Study Uncovers Risks in AI Models: Multimodal Systems Highlight Unsafe Outputs

Almost a decade ago, when AI was starting to get wind of its progression, there was a lot of skepticism around the idea of machines with AI taking over human beings. But slowly and gradually, AI grew at such an exponential rate that the mere possibility of machines taking over humans is now a reality dawning upon us.

As the progression of machines gaining superintelligence is an unstoppable process, the best that we can do is bind its growth with laws and regulations in the research and advancement stages of AI to prevent the machines from achieving Artificial General Intelligence, which will put the future of humanity at severe risk of being replaced in various domains of professional life.

To regulate AI and its progress, particularly after seeing the inevitable wave of ChatGPT's ability to reason and rationalize like a human, super alignment teams were set for all AI generative models to supervise and govern in restricted capacities to prevent harm to society. However, the superalignment teams were dissolved in May due to disagreements, mainly from the researchers, that AI should have free space without any restrictions to grow and adequately improve itself.

To allow AI to progress in unbounded ways, ChatGPT in May gave its platform Open AI free access to multimodal, which means taking image and text input from the internet to its newly developed system, GPT-4o. But after some time, things begin to get out of hand. The study done by arXiv found that these models, like GPT-4V, Gemini 1.5, and GPT-4o, give dangerous outputs based on the text and image inputs.

To highlight the issue of unsafe outputs, a study named Cross-Modality Safety Alignment found safe inputs but pointed out unsafe outputs as per the benchmarks of nine safety domains such as morality, self-harm, privacy violation, harmful behavior, fake news and information misrepresentation, stereotyping, discrimination, and political controversy.

The study also found that LVLMs (Large Visual Language Models) faced a tough time spotting Safe Inputs and Unsafe Outputs during the receiving process of several images and text inputs. The visual language model systems were also incapable of giving a safe response to the unsafe outputs. As mentioned in the study analysis, 15 LVLMs were tested, and the accuracy of identifying unsafe outputs of ChatGPT-4v was 53.29%, GPT-4o had 50.9%, and Gemini 1.5 scored 52.1%.

To overcome these hurdles and to improve the accuracy of the models, the study further suggested that Visual Language Models should integrate information and insights from all modalities to have a generalized and universally applicable understanding of different situations. The system should also focus on building the ability to utilize cultural sensitivities, ethical considerations, and safety hazards in real-world conditions. One last thing that the study authors put a lot of emphasis on was the notion of identifying the intent of the user even if it's not directly mentioned, but through the reasoning of the text and images, they should be able to reach valid and accurate conclusions.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: How Much Money Tech Companies Will Lose Without the Internet?
by Ahmed Naeem via Digital Information World

Apple’s Misery In The EU: Company Becomes First To Be Charged For Violating DMA

Tech giant Apple is one of the first of many to acclaim several achievements but this next piece of news isn’t something the company will be proud of.

The Cupertino firm has been called out by regulators in the EU for being the first to violate the Digital Markets Act in the region. The DMA has had several tech giants scrambling to try and make sure their operations were in line with the law.

The latest on this front has to do with Apple stopping developers from freely steering consumers to other alternative channels with various other offers and content.

The entire investigation started in March and focused on the developer’s ability to combine alternative methods for payment across both of these stores. Moreover, the EU also wished to examine whether or not the fees from Apple for App Stores belonging to third parties violated the law and if its ability to sideload was actually acceptable.

It turned out that the answer to this could be a yes as investigators have been pointing out that Apple is not keen on giving others a chance and wishes to be the head of the competitive race by adding restrictions.

Steering is said to be a key function that forces app developers to be less dependent on app stores owned by gatekeepers so that consumers might be more aware of what offers are at stake.

This might be the very first time that the EU took action against a leading tech firm for DMA.

The EU has already taken action with Apple’s operations. For starters, app developers were said to have been barred from adding pricing details across app stores and channels owned by third parties. Secondly, it enables developers to link out of platforms to external browsers but does end up regulating what the developer is allowed to do when linking out. Thirdly, it charges developers for acquiring new clients via this link-out endeavor.

The company is going to be given a chance to argue with all of the findings brought up against it by the EU before the levying of penalties. In case there is an infringement, the Commission would impose fines that go as far as 10% of the whole gatekeepers’ turnover around the globe. And such fines might be up to 20% in those cases when infringements keep getting repeated.

