TikTok accused of breaching user’s rights
- TikTok has been accused of breaching users’ rights “on a massive scale” by a European consumer group
- The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) says the platform “falls foul of multiple breaches of EU consumer rights”
- It also claims TikTok has failed to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content
- TikTok told the BBC that it has requested a meeting with the BEUC to discuss its concerns
- The BEUC has filed a complaint with the EU’s network of consumer protection authorities
- For the full story, select here
- For more information on staying safe on TikTok, read our recent article here
Judge calls for higher court to rule on revenge porn
- Revenge porn is “cruel, vicious and controlling” and should be dealt with by the Crown Court, a District Judge in Northern Ireland has said
- Judge Michael Ranaghan made the comment when sentencing an offender aged 25, from County Tyrone, to three months in jail suspended for 18 months
- The Magistrates’ Court heard how the defender disclosed a sexual photograph of a woman despite her pleas for him not to
- He also threatened to send the picture to others, including her father, which the judge considered “simply evil”
- The woman contacted police on 5 July 2020 after receiving Facebook messages from Hopper, who had also sent the images to an ex-partner
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Microsoft starts program to make games more accessible to people with disabilities
- Microsoft is expanding its accessibility efforts with a new program for evaluating Xbox and PC games
- Today, its gaming accessibility team announced that developers can send their games to be evaluated for accessibility and tested by players with disabilities
- Game test reports will include feedback from players with disabilities, as well as links to information on inclusive design, relevant non-profits, and accessibility experts
- The program was announced alongside updates to the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines that were released in early 2020.
- The Xbox Accessibility Guidelines include thorough explanations of inclusive design considerations for developers, and they are now updated to include clearer language, additional context, and implementation examples.
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- For more information on making technology more accessible to SEND children and young people, read our recent article here
Use of ‘spy pixels’ in emails is endemic
- The use of “invisible” tracking tech in emails is now “endemic”, according to a messaging service that analysed its traffic at the BBC’s request
- Hey’s Review indicated that two-thirds of emails (excluding spam) sent to its users’ personal accounts contained a “spy pixel”,
- Its makers said that many of the largest brands used email pixels, with the exception of the “big tech” firms
- Defenders of the trackers say they are a commonplace marketing tactic
- Several of the companies involved noted their use of such tech was mentioned within their wider privacy policies.
- Emails pixels can be used to log if and when an email is opened, how many times it is opened, what device or devices are involved and the user’s rough physical location deduced from their internet protocol (IP) address
- This information can then be used to determine the impact of a specific email campaign, as well as to feed into more detailed customer profiles
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Children must be at heart of post-Covid plans
- Vulnerable children must be at the heart of government plans to “build back better” after the pandemic, England’s Children’s Commissioner says
- Anne Longfield calls on Boris Johnson to put children at the “centre stage” of plans to “level up” the nation
- In a final speech after six years in the role, she accuses the Treasury of a bias against children
- The government said protecting vulnerable children was at the heart of its pandemic response
- For the full story, select here
