Tech Digest daily roundup: Facial recognition firm facing possible huge fine
An Australian firm which claims to have a database of more than 10 billion facial images is facing a potential £17m fine over its handling of personal data in the UK. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it had significant concerns about Clearview AI, whose facial recognition software is used by police forces. It has told the firm to stop processing UK personal data and delete any it has. Clearview said the regulator’s claims were “factually and legally incorrect”. The company – which has been invited to make representations – said it was considering an appeal and “further action”. It has already been found to have broken Australian privacy law but is seeking a review of that ruling. BBC
Jack Dorsey has confirmed that he will be resigning as Twitter’s chief executive – prompting wild swings in its share price. Posting on the platform he said that it was “finally time for me to leave”, explaining in a statement from Twitter itself that it was “because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders”. Parag Agrawal, the former chief technology officer, has been announced as the new CEO and a member of the board with immediate effect, and said he was “honoured and humbled” by the appointment. Sky News
Deep gratitude for @jack and our entire team, and so much excitement for the future. Here’s the note I sent to the company. Thank you all for your trust and support 💙 https://t.co/eNatG1dqH6 pic.twitter.com/liJmTbpYs1
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) November 29, 2021
The head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) has warned of China’s increasingly “assertive” stance in global affairs, and use of “debt traps and data traps” to secure influence. Richard Moore, known to spies as C and who oversees the UK’s foreign intelligence apparatus, gave a rare broadcast interview on Tuesday morning. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while he believed that free societies possessed an advantage over authoritarian ones, “we need to be very robust in fighting our corner” and leverage “the entrepreneurial animal spirits” within science and technology to keep pace with Beijing. Later on Tuesday Mr Moore was set to say in a speech that, as hostile governments and criminals developed artificial intelligence and quantum computing attacks, not only SIS but also GCHQ and MI5 would have to “tap into” the technology industry’s expertise. Independent
PlayStation 5 owners can, at last, add BBC iPlayer to their list of media apps today. The BBC confirmed iPlayer’s roll-out on PS5 this morning, just over a year after the console first launched. As you’d expect, the app offers streaming in up to UHD quality for supported programs (and if you have the right screen attached).To download iPlayer on PS5, head to the Media tab on your PS5 home screen, then select BBC iPlayer from the All Apps section. “We’re always working to make iPlayer available across as many platforms as we can, and we’re delighted to add the PS5 to the 15,000+ devices where BBC iPlayer is already available,” BBC iPlayer head of product Neil Hall said today. Eurogamer
Ludwig Ahgren, a streamer perhaps best known for his month-long subathon that took place earlier this year, is moving from Twitch to stream exclusively on YouTube Gaming. Ahgren’s first stream on YouTube will take place tomorrow, November 30th. Ludwig leaves behind a significant presence on Twitch. He has 3.1 million followers, and TwitchTracker’s metrics indicate he has more than 27,000 subscribers as of this writing. And by the end of his subathon, he had broken the all-time Twitch subs record — TwitchTracker says he peaked at 283,066 subscribers. But he won’t be starting from nothing on YouTube, where he already has 2.08 million subscribers. The Verge