In other news, we know that the European Commission is even rolling out new proceedings about the support of Apple’s alternative iOS app stores. The case focuses on a new Core Tech Fee which is a multi-step process needed for users to download the marketplaces and what eligibility the company has brought forward for developers in this respect.

They also vow to open up proceedings against the tech giant with core tech fees and different rules for enabling third-party stores as mentioned above. This is a major point worth mentioning because a lot of people and developers are looking forward to welcoming alternative options that go above and beyond the usual App Store.

Hence, rumors about Apple undermining such efforts are not going to be taken too well, sources mentioned.

We even saw the iPhone maker recently blame various regulatory uncertainties linked to the DMA as the reason for the delay in launching its iOS lineup across the EU states which many saw as shocking news. But Apple says that the blame lies on all the interoperability restrictions that it feels might undermine both the security and privacy of users.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: ChatGPT Recorded its Biggest Revenue Because of ChatGPT-4o After Declining for Some Months
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

ChatGPT Recorded its Biggest Revenue Because of ChatGPT-4o After Declining for Some Months

ChatGPT recorded its biggest month of revenue ever since the release of its mobile app. It is all due to the new model of ChatGPT, ChatGPT-4o. ChatGPT had been seeing a decline in its revenue for the past few months. It was because ChatGPT stopped the subscriptions for ChatGPT+ which made the revenue down by 26% in April 2024 as compared to November 2023. In May, ChatGPT showed the peak in its downloads. It went from 13.9 million downloads in April to 18.7 million in may, which is the highest since November.

On both App Store and Google Play, ChatGPT’s revenue grew from $5.8 million in April to $20.3 million in May 2024. Most of the revenue growth of ChatGPT was seen on the App Store. ChatGPT is always growing in revenue now and has hit the $20 million mark. $20.3 million is the net revenue of ChatGPT in April which means it is the amount after deducting App Store and Google Play’s fee.

Most of the ChatGPT’s revenue was from USA and Germany. UK and Japan were just behind Germany for giving ChatGPT the biggest revenue. ChatGPT is still growing internationally and it’s not long until ChatGPT will grow in other countries too, especially with the release of ChatGPT-4o.

Chart: Appfigures.

Read next:

• Can Esports rival traditional sports in the digital age?

• Here's How You Can Enable Or Disable JavaScript in Your Browser

• Who's Really on Board with AI: Youngsters or Boomers?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Can Esports rival traditional sports in the digital age?

The digital era is in full swing, and each innovation is having a profound effect on our lives. We are gripped by modern day tech and are becoming increasingly dependent on it. One of the main advantages of tech though is that it introduces something new into our lives. It does not necessarily replace things but changes and evolves everyday items like the mobile phone, computer, or payment devices further.

Our focus on this short piece will not be on a piece of tech, but an industry that has used tech and digital advancements for its gain. We are talking about Esports. It has enjoyed a phenomenal rise over the past decade and now organizes its own outright events with the world’s best athletes competing against each other for supremacy in the Esports world.

Just one glance at Esports betting markets at Cloudbet shows you how many games and events are already being organized and we can only expect this to increase. If we were to take the presence of Esports on sports betting platforms for example, one can argue that it ranks as a fully-fledged sport. But how far has Esports actually come? Can we talk about it in the same breath as traditional sports such as soccer and tennis?

Firstly, here are a few facts about Esports:

• There are currently an estimated 286 million Esports enthusiasts around the world.
• Nearly 300 million additional people are classed as “occasional viewers”.
• The Esports market in the United States is expected to pass the USD1 billion mark this year.
• The biggest prize pot in an Esports tournament ever is a whopping USD40,018,400.00. This was the overall prize pot for The International 2021 DOTA 2 tournament.

Image: Wikimedia EDG Champion.

How far can Esports go?

The question of whether Esports can reach the levels of traditional sports is an interesting one and one that we can only hypothesize for now. The potential is most certainly there though. The numbers highlighted above are impressive, but they do not match up to the 5 billion people worldwide that follow soccer. However, the potential lies in what the future might bring. The reason Esports has such a high ceiling is that tech will only continue to get better. With tech improving, there will be an inevitable shift of people using digital devices even more than they do now.

