Tech Digest daily roundup: Amazon investigated by CMA for ‘distorting competition’
Amazon is being investigated by Britain’s antitrust watchdog over concerns that some of its practices in the UK may be anticompetitive and result in a worse deal for customers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will look at whether Amazon is distorting competition by giving an unfair advantage to its own retail business or sellers that use its services, compared to other third-party sellers on the Amazon UK Marketplace. The investigation will look at how the tech giant is using third-party seller data and how the company decides the criteria for selling under the Prime label. Amazon
Electric police cars are running out of charge when responding to emergencies because the blue lights and sirens drain the batteries, it has been suggested. Officers using environmentally friendly vehicles in rural areas are also struggling to locate charging points, raising questions about their effectiveness. The vast majority of constabularies in England and Wales now include electric vehicles in their fleet, with the Metropolitan Police pledging to be 100 per cent electric by 2030. Despite being one of the country’s smallest forces, Gloucestershire Constabulary has the second biggest number of electric vehicles in the country. Telegraph
Twitter has mounted a legal challenge in India against government orders to take down content. The social media giant has filed a petition with the high court in Karnataka state resisting “several” such orders, sources told the BBC. Twitter was reacting to a letter from the government in June warning of “serious consequences” of non-compliance with such orders. Twitter has more than 24 million users in India, by one estimate. Hours after the petition was filed, federal minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted that all foreign Internet platforms had to comply with Indian laws. BBC
There’s a new feature reportedly coming to the Apple Watch Series 8, and I wish I had it in my Apple Watch Series 7: a new sensor will be able to detect elevated body temperatures and let you know if you appear to have a fever. Now, as someone who’s luck in avoiding COVID has finally run out, that would have given me enough warning to cancel a few catch-ups over the weekend that I now feel very guilty about. Temperature sensors were also rumoured for the next generation of Apple’s best true wireless earbuds, the AirPods Pro 2, but apparently, those plans have been put back. T3
After the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US, tracking reproductive information has never been riskier. In many US states, millions seeking and providing abortions could soon face criminal charges. Online conversations have turned to digital self-defence, and questions about the privacy of period tracking apps and other digital traces. This concern is justified. Gender and racial justice researcher Cynthia Conti-Cook has documented the use of digital evidence to prosecute people accused of seeking abortions in the US. So far, this has been used in multiple cases against women of colour who already face significant barriers in reproductive healthcare. The Conversation
