Apple pulls data security tool from UK, AI-generated content targets German voters
Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data. Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption. But earlier this month the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access. Apple did not comment at the time but has consistently opposed creating a “backdoor” in its encryption service. BBC
Voters in Germany are being exposed to copious far-right narratives online from AI-generated content and Russian disinformation campaigns. Experts monitoring social media say Russian-based groups are involved, including “Doppelganger” and “Storm-1516”, which US officials found to be active in America’s election last year. Some of these campaigns are using artificial intelligence to spread their messaging ahead of Sunday’s vote, which will see Germany elect a new Bundestag. Germany’s far-right party Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) has been more active on social media than other parties during the campaign and is in second place in opinion polls. Sky News
Four British parents who are suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children say they are “suspicious” about the social media platform’s claim to have deleted their children’s data. The parents have filed a lawsuit in the US that claims that their four children died in 2022 as a result of attempting the “blackout challenge”, a viral trend that circulated on social media in 2021. The week after the lawsuit was filed, a TikTok executive said that there were some things “we simply don’t have” because of “legal requirements around when we remove data”. The Guardian
Chinese universities are launching AI courses based on the country’s groundbreaking startup DeepSeek. In January, the company sent shockwaves through the West when it unveiled an AI model as powerful as ChatGPT that can run at a fraction of the cost. Now, Shenzhen University in southern Guangdong province has confirmed it is launching an artificial intelligence course based on DeepSeek that will help students learn about key technologies. Students will also study security, privacy and other challenges posed by artificial intelligence. Sky News
An arms race is under way in classrooms. Since the launch of ChatGPT a little over two years ago, enterprising students have become some of the chatbot’s most enthusiastic users, relying on the tool to write essays they would otherwise have had to labour over. Teachers have responded in kind, using tools to attempt to identify the cheaters. Some have resorted to unreliable online checkers, with one university professor failing an entire class after his screening tool incorrectly accused every student of using ChatGPT. Telegraph
The race to launch the slimmest foldable continues and Oppo just got in the lead. We’ve seen plenty of phones that employed innovative designs and reorganized internal structures to reach bar phone territory and the Oppo Find N5 is the slimmest offering to date.
Coming in as the highly anticipated successor to the Find N3, the N5 builds on top of it in almost every meaningful way, starting with the design. At 4.21mm in its unfolded state, the Find N5 is barely thicker than the USB-C port, and 8.93mm when folded back up, Find N5 takes the crown as the slimmest book-style foldable phone to date. GSM Arena
