First African Drone and Data Academy Launched, Kashmir Under Internet Shutdown, and NSA Finds Major Flaw in Windows 10

Africa

First African Drone and Data Academy opens in Malawi

The first African Drone and Data Academy has opened in Lilongwe in Malawi according to reports from UNICEF. The academy is designed to encourage the use of drone technology in projects and programmes that impact the lives of young people in Africa. “Humanitarian and development programme delivery in Africa and beyond can benefit significantly from the application of drone technology,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said of the launch. As such, the academy will focus on developing expertise in the development and use of drones for humanitarian and commercial purposes. The first 26 students will receive free tuition for the 12-week-long course.

Andela opens training programme in Kigali

Andela is calling for applications into its new 5-month training programme for entry level and aspiring engineers in Kigali, Rwanda, it has been reported. StackUp, as the programme is called, will be administered remotely and will offer aspiring engineers the soft skill and technical knowhow to become FullStack JavaScript Engineers. The programme is divided into two parts: a two-month Roll Up phase and a three-month project phase. “Our ambition for Rwanda is to create employment opportunities for technology practitioners across all range within the local tech-ecosystem, whether via Andela’s remote working model or a local company,” Andela’s Rwanda Country Director Clément Uwajeneza said. Andela is an engineering-as-a-service company operating in Ghana, Rwanda, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.

Europe

Grindr and Twitter accused of unlawful sharing of user data

The Norwegian Consumer Council has accused both Grindr and a Twitter-owned ad firm for illegally sharing user data, the BBC has reported. “These practices are out of control and are rife with privacy violations and breaches of European law,” Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy in the Norwegian Consumer Council, said of the investigation. Grindr in particular has been accused of sharing user location, age, sexuality, and gender, breaching the EU’s GDPR. If found guilty, the companies could be forced to pay up to 4% of their revenues in fines. In response to the allegations, Grindr said it was changing its consent management platform. Twitter, meanwhile, has disabled the account in question.

Nokia cuts jobs in Finland, invests in 5G

Nokia has announced plans to cut up to 180 jobs in Finland while disclosing it will invest more in 5G technology, according to reports. The Finnish firm has a 6,000-strong workforce and revealed that the job cuts would not affect staff in its 5G department. The announcement comes amidst concerns the company is lagging behind competitors Ericsson and Huawei in the 5G sector. Nokia also announced that it was lowering its cost savings target saying, “We have updated our previously announced cost savings target of 700 million euros to 500 million euros mainly because we expect to make additional investments in 5G and digitalization.”

Asia

Internet restrictions persist in Kashmir

Indi-administered Kashmir still suffers from internet restrictions despite limited broadband availability in some parts, the BBC has reported. The region has suffered an internet shutdown since India revoked its special status and divided it into federally-administered territories in August 2019. Parts of Hindu-majority Jammu enjoy limited 2G coverage while the rest of Kashmir has limited broadband service. The Indian government justified the internet blackout citing a possibility of militants regrouping after the revocation of the special status. Network coverage has been limited to institutions like banks, hospitals, and government buildings providing essential services. While mobile communication has been restored within the region, the majority of the businesses are reeling from an unavailability of internet connections. Where there is internet service, only white-listed sites approved by government are accessible.

China warns the Netherlands over restricting tech supplies

The Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands has warned that trade relations between the two countries could worsen if the Dutch don’t allow ASML to ship semiconductor equipment machines to China, Reuters has reported. The Dutch government had reportedly withheld licenses needed by ASML to export the equipment following pressure from the US government. The Dutch company is the leader in lithography, an important step in the production of semiconductors which China needs to compete with rivals, US, South Korea and Taiwan. “We are concerned that the Netherlands is politicizing our trade relationship under American pressure. If this movement continues it will of course negatively affect bilateral relations,” Chinese ambassador Xu Hong said of the development. ASML has said the equipment in question could be used for military purposes and as such needed a license to export to anywhere in the world. The Dutch government, meanwhile, said it was weighing both economic and security risks before issuing out a license.

The Americas

NSA discovers major flaw in Windows 10

The National Security Agency of the US has discovered a flaw in the Windows 10 Operating System that hackers could have used to create malicious software, a BBC report has said. According to security experts, the flaw allowed intruders to create a fake application that looked genuine, thereby duping the user. The NSA announced its findings in a press conference but it is still unclear how long it had known about the flaw before informing Microsoft about it. According to a security expert, Brian Krebs, the flaw was so serious that Microsoft sent a patch to the US Military before circulating the update to the public. Microsoft, meanwhile, has said there was no evidence that the flaw had been exploited.

Google to phase out cookies

Google will phase out browser cookies over the next two years amidst calls for greater privacy controls, the BBC has reported. Cookies are snippets of text files that track users’ browsing history so they can be targeted by ad companies. “Users are demanding greater privacy – including transparency, choice and control over how their data is used – and it’s clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands,” Google said in a blogpost. Third-party cookies that follow users across websites have already been banned by Microsoft, Apple, and Mozilla. In the UK, a study found that less than 12% of the 10,000 websites using cookies surveyed met tehbasic requirements of GDPR.