Meta’s “pay or consent” model for Facebook and Instagram has been shut down by the European data protection watchdog. Meta attempted to appease regulator’s concerns over how it harvested data for behavioural advertising by offering an add-free paid subscription offer to EU users, a model which immediately came under fire from data protection advocates. The model arose after the EU said that Meta did not have a sufficient legal basis for the processing and sharing of user data for personalised advertisements and therefore must give users a choice to opt out of personal advertising. Meta’s move ..read more

A syndicate of cyber-criminals have accessed a global database used by businesses around the world to verify the credibility of users. The World-Check database is maintained by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), and allegedly fell into the hands of GhostR group who claimed the attack on Thursday. LSEG later verified the claim. The breach, though genuine, was said to have occurred at an undisclosed third party. “This was not a security breach of LSEG/our systems,” said an LSEG spokesperson. “The incident involves a third party’s data set, which includes a copy of the World-Check data file ..read more

Non-compete clauses are increasingly prevalent in employment contracts, particularly in the STEM sector. They play a vital role in protecting the intellectual and human assets of a business. However, crafting effective and enforceable non-compete agreements requires careful consideration of various factors which are unique to the STEM industry. Understanding Non-Compete Clauses in STEM Industries A non-compete clause is a contractual provision that prohibits an employee from engaging in employment with a direct competitor or starting a competing business for a defined period of time after leav ..read more

Search engines have become embedded into the way users find information, with internet giant Google processing over 84.2bn searches per day worldwide. Fake advertisements that appear within a user’s search results are increasingly being used to entice unsuspecting users to phishing websites and malware downloads, finds BlueVoyant. The Growing Threat of Search Engine Ads report detected a 28% rise in malicious ads with 70% of ad-related websites found to be non-lookalike domains with intent to deceive. This is an alarming figure which can somewhat be attributed to the ease of access to self-ser ..read more

A new report from Egress shows that quishing, a phishing method using malicious QR codes, is exploding across the threat landscape in the first three months of 2024. The practice has skyrocketed: in 2021, quishing only accounted for 0.8% of phishing email payloads, shooting to 10.8% in the past three months alone. Egress analysts imagine that the trend will continue to proliferate until organisations implement effective countermeasures against this type of attack. In terms of other phishing payloads, ransomware’s prevalence has doubled since 2021, but malware has seen a significant decline int ..read more

In a digital age dominated by connectivity, the latest research from Ofcom reveals a significant surge in online activity among 5-7-year-olds. Compared to the same survey conducted by Ofcom last year, a notable increase has been observed in various online behaviors within this age group. A higher proportion of 5-7-year-olds are utilising online platforms for messaging or voice/video calls, with figures rising from 59% to 65%. Similarly, the consumption of live-streamed content has seen a substantial uptick, climbing from 39% to 50%. The overall usage of social media sites or applications among ..read more

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), part of the NatWest Group, is set to close 18 branches across Scotland, about a fifth of its 86 branches in total. This equates to a total of 105 job losses, leaving only 69 branches of the bank left in Scotland. Closures are set to take place accross the hole of Scotland, with three closures planned in Edinburgh and three in Glasgow. Bathgate, East Kilbride, Helensburgh, Largs, and Abderdeen, will also see closures, while the two banks in Inverness will be created into a new flagship branch in the city. For the remaining banks, RBS says they will invest over ..read more

In a significant shift in climate policy, the Scottish government has announced its decision to abandon annual and interim targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, a new system will be implemented to measure emissions every five years.  Energy secretary Mairi McAllan addressed the Scottish Parliament, confirming the government’s intention to replace the existing framework with legislation akin to the carbon budgets utilised by the UK and Welsh governments.  Despite this change, McAllan reiterated the government’s commitment to the ambitious goal of achieving net zero e ..read more

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a reprimand to Clyde Valley Housing Association in Lanarkshire after personal information was accessible to other residents on an online customer portal. On the first day the portal launched in 2022, a resident discovered they could access documents related to anti-social behaviour cases and view personal information about other residents, including names, addresses and dates of birth. The resident called a customer service advisor at Clyde Valley Housing Association to flag the breach, but their concerns were not escalated, and ..read more

The UK’s largest trade union body, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has proposed a bill for the regulation of AI in the workplace. As AI and automation continues to proliferate across the UK’s workforce, the TUC and other union bodies have raised concerns about how the burgeoning technology will affect the stability of workers across different industries, and how it may transform the workforce. “AI is rapidly transforming our society and the world of work, yet there are no AI related laws in place in the UK, nor any current plans to legislate soon,” Mary Towers, policy officer, employment rights ..read more