UK government ‘demands access to Apple users’ encrypted data’, Google Pixel 9a details leak
British security officials have demanded “backdoor” access to Apple users’ encrypted data as part of their efforts to combat child abuse, terrorism and other illegal activities online, it has been reported in the US. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, issued an order last month requiring the capability to retrieve the fully encrypted content of any user, according to the Washington Post. The Home Office would neither confirm nor deny that it had made such a request. The move marks a dramatic escalation of the UK Government’s decade-long efforts to gain access to tech companies’ encrypted content. Telegraph
Google has re-edited an advert for its leading artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Gemini, after it overestimated the global appetite for Gouda. The commercial – which was supposed to showcase Gemini’s abilities – was created to be broadcast during the Super Bowl. It showed the tool helping a cheesemonger in Wisconsin write a product description by informing him Gouda accounts for “50 to 60 percent of global cheese consumption”. However, a blogger pointed out on X that the stat was “unequivocally false” as the Dutch cheese was nowhere near that popular. BBC
The Google Pixel 9a is expected to land in March, but while most leaks so far have addressed the phone’s US price and availability, we’re now hearing about Google’s possible plans for the Pixel 9a in Europe. According to Dealabs (via GSMArena), the Pixel 9a will be available for pre-order in the UK and the rest of Europe on March 19 and begin shipping on March 26. Those are exactly the same dates as we’d heard for the US, so it’s not overly surprising. However, this adds credence to those original claims and should reassure European buyers that they won’t have a longer wait. Tech Radar
The government is spending £22bn on “unproven” technologies which will have a “very significant effect” on energy bills, according to an influential committee of MPs. A report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of MPs said no assessment has been made of whether the programme to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere is affordable for billpayers. The financial impact on households of funding the project has not been examined by government at all, the PAC said. Sky News
Thousands of press releases about decade-old enforcement actions have topped search results, all updated with a timestamp from after Trump’s inauguration. Quick Google searches for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids return a deluge of government press releases. Headlines include “ICE arrests 85 during 4-day Colorado operation”, “New Orleans focuses targeted operations on 123 criminal noncitizens” and, in Wisconsin, “ICE arrests 83 criminal aliens”. But a closer look at these Ice reports tells a different story. That four-day operation in Colorado? It happened in November 2010. The 123 people targeted in New Orleans? That was February of last year. Wisconsin? September 2018. The Guardian
Porsche is to expand its range of petrol cars after admitting internal combustion engines will be around for “much longer” than previously thought. The German carmaker confirmed it would overhaul its product portfolio to include “additional vehicle models with combustion engines or plug-in hybrids.” Last summer, it scrapped a target of 80% of its vehicle sales being all-electric. The decision comes despite looming net zero deadlines in Britain and Europe which will compel carmakers to sell fewer petrol cars and more electric vehicles (EVs). Telegraph