The exposure is key for Esports to progress and having soccer icons such as Ruud Gullit promoting the recent eChampions League is a bold statement. The money to invest in gaming tech, training of athletes, and sponsorship of teams is clearly there, all Esports needs is time. Soccer, American Football, baseball, ice hockey all had to make the same small strides at one point, and although Esports is relatively new to the scene, the building blocks are there for billions to follow in the future.

by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Here's How You Can Enable Or Disable JavaScript in Your Browser

If you ever see a website that you consider to be well designed in a visually pleasing manner, there’s a pretty good chance that this is due to its use of JavaScript (JS). Many would consider it to be the basis for the entire internet. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a lot of people might not be aware of how important JavaScript truly is with all things having been considered and taken into account.

The first thing to understand here is what JavaScript actually is. In essence, it’s a programming language that runs on the client side of your web browser. Most basic web functions rely on it, and if it ever ends up getting disabled, the functionality of a given webpage may end up becoming compromised.

It is important to note that the JavaScript engine relies on a series of processes to execute the code.

First, the parser interprets the code and converts it into an Abstract Syntax Tree. Following this, it’s compiled into bytecode or machine code, although it bears mentioning that the former is faster than the latter. The next step is executing the compiled code, after which it interacts with your browser on a regular basis.

There are a few benefits to using JavaScript that you need to be aware of. For starters, it is crucial for the creation of any and all interactive components that you might see on the web, in other words JS helps a browser run a lot of functions and perform tasks, such as loading popups, ads, and enabling a site to put a piece of content behind a paywall. What's more is that it facilitates speedier communication between the client and server side, allowing the retrieval of data without necessitating frequent refreshes. Any input coming from the user is also processed using JavaScript.

However, there are a few drawbacks to JavaScript that you might want to know a thing or two about. For example, the JavaScript running in your browser simply isn’t able to control hardware since it lacks any kind of access to it. Secondly, it can’t influence browser settings such as modifying extensions or the homepage. Finally, the lack of local file system access makes it somewhat less secure than might have been the case otherwise.

So without further ado, here’s how you can enable JavaScript in your browser on PC or Mac!

Google Chrome

Users can simply head over to this page and enable or disable the JS in their chrome browser: chrome://settings/content/javascript.

Or alternatively, follow these steps: 

• Click on the three vertically aligned dots in the upper right corner
• Head over to “Settings”
• Click on “Privacy and Security”
• Enter “Site Settings”
• Scroll to the “Content” section and click on “JavaScript”
• Toggle it to “Sites can use JavaScript” to enable JS or select ""Don't allow sites to use JavaScript" to disable this setting, or enter specific sites you want JavaScript to be enabled/disabled on

Mozilla Firefox

A video tutorial in case you need it:

• Input “about:config” into the address bar and press Enter
• You might see a prompt asking you to accept risk and enter
• Type “javascript.enabled” into the search bar
• Press the toggle button to change the value to “true” to enable it, or turn it to "false" to disable it.

Safari

Video guide for visual learners:

• Click on “Safari” in menu bar
• Select “Settings”
• In the new setting pop up find and click on the “Security” tab
• Click on “Enable JavaScript” checkbox, right next to "web content" to enable to disable the feature

Opera

Similar to Google Chrome, Opera browsers can enable or disable the JS by simply copy/pasting this link: opera://settings/content/javascript.

Or if you wish to follow the step by step process, here are the details:

• Click on the Opera logo
• Click on “settings”
• Go to “Privacy and Security”
• Click on “Site Settings”
• Click on “JavaScript”
• Select either "Sites can use JavaScript" or "Don't allow sites to use JavaScript" depending on your need

Microsoft Edge

Visit this page to disable or enable the JS in Edge browser: edge://settings/content/javascript

Or follow these steps:

• Click on the three horizontal dots in the upper right corner
• Access “Settings”
• Go to “Cookies and Site Permissions”
• Click on “JavaScript”
• Toggle to “Allowed (recommended)” to on position if you prefer using JS while browsing and turn it off if you don't.

Read next: Is Your Smartphone Eavesdropping? Here's How to Protect Your Privacy
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

The Do’s and Don’ts of Working from Home

The pandemic seems a distant memory now, but let’s not forget that it was the catalyst for a nationwide surge in working from home. Now, despite a rise in corporate businesses reintroducing back-to-the-office policies, a lot of employees continue to work from home in some capacity, be it fully remote or hybrid.

If you work on a hybrid or remote basis, leading company formation agent, Quality Company Formations, recommend several do’s and don’ts to help you preserve a healthy work-life balance and maintain productivity at home.

