Ghana to Begin Mobile Phone Registration, Wikipedia Founder Wants Social Media Strike Action, and Young TikTok Fans Exploited By Influencers

Africa

Ghana to begin registration of mobile phones

The government of Ghana has announced its intention to register old and new mobile phones in a bid to curb cybercrimes in the country. The Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said the draft bill had been presented to Cabinet, the report said. As part of the registration, the Minister indicated that pre-installed apps will also be vetted against a database of known malware apps noted for collecting information without user approval. The Ministry intends to open a tender process where qualified firms with the right solutions would help in the registration process.

Safaricom CEO dies from cancer

Chief Executive Officer of Kenya’s Safaricom, Bob Collymore, has died of cancer at the age of 61. Bob Collymore had been undergoing treatment for leukemia since 2017, a report said. “In recent weeks, his condition worsened, and he succumbed to the cancer at his home in the early hours of Monday,” Safaricom said in a statement about their CEO. Bob Collymore joined Safaricom in 2010 and has been praised for the development and proliferation of mobile payment system, M-Pesa. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Njoroge, praised Collymore’s role in the development of Kenya’s telecom industry.

The Americas

Amazon engineer stops cat from bringing kills into the home using AI

An Amazon engineer, Ben Hamm, has created a cat flap that stops a cat from bringing its catch into the home, the BBC has reported. The flap automatically blocks the entrance for 15 minutes, barring Ben Hamm’s cat from entering the home with a killed animal in its jaws. The cat flap relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning processes created by Amazon. Ben had to supply more than 23,000 photos to teach the machine how to react to specific actions of his cat, Metric, in order to get the correct response. Ben admits the process is not 100% yet, as his cat was unfairly locked out of the house once. Metric also managed to get a prey into the house one out of seven times.

Wikipedia co-founder wants social media strike

Co-founder of Wikipedia, Dr Larry Sanger, is calling on the public to observe a 48 hour abstinence from social media, it has been reported. The move is to force social network giants to restore control over user data to the users. “We’re going to flex our collective muscles and demand that giant, manipulative corporations give us back control over our data, privacy, and user experience,” Dr Sanger said. The Wiki co-founder also wants social media to introduce interoperability so that a post shared on one platform would show up on other platforms.

US investigates secret ‘border control’ Facebook group

The US Border Patrol is investigating a secret border control page on Facebook where members allegedly posted sexist and racist jokes about migrants, the BBC has reported. The secret Facebook group had both former and current border patrol workers, according to a report. The group was named “I’m 10-15” after the “10-15” code in Border Patrol which refers to “aliens in custody.” Some posts mocked the deaths of migrants along the border, while others targeted members of congress with inappropriate comments. US officials are investigating the group to find out if any of the members breached the standards of operation. “Any employees found to have violated our standards of conduct will be held accountable,” Carla Provos, the Border Patrol Chief, said.

Europe

Ireland to probe Apple over privacy issues

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has initiated a probe into US mobile device manufacturer, Apple, over alleged privacy breaches. The Reuters report say Irish regulators are investigating Apple’s compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation law. The investigation will look at how Apple processes user data for targeted advertisement and whether the process is transparent enough per the GDPR rules. This is the third privacy breach investigation the DPC is undertaking with respect to Apple. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and Qantcast are all under some investigation from the Irish regulator.

TikTok fans exploited by influencers

TikTok‘s young users have been pressured into sending money to popular influencers on the app, a BBC report has revealed. Popular influencers ask their fans to send them digital gifts in order to receive something in return. Sometimes, the influencers offer to give the users their phone numbers. After sending close to GBP 100 in gifts, one 12 year old user said she regretted because the influencer, Sebastien Moy, never answered his phone. The videomaker has not broken any rules according to the app, but TikTok said it regretted that such a thing was happening. TikTok normally allows videomakers with 1,000 followers to do live broadcasts, during which viewers can send digital gifts of between 5p and GBP 48.99. The company says it is strengthening its laws and regulations. TikTok is a video-sharing app that is popular with teenagers and persons under 25.

Asia

Samsung’s profit to fall due to Huawei woes

Samsung Electronics is expected to announce a 50% drop in second quarter profits due to reduction in chip shipments to Huawei, Reuters has reported. Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone maker and is also the biggest supplier of DRAM and NAND memory chips. A drop in demand from the Huawei due to the US blacklisting of the Chinese company has affected the South Korean company. Huawei is also the world’s second largest maker of smartphones. “When there’s not many players that can buy chips instead of Huawei, then Samsung has to cut prices to sell them,” an analyst at Sangsangin Investment & Securities said.

Samsung in trouble over water-resistant phone ad

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Samsung for making misleading claims in an ad about the water-resistant features of a Samsung phone, it has been reported. This follows the watchdog’s review of about 300 Samsung adverts in which the tech giant is believed to have made false claims. Some Samsung phones are said to have a rating IP68, which make them resistant to water to a certain degree. However, the ACCC says the rating doesn’t make the phones resistant to sea water or swimming pools. Despite this, the Samsung advert showed the phones being used in swimming pools and also exposed to seawater. “Samsung showed the Galaxy phones used in situations they shouldn’t be, to attract customers,” the ACCC said, and could lead to a huge fine for Samsung if found guilty.