but it has faced criticism.
Local start-ups complained they risked being disadvantaged because they were not included, and in April several larger groups that had initially signed up to the scheme - including the media conglomerate Times Group and the travel booking site Cleartrip - pulled their services, citing concerns about it failing to provide a "fair, level playing field".

Net neutrality hearing

Facebook attempted to address such concerns by saying it would allow more services to join, but the firm's founder Mark Zuckerberg warned it was "not sustainable to offer the whole internet for free".
Part of the attraction for the mobile networks was their expectation that users would see the benefits of the internet and want to pay for fuller access.

Mark Zuckerberg hosted a visit by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his firm's headquarters in September

In recent weeks Facebook has stepped up its campaign by paying for billboard adverts and full-page ads in newspapers.
In addition, it has texted users and shown a notice when locals sign into its platform urging them to contact TRAI and tell it they support the Free Basics initiative.
The regulator is set to hold a hearing into net neutrality in January.

Apple waited until the last moment to file its response to the draft surveillance law

Apple has raised concerns about the UK's draft Investigatory Powers Bill.

The proposed law aims to overhaul rules governing the way the authorities can access people's communications.
The US-based firm has passed on its thoughts to a parliamentary committee scrutinising the legislation.
It focuses on three issues: encryption, the possibility of having to hack its own products, and the precedent it would set by agreeing to comply with UK-issued warrants.
The Home Secretary Theresa May said last month that the proposed powers were needed to fight crime and terror.
Monday was the final deadline for written evidence to be received by the committee scrutinising the draft legislation. It is expected to report in February 2016.

Blocking a backdoor

Apple's submission to the committee runs to eight pages.
The first issue raised is encryption.

Apple's chief executive Tim Cook has previously voiced opposition to the idea of installing backdoors in its systems 

Apple designs some of its products - including iMessage - using a technique called end-to-end encryption.
This means only the sender and recipient of a message can see it in an unscrambled form. The company itself cannot decrypt the contents.
This is something that law enforcement agencies have complained about.
Apple says that ensuring the security and privacy of customer's information against a range of malicious actors - such as criminals and hackers - is a priority.
Current legislation demands that companies take reasonable steps to provide the contents of communications on production of a warrant, but that has not been interpreted as requiring firms to redesign their systems to make it possible.
The government had briefed at the time that the bill was published that the legislation did not constitute any change to existing legislation.
But Apple appears to be concerned that the bill's language could still be interpreted more expansively and force the creation of a so-called "backdoor" to provide the authorities with access.
Apple argues that the existence of such a backdoor would risk creating a weakness that others then might exploit, making users' data less secure.
"A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys. The bad guys would find it too," the company says.
It notes it still provides metadata - data about a communication - when requested, but not the actual content.

Overseas warrants

A second area of concern relates to the issue of "extra-territoriality".
Existing British legislation - and the bill - maintain that companies need to comply with warrants for information wherever they are based and wherever the data resides.
The government argues this is vital when criminals and terrorists often use communications platforms based in other countries.
US companies have long resisted extra-territoriality on the basis that if they accept they are obliged under UK law, then they fear other countries - they often point to Russia and China - will simply demand the same right, and that such assertions may conflict with the privacy laws of the countries in which the data is held.
There have been discussions - led by former British Ambassador to Washington Sir Nigel Sheinwald - to try to come to some form of agreement between the US, UK governments and Silicon Valley to overcome some of the concerns and facilitate better sharing of data.

Hacked customers

A third concern from Apple relates to the provisions of the bill relating to "equipment interference".
This refers to a range of techniques used by police and intelligence agencies, which extend from hacking into devices remotely to interfering with the hardware itself.
This is one way around the spread of encryption and is one of the areas of activity - along with bulk data collection - that the UK state has been doing for some time but is aiming to be more transparent about.

Apple does not want to be forced to hack devices belonging to its customers

Apple's concerns relate to the possibility that it could be ordered to hack products belonging to its customers and to do so in secret.
"The bill as it stands seems to threaten to extend responsibility for hacking from government to the private sector," the company's submission states.

Stretched laws

Aspects of these issues have been voiced by Apple and other companies before.
But one of the key concerns about the new legislation is that it contains ambiguities.
Previous laws, such as the 1984 Telecoms Act, were stretched and expanded in secret to carry out acts that the public knew little about.
The stated aim of the current bill is to improve transparency and accountability.
Apple may well be hoping that it can force the government to clarify what is really intended and possible.

Iranian hackers 'targeted' New York dam

The US power network has regularly been hit by foreign hackers, reported AP

Iranian hackers penetrated the computers controlling a dam near New York, reveals the Wall Street Journal.