• Don’t do your chores during the workday

It can be tempting to clear some of your daily household tasks off the list when you’re working from home. After all, it is convenient. However, it can be a huge distraction.

You might think it’ll only take you two minutes to load the washing machine, but realistically, you could get sidetracked with other jobs. And when the washing’s done, you’ll need to step away from your computer yet again to hang it up.

It sounds harmless, but it’s a considerable distraction that can very easily snowball into lots of wasted time. When you come back to your desk, you will have lost your focus and productivity, which can be difficult to get back.

Generally, if it’s something you wouldn’t be able to do while in the office, we don’t recommend you do it when working from home.

• Do create a list of priorities

If you do have any urgent housework to do, try to reserve it for your break time or the end of the day once you’ve logged off. If it can’t wait and you find that you’re getting distracted by pending chores when working from home, a good way to stay on track is to start the day with a list of your work-related priorities.

In the morning, jot down all the jobs you need to tend to before clocking out and check it periodically throughout the day. If you’re falling behind, leave the washing up or hoovering until later and focus on your work during working hours.

• Don’t work in bed

Working from home might sound like a great opportunity for a lie-in and cosying up in bed or on the sofa with your laptop. However, this can be harmful to both your physical and mental health.

Without proper neck, back, and wrist support, you could be putting a lot of strain on these areas of your body, potentially causing long-term muscle and nerve damage.

From a mental health perspective, working in an unsuitable setting means there is no disconnect between your home and work life. So, where you’d normally relax will become associated with work, which could make it more difficult to wind down at the end of the day.

• Do set up a proper workspace

To remedy the above, we recommend setting up a proper, ergonomic workstation if you’re working from home. You should have a spacious desk, an office-style adjustable chair, and a monitor at eye level.

Of course, you may not necessarily have the luxury of space at home. If you don’t have a spare room to use as an office, you can set up a desk in the corner of your bedroom or living room. If you don’t have enough space for this, even working from the dining table is better than working in bed or on the sofa.

Alternatively, whether you have a home office or simply want a change of scenery once in a while, why not use a co-working space? That way, you can work remotely but in comfort, with adequate equipment.

• Don’t roll out of bed at the last minute

One of the biggest perks of working from home is the absence of a commute. For many, this can save hours a day, and it can be tempting to use that extra time to catch up on sleep. However, this isn’t a habit we’d recommend.

Instead, you should factor commuting time in as if you’re travelling to work rather than rolling out of bed at the last minute. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be alert enough in such a short space of time, meaning you start work entirely out of focus, tired, and unproductive for the first hour or so.

In addition, if you have a meeting first thing in the morning, it’ll probably be obvious to others that you’ve just woken up, creating an unprofessional impression.

Rest is incredibly important, but if you’re waking up too late, perhaps it’s worth evaluating your sleeping habits and trying to find healthier patterns that allow you to wake up 30 to 60 minutes earlier.

• Do get some exercise before work

One of the most important alterations one can make to working from home is to get out of the house for a walk right after breakfast as if you’re going to work. Spend about 15 to 30 minutes walking around your local area or park.

Not only is this good exercise, which is necessary after lying asleep for hours, but it is also the perfect mood boost and scenery reset before you start your workday at home. Getting out of the house for lunch or mid-afternoon is another excellent time to do this.

Even the NHS recommends this as part of their 6 big tips for people working from home, advising the public to: “If possible, spend time outdoors when you can. Regular time in green space is great for your mental health. Set a time to go for a walk, run or bike ride for some fresh air or have a tea or coffee break.”

Beyond exercise breaks, the NHS also recommends home-workers take micro-breaks between their hourly work schedule (something that office workers should also do). Try to take regular screen breaks and give yourself time to concentrate on something else so you feel more focused when you return.

Even just 5 to 10 minutes of short breaks each hour can really help your productivity. Just don’t jump on Instagram and doom-scroll - that’s not a break.

• Don’t isolate yourself all day

Working from home can get very lonely, especially if you live alone. After a prolonged period of homeworking, you can also lose that sense of unity and camaraderie. If you’re an entrepreneur running the show on your own, that will especially be the case.

But if you have a team, colleagues, or business partners, remember not to hide in the shadows all day just because you don’t all work in the same office. Social interaction is essential for our mental health, so be sure to keep in touch with your co-workers regularly. This brings us to our next point.