The 2013 attack did no damage but revealed information about how computers running the flood control system worked, said the paper.
Hackers working for nation states regularly hit national infrastructure targets, said a separate AP report.
About 12 times in the last decade hackers have won high-level access to power networks, it said.

Detailed plans

Extensive information about the Bowman Avenue dam in Rye, New York state was taken by the hackers, experts familiar with the incident told the newspaper.
An investigation pointed to Iran as the likely source of the attack and alerted US authorities to the significant cyber warfare capabilities of that nation, said the report The same group of hackers that attacked Bowman Avenue was also implicated in separate attacks on three US financial firms, it added.
The US power network has also come under regular attack by "sophisticated foreign hackers" said AP in an extensive investigation.
Many times security researchers had found evidence that hackers had won access to these sensitive systems. So far, all the attacks seemed intent on gathering detailed information, including engineering drawings, about networks and facilities.

One extensive campaign gave hackers access to 82 separate plants spread across the US and Canada. Comments in the code found when the attacks were detected suggested Iranian hackers were behind this attack. Information about this series of attacks led the FBI to issue a warning to power industry that it was being targeted.
The knowledge accumulated by the attackers has not been used to shut down the power plants or change the way they work, wrote AP reporters Garance Burke and Jonathan Fahey.
However, the knowledge could be used to cause damage if diplomatic relations between Iran and the US changed for the worse, former US Air Force cyber security expert Robert Lee told the agency.
Hackers could get at the power plants and other parts of national infrastructure because many of the systems were set up long before the need to protect them against remote attacks became apparent.

A health clinic that mistakenly revealed the identity of HIV-positive patients in a group email has been fined £250 by the UK's data watchdog.

The Bloomsbury Patient Network provides information and support for people who are HIV-positive.
But twice in 2014, staff emailed up to 200 members at a time without obscuring other patients' email addresses.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it had levied a fine that would not cause "financial hardship".

Data breach

In February 2014, a member of staff at the Bloomsbury Patient Network emailed up to 200 patients who were HIV-positive.
The email addresses were entered into the "To" field, meaning they were visible to everybody who received the email.
Instead, email addresses should have been entered into the "BCC" field, which would have obscured them from other recipients.
In May 2014, the same member of staff repeated the error.

Serious error

56 of the email addresses contained names

 

The ICO said 56 of the 200 email addresses contained the full or partial real names of patients.
It also noted that the Bloomsbury Patient Network (BPN) had received five complaints.
Considering the subject matter of the email message, it ruled that was a serious breach of data protection laws.
But the amount of the fine was mitigated by the "significant impact on BPN's reputation as a result of this security breach".
The BPN has not commented.

Continuing investigation

Another HIV support group, 56 Dean Street, in London, made the same mistake with an email sent in September 2015.
It exposed the names and email addresses of 780 people when a newsletter was issued.
The ICO told the BBC its investigation into that incident was continuing.
Fines for breaches of data protection can reach £500,000.
"No matter how big or small an organisation is, when dealing with sensitive information, policy, procedure, training, and supervision must be in place to reduce the probability of human error occurring," said Shaun Griffin, executive director of external affairs for Terrence Higgins Trust, an HIV charity which was not implicated in the ICO ruling.
"Incidences such as these are rare, and should not put anybody off getting a test for HIV. Nearly one in six people with HIV does not realise they have it," he said.

Police in London have warned that an armed gang is using the dating app Grindr to rob unsuspecting men.

Two victims were attacked in separate incidents by four men carrying knives, after going to meet dates they had chatted to online.
"The victims thankfully did not suffer serious physical injuries but have been left very shaken by these incidents," said Det Con Sheree Yates from Croydon Police.
Police are still hunting for the gang.

Two million people

Grindr is a dating app that lets men find nearby suitors based on location data.
The company says two million people around the world use the app every day.
Croydon Police said it was doing everything it could to find and arrest the gang members.
It also issued safety tips for men using apps like Grindr.

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Safety tips for online dating

• Always meet in a public place with lots of people around
• Don't share personal details until you trust the person with whom you are communicating
• If you decide to meet in person, let someone know where you are going and when you're likely to return
• Plan your journey to and from the date in advance. If using a mini-cab, always pre-book
• Drink responsibly and never leave your drink unattended
• Ensure your mobile phone is fully charged and working
• If at any time you feel uncomfortable, leave the date - you are not obliged to stay

Source: Croydon Police

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"We are keen to identify the suspects as soon as possible and are appealing to anyone with any information to contact the police," said Det Con Yates.
"I would urge everyone who uses online dating apps and sites to take steps to help them to stay safe whilst meeting strangers."
A spokesperson for Grindr said: "Grindr has always encouraged users to treat the platform as they would any other social interaction in their lives, with a measure of caution and an awareness of their own safety."
"There are many ways to verify and take steps to protect yourself, from meeting in more public spaces to getting phone numbers and speaking beforehand. We take these matters very seriously and cooperate with local law enforcement at all turns where we can."