• Do try and work with a friend or with company

One of the aspects of office work that many people may miss (or dread) the most is, well, working alongside other human beings. As much as Teams and Zoom are excellent tools for virtual meetings, they can never replace the social value of face-to-face interaction over the course of a day in the office, its banality, banter, and unpredictability.

The NHS agrees. “You may also feel more isolated from [WFH]. But there are lots of ways to stay in touch with those who matter – boosting their mental wellbeing as well as your own. In and out of work, human interaction matters, so schedule video calls and pick up the phone instead of emailing. If you're struggling with working at home, speak to your colleagues or manager about your concerns.”

It can also be very beneficial to work from a library, a laptop-friendly cafe, or a co-working space. If you like doing that once or twice a week, it also makes for an important change of scenery from your home office.

• Don’t be late for meetings

Whilst arriving late for a meeting is generally unacceptable regardless of where you are operating from, it is particularly unreasonable for remote workers.

Working away from the office is a privilege. If you are lucky enough to be granted this benefit, you are expected to be available, albeit remotely, when required, especially if the discussion has been prearranged.

Whether it’s an external call with a business contact or an internal catch-up with colleagues, punctuality is paramount. Try to ‘arrive’ at each meeting approximately 5 minutes early. This should give you enough time to fix any technical issues if they should arise. If you do encounter any problems that mean you can’t join the meeting, let all other attendees know as soon as possible.

• Do ensure your working environment is meeting-appropriate

All online meetings that you attend should be carried out in an appropriate environment that is conducive to having an effective conversion on the relevant topic. In addition to having a good internet signal, the space should be quiet, so if there are other people in the house, shut the door and, if necessary, request that they be quiet.

The general expectation for a business meeting is that it be conducted in a private space, so unless the video call is particularly informal, avoid having it anywhere someone can listen in on the conversation. If you use a coworking space, ensure you book a private room for a meeting, or at the very least, find a secluded area within the space.

Regarding your background, you need to make the space you are in look as professional as possible. If you cannot do this - not everyone is lucky enough to have a dedicated office in the house - use a suitable background effect.

Thanks for reading

There you have our top 10 do’s and don’ts of working from home. Follow the tips that we’ve provided in this blog to help maintain your wellbeing and productivity.

by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Apple, Meta in Talks to Enhance iPhones and Macs with Advanced Llama 3 AI Capabilities

Tech giant Apple is in discussion with longtime competitor Meta Platforms (Facebook's parent company) over a potential collaboration to improve its future Apple Intelligence system with the integration of Meta's Llama 3 large language model across various Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers, that are going to be launched later this year.

For starters, Apple Intelligence will be available with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and new Mac OS updates, enabling users to tap into advanced generative AI directly in their apps. This would include questions and answers, generating or summarizing text, editing images directly on Apple devices, and much more.

The potential of Apple and Meta becoming partners is remarkable, considering how the two titans have always been rivals in their business approach. This was further intensified by Apple's privacy updates back in 2021, which affected Meta's ad targeting capabilities, leading to significant revenue loss.

It seems that the competitive landscape for generative AI is pushing both companies toward possible cooperation despite those past battels. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the talks would continue, and implementing Llama 3 into Apple's ecosystem would parallel Apple's current agreement with OpenAI for its ChatGPT model.

In Apple's deal with OpenAI, ChatGPT does not collect user data and cleans the interaction histories of chatbot conversations. Apple plans to use similar capabilities from Meta's Llama 3 and might bring it soon into Siri in an attempt to answer more complex questions, making it also available through writing tools for email composition or other daily tasks.

• Also read: Data Removal Services Become Somewhat Popular in America Amid Privacy Concerns

Even though Apple's deal with OpenAI works on a revenue-share basis through App Store transactions, not direct payments, the exact terms for Meta's Llama 3 integration aren't specific. Whereas ChatGPT is based on a closed-source model, Llama 3 is very well known to be an open-source nature, raising questions about how it would be monetized within Apple's ecosystem.

Apart from the discussions with Meta, Apple is said to have sought collaborations with other developers of AI software, including courtings by Google LLC for its Gemini LLM family and discussions with startups such as Anthropic PBC.