Driverless car rules perplexing, says Google

Google has criticised the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California for insisting driverless cars must have a fully licensed driver behind the wheel.

On Wednesday, the DMV published draft regulations which outline how the technology could be used on the roads.
The regulations say truly driverless cars would be "initially excluded" from operation.
Google's director of self-driving cars, Chris Urmson, said the move was "perplexing".
"This maintains the same old status quo and falls short on allowing this technology to reach its full potential, while excluding those who need to get around but cannot drive," he wrote in his blog.
"We've heard countless stories from people who need a fully self-driving car today. People with health conditions ranging from vision problems to multiple sclerosis to autism to epilepsy who are frustrated with their dependence on others for even simple errands."

Safety record

Google argues that driverless cars are much safer than manually driven cars, because they eliminate the human error that causes a majority of collisions.
The technology has inspired a web game by Made With Monster Love which demonstrates the effectiveness of computer control over human intervention.

Web game Error-Prone demonstrates how human error can cause collisions 

Google said its vehicles had been involved in only 16 minor incidents during six years of testing, with human drivers in other cars usually to blame.
"We've seen in our own testing that drivers can't be trusted to dip in and out of the task of driving when the car is encouraging them to sit back and relax," said Mr Urmson.
However, the technology is still being improved and in November, one of Google's cars was pulled over for driving too cautiously.

Fully automatic

Some of the driverless cars Google has been testing in California do not have any manual controls such as steering wheels or pedals.
The DMV's draft regulations would prevent residents from riding in those vehicles until their safety could be assessed in "subsequent regulatory packages".
"The draft regulations are designed to address complex questions related to vehicle safety, certification, operator responsibilities, licensing and registration, privacy, and cybersecurity," the DMV said.
A public consultation on the draft will take place in the new year.

Ford is also testing driverless cars

On Tuesday, car giant Ford announced it had obtained a permit to start testing driverless cars in California.
Its vehicles retain manual controls for humans to take over, as required in the draft regulations.

Brazil judge lifts WhatsApp suspension

The service began working again after a suspension was lifted

A judge in Brazil has ordered that a suspension of the popular messaging application WhatsApp be lifted.

Judge Xavier de Souza said the service should be re-instated immediately.
A court had ordered the service be suspended for 48 hours on Thursday for failing to comply with a court order to provide investigators with information relating to a criminal court case.
Judge Souza said it was "not reasonable that millions of users be affected by the inertia of the company".

'Extreme ruling'

Brazilians had complained bitterly on social media about the suspension of WhatsApp, which is a hugely popular app used by many to communicate with family, friends and colleagues both inside of Brazil and abroad.
Ninety-three per cent of the country's internet population use WhatsApp, according to the TechCrunch website, with many young and poor Brazilians taking advantage of its free text message and internet telephone service.
Within hours of the suspension being coming into force, the hashtag #Nessas48HorasEuVou (#Inthese48hoursIwill) began trending on Twitter, with Brazilians joking about all the things they would do during the suspension.

Brazilians have been joking on Twitter about what their lives are like without WhatsApp 

 

 

 

 

 

Impact of the WhatsApp ban - Paula K, a Brazilian living in London

In a country where mobile providers charge a fortune for a monthly plan - not to mention the high cost of making international calls - the use of WhatsApp for both texts and internet calls allows expats like me to keep a direct line with family, friends or even colleagues back home.
It's worth remembering that Brazil already has a high cost of living - services and products often cost the same price as they do in the UK - but people often only earn about a third of the wage they would here.
One of my friends who works for one of the major mobile providers in Brazil said it was advising people to download alternative apps such as Viber and/or create a group on Messenger to keep the communication flowing.

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The suspension also caused anger at Facebook, which owns WhatsApp.
"I am stunned that our efforts to protect people's data would result in such an extreme decision by a single judge to punish every person in Brazil who uses WhatsApp," Mr Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook.
The suspension was ordered after WhatsApp failed to comply with a court order.

Brazilians were delighted when the popular app started working again on their phones 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The court which ordered the suspension gave little detail, apart from saying that the order related to a criminal case.
But Brazilian media said WhatsApp had been asked to provide details of communication by a suspected gang member who is alleged to have used WhatsApp to organise illegal activity.
Separately from the court case, Brazilian phone companies have urged the government to restrict the use of free voice-over-internet services offered through WhatsApp.
The phone companies argue that the rise of WhatsApp has damaged their businesses.
Meanwhile other messaging services said they had benefited from the temporary absence of WhatsApp.
One such company, Telegram, said on Twitter that more than 1.5 million Brazilian users had joined up since the court order was handed down.