The outcome of Apple's discussions with Meta will likely determine how advanced AI capabilities are eventually integrated within its devices as it continues to bargain its way through this evolving landscape.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Study: 93% Know About Ad Blockers, Yet Only 19% Find Them Completely Effective
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Study: 93% Know About Ad Blockers, Yet Only 19% Find Them Completely Effective

Ever since websites have started getting ads, many consumers have started using Ad Blockers, especially on YouTube to block ads. Recently, YouTube also rolled out a crackdown on ad blockers, which made consumers look for alternatives for ad blockers. All About Cookies conducted a survey on the number of people who use ad blockers, and how effective ad blockers are.

According to the study, 93% of the respondents knew about ad blockers while only 19% of them said that ad blockers are completely effective. It was also found that 33% of the respondents have never used ad blockers on their mobile phones and computers. Many websites request turning off ad blockers but 20% of the people who were surveyed admitted that they never turn off ad blockers despite requests from websites. For the websites that solely rely on ad revenues, 52% of the respondents said that they do not feel guilty for visiting those sites with ad blockers on. Only 5% say that they turn off ad blockers if a website asks them to.

Ad blockers have been growing in popularity with video streaming platforms like YouTube. Consumers do not want to get interrupted by ads while watching videos so they use ad blockers. 93% of the people who use the internet are familiar with ad blocker software while 66% of them know how to use them effectively. 27% of the internet users do not understand ad blockers completely while 8% of them have never heard of ad blockers in their lives.

People use ad blockers differently like some using free or paid versions or some using them on their mobiles or laptops. Most of the internet users use free ad blockers with only one in ten using the paid version. The use of ad blockers is higher on computers or laptops (68%) than it is on mobile phones (50%).

In addition to blocking ads, some ad blockers can protect the devices from some harmful virus or malware and can also protect the privacy of users. When asked why people use ad blockers, 71% of them said that they use it to block ads while 59% said that they use it to protect their devices against malware and viruses. 54% want to protect their privacy online and that’s why they use ad blockers.

The study also asked internet users if they have stopped watching a video or skipped a website because of ads, to which 67% answered yes while 33% said no. Many websites and apps like YouTube have introduced its premium services which do not make users see ads if they subscribe to it in exchange of some fee. 58% of the internet users said they do not want to pay subscription fee to avoid ads while 42% said they will pay for a subscription if it means they will no longer see ads during browsing.

Read next: The 5 Eyes Alliance Can Spy On You Wherever You Are, Here's What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Data Removal Services Become Somewhat Popular in America Amid Privacy Concerns

Whenever you make a personal purchase or sign up for a website, your personal data is sold to data brokers, which sometimes resulting in identity theft. To tackle this problem, digital data removal services have been getting popular, wiping your data from the internet so it doesn’t get used for malicious purposes. The tools for data removal services clean up all of your online data regularly. A study by SecurityOrg shows that less than half of Americans know about data removal services. Only 6% of the respondents out of 14 million total people in the USA said that they use data removal services. The three most popular data removal tools are DeleteMe, Mozilla Monitor Plus, Reputation Defender by Norton, and Incogni.

Even though not many people know about data removal services, people have slowly started using them to keep themselves safe from data breaches and identity theft. The top reasons why Americans want to use data removal services are for enhancing personal privacy, protecting themselves against identity theft and data breaches, removing their specific data points, managing their digital footprints and reducing their exposure to marketers and robo-callers.

Right now, 85% of Americans are concerned about their data privacy and people older than 55 years are more concerned than people between the ages of 18-24. Despite knowing how sensitive their data is, many internet users are still giving their information to websites which make them vulnerable to data brokers. Most Americans do not even read privacy policies before giving away their data while only 3% of Americans go through privacy policies on websites.

Data brokers also sometimes sell data to the US government that is obtained from different apps that are used to talk to and interact with their family and friends. Only half of the respondents knew about this while 71% were shocked to know about this reality. Upon asking if they know what a data broker is, only 37% of the US adults knew what it was. 85% said that the government should take measures to stop sharing users’ personal data. 48% of the respondents were concerned that their personal data can be used to train AI models which is a possibility in the near future.

94% of the internet users in the USA do not use any data removal services and there are a number of reasons for this. Some Americans say that they cannot afford data removal services because of their high costs while some are concerned about their effectiveness. To make users trust them, data removal service providers should make their services affordable and raise awareness about data removal to the public.

Read next:

• WARC Report: Meta to Lead Social Media Ad Market, Surpassing $155.6B by Year's End

• 51% of Brits Concerned About Paywall Restrictions, Survey Reveals
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

51% of Brits Concerned About Paywall Restrictions, Survey Reveals

A new study from The Trade Desk conducted by Appinio reveals that UK consumers, just like Americans, do not like paywalls. Many websites have started using paywalls where they only give complete access to the content to paid subscribers, while the non-subscribers get limited access or no access at all. 51% of the respondents from the UK say that they are afraid that they are not going to access their favorite websites and apps in the near future because of paywalls and subscriptions.

Upon asking about usage of free content on websites, 65% of the consumers said that they only read news or current affairs content for freebies while 77% of them said that they immediately find the free content when they open a website and are greeted by a paywall. According to the study, 88% of the UK consumers want all the free content and they are not worried about breaking the rules to consume it. 34% of them admitted that they use means that make them access websites and their content even behind a paywall.

On the contrary, 87% are up for paying for content with their data, while 26% out of them say that they will pay if they are under control of their data. 27% of the UK consumers are ready to pay with their data if their privacy is protected and they cannot be identified. As an alternative to paywalls, UK consumers are willing to see ads if they are beneficial to brands, publishers and consumers. But many websites are not in favor of this offer.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: The 5 Eyes Alliance Can Spy On You Wherever You Are, Here's What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Is AI Killing Creativity? OpenAI's Shocking Revelation Sparks Outrage!

OpenAI often professes its mission to develop a superintelligent computer system that benefits humanity. However, it frequently stumbles in its communication, portraying AI in a manner that seems more likely to alienate rather than unite people.

During a discussion about AI at Dartmouth University, hosted by the engineering department and featuring Dartmouth Trustee Jeffrey Blackburn, OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati made a remark about the impact of AI on creative professions. She suggested that some creative jobs might disappear because the content produced was not of high quality, implying that such roles perhaps should not have existed in the first place. Murati added that AI could enhance intelligence when used as a tool for education and creativity.

For those skeptical of generative AI who view it as largely built on the illusion of originality, Murati's statements are especially aggravating. Her comment comes across as dismissive, insinuating that certain professionals do not deserve their jobs in the AI era. This sentiment is infuriating not only to creative professionals but to anyone who values their work and effort.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Previously, Murati seemed uncomfortable when questioned about whether OpenAI's Sora video tool was trained using YouTube videos. This incident contributes to the growing perception that OpenAI is antagonistic toward creative industries. There is a notable lack of trust in the authority of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his team to decide whose job is valuable, especially after Altman’s controversial comments about AI potentially replacing "median humans."

Many geeks who are outside the AI development sphere, hold the belief that human potential is unique and invaluable. Every individual deserves an opportunity to realize their capabilities fully. Contrary to this belief, OpenAI appears to undermine these values. This is the same company that once appropriated an actress's voice without consent. Ed Zitron, in one of his recent newsletters, highlighted the dangers of not holding such companies accountable. He warned that failing to scrutinize their practices would harm creatives whose work is being appropriated. Zitron also criticized the corporate tendency to integrate AI into products to satisfy investors, which, he argued, detracts from the tech ecosystem’s value and enriches a few at the expense of many.



This post was published using the help of AI.

Read next: Apple Delays EU Launch of Apple Intelligence Due to Antitrust Rules
by Web Desk via Digital Information World

Apple Delays EU Launch of Apple Intelligence Due to Antitrust Rules

Apple won’t be releasing Apple Intelligence and three other features in the EU in 2024. This is because of privacy concerns around the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The regulation requires services to be interoperable across platforms to promote competition and reduce the power of big companies like Apple.

The company says Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay screen sharing will not be available to EU users. The interoperability requirements of the DMA pose a risk to user privacy and data security and Apple won’t compromise on that.

The DMA was introduced in 2023 to address the power of big tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company). It requires fundamental features to work seamlessly across different devices and ecosystems. Although it mainly affects iPhones and iPads, Macs are also impacted because of iPhone Mirroring which allows iPhone screens to be mirrored on Mac screens.

Users may be disappointed Apple Intelligence won’t be available. This AI product had features like proofreading, custom emojis called Genmoji, searching specific messages, summarizing and transcribing calls, and highlighting priority notifications. Apple also announced a partnership with OpenAI and plans to add more models to the platform.

Despite the news Apple’s stock didn’t move much. In 2023 Apple made $94.3 billion in Europe which is almost a quarter of its global net sales. Apple also said Apple Intelligence won’t be available in Greater China which made $72.6 billion of its 2023 sales.

Apple will continue to work with the EU to find a way to deliver these features to EU users.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: New Benchmark Shows AI Agents Struggling with Real-World Tasks
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

New Benchmark Shows AI Agents Struggling with Real-World Tasks

A customer experience AI startup, Sierra, has developed a new benchmark that helps in evaluating the performance of AI chatbot agents. The benchmark is named TAU-bench and is evaluated by having conversations with LLM-stimulated users while doing complex tasks. The results show that AI agents which are made with simple LLMs are not able to perform simple tasks. This means that companies need more advanced AI agents for work.

Sierra’s head of research, Karthik Narasimhan, says that Sierra’s benchmark is helping real-world users evaluate the performance and reliability of the AI agents which is important if you want the AI agents to work in a real world setting. He also added that many other benchmarks like SWE-bench, Agentbench and WebArena have also been created for the same purpose but they are not successful in working to their full extent. They are only able to evaluate a single round of agent-human interaction, without answering about more dynamics. This makes them less reliable and adaptable.

As other benchmarks were experiencing some issues, Sierra addressed those issues with TAU-bench. It represented three requirements for the benchmark– the agents should interact smoothly in the real world settings, agents should follow rules and policies given for the task and agents should be reliable so companies can work without having to worry about their results. Many tasks were given to TAU-bench like working on real databases to different APIs and other complex tasks that required it to have conversations with the agents. Every assignment given the agent was about retaining information, performing complex tasks and communicating through real conversation.

The four main features of Sierra’s benchmark after experimenting with it were TAU-benchmark can do realistic dialog, can perform open ended and diverse tasks, do faithful objective evaluation and provide a modular framework. TAU was tested using 12 popular LLMs including GPT-4, Claude-3, Gemini and Llama. All the agents performed poorly, including ChatGPT-4 which got less than 50% average success rate in all domains.

Read next: The 5 Eyes Alliance Can Spy On You Wherever You Are, Here's What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The 5 Eyes Alliance Can Spy On You Wherever You Are, Here's What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

When Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was secretly spying on American citizens, people began to realize the inherent fragility of the world we are all living in. Snowden’s expose shed some light on the murky, interconnected intelligence networks around the world. Most countries have comprehensive intelligence networks, and while they are legally prohibited from spying on their own citizens, collaborations between these agencies provide a bit of a loophole.

Five major nations have banded together to form the Five Eyes alliance. These countries are the US, Canda, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They share several similarities such as being former British colonies, Anglophone nations as well as having overlapping geopolitical interests with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Another common thread between these nations is that they were all on the same side during World War 2. hence, it is unsurprising that they decided to join forces in 1946. With the USSR emerging as another superpower to the East, challenging the neoliberal world order that the US and its allies were trying to cement, the Five Eyes alliance attempted to keep the rising red tide at bay.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the NSA is the unofficial leader of the Five Eyes alliance. Signatories to the agreement are able to access vast quantities of NSA data, and they return the favor by sharing secret information that they may be in possession of.

The other four countries, namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK are referred to as second parties. They have the most unrestricted access to NSA data, but it bears mentioning that several other nations have signed on as third parties.

NATO members are all automatically included in the third party list, as are other close US allies such as South Korea. They have more restricted access to the NSA’s database, and they also lack other privileges.

Five Eye members are not allowed to spy on each others citizens. This privilege does not extend to third party signatories, thereby running the risk of their confidential secrets falling into the wrong hands. While the general assumption is that Five Eye nations don’t spy on each other, there is no way to prove this. After all, the NSA shouldn’t have been spying on American citizens either, but this did not stop them from trying to keep tabs on people that had not even committed a crime to begin with.

Apart from the Five Eyes alliance, there are a couple other intelligence networks that include the same five nations along with a few others. First and foremost, the Nine Eyes alliance widens the network to include non-English speaking nations whose goals and interests align with those of the US and its closest allies.

Denmark and Norway joined the Nine Eyes network from Scandinavia, with the Netherlands and France also joining from Central and Western Europe. One thing that bears mentioning is that the Nine Eyes alliance is not as official as the Five Eyes alliance. It comprises third party signatories that have certain exclusive privileges, so it is more of an unofficial agreement that does not possess any type of legal backing with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Now, there is another labyrinthine intelligence network that hardly anyone knows about, namely the 14 Eyes Alliance. One again, the Five Eyes and their formidable intelligence apparatus as at the heart of this alliance, as are the four nations that are included in the nine eyes, but