Star Citizen game hits $100m funding milestone

The ambitions of the coders behind Star Citizen have expanded as its development fund has grown

Crowdfunded video game Star Citizen has raised more than $100m (£66m) from fans and backers.

The funding drive for the space exploration, trading and combat game began in 2012 on Kickstarter.
Since then, the game has continued to raise cash from people who have signed up to play and test early versions.
The milestone comes as virtual reality developer Oculus confirms that space-combat game Eve: Valkyrie will be a launch title for its headset.

Crowded space

Since its Kickstarter campaign ended, Star Citizen has continued to raise money through pre-orders and via sales of spaceships that players can fly and fight in the game's virtual universe. In October, it announced that more than one million people had signed up to back and play the game.
This week saw the release of the second test or alpha version of Star Citizen. This starts to tie the separately developed elements of the game into a more coherent whole.
Before now, players have had access to a hangar module where they store their ships and a dog-fighting arena. It will also eventually have a first-person element that lets them take on other players inside ships and space stations. All these elements will exist inside a persistent universe which players can explore and trade in.
Also under development is a single-player mode called Squadron 42 that lets people carry out a mission as a rookie space Navy pilot. Actors including Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill and Gillian Anderson have all signed up to provide voices for the non-player roles featured in this campaign.

Development of the game is being overseen by veteran developer Chris Roberts who was responsible for the Wing Commander series of games.
No firm launch date for Star Citizen has been announced. So far, developer Roberts Space Industries has only said that the game will be launched at some point in 2016.
Star Citizen has competition in the form of two other space flying and fighting games - Elite: Dangerous and Eve: Valkyrie.
Elite: Dangerous also got going by raising cash on Kickstarter and was released in March 2014. A big expansion for the game, called Horizons that lets players land ships on some planets, is due to be released this month.
Eve: Valkyrie is set to be available in early 2016 when the Oculus Rift headset becomes generally available. A copy of the game is being given to anyone that pre-orders the headset.

Is Europe going to restrict teens from using Facebook?

New rules could prevent social media firms processing personal data belonging to under-16s without their parents' permission

By the end of this week it could be illegal for any European child under 16 to use Facebook - or Snapchat or any messaging service - without the express consent of their parents. That, according to some interpretations, would be the result of a vote by an obscure committee to raise the digital age of consent from 13 to 16.

Who knew there was a "digital age of consent"?

I certainly didn't but I am told it is built into the decisions that many online firms make about the age they will allow people to join. In the United States a law called Coppa (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) gives extra online protection to children under 13, and Europe has had a similar policy - which is why the likes of Facebook have not allowed children in until they become teenagers.
Now, though, the European Parliament's civil liberties and home affairs committee is considering a change which is opposed both by social media firms and many child protection experts.
A last minute amendment to Europe's Data Protection Regulation, says this: "The processing of personal data of a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful if and to the extent that such consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child."
In other words, online firms that want to deal with anyone under 16 will have to make sure they get mum or dad's permission first. That according to several online safety experts, will make children more vulnerable not less.
In an open letter to the committee they write that changing the age limit "would deprive young people of educational and social opportunities in a number of ways, yet would provide no more (and likely even less) protection."

Some parents may be unwilling to give permission, which could encourage their children to lie about their age

Others argue that social media has provided a vital lifeline for troubled teenagers, and the risk is that they will not feel able to go online in search of help.
Now, there are plenty of children under 13 using Facebook and other social media sites, with and without parental consent, so it is worth asking whether raising the age limit will make a difference.
But the social media companies and their lawyers certainly think it will make it much harder for responsible companies to police their sites.
That is why a furious lobbying effort is going on to try to persuade European lawmakers, who meet today and vote on Thursday, to chuck out this amendment.
What is missing from this debate so far is anyone making powerful arguments in favour of raising the digital age of consent. Time, perhaps, for those voices to be heard.

Update:

I have now heard from one supporter of the higher age limit.
Dr Rachel O'Connell from the consultancy Trust Elevate suggests that new technologies could be used by social networks to detect under-16s and limit what was done with their data without blocking access outright.
"Social media firms could continue to offer access without processing under-16's personal data, ie gathering data, creating psychographic profiles of a young person and selling it to third parties, until they got permission from a parent and young person," Dr O'Connell said.
"This would require companies to be transparent with both parents and young people about how their data will be processed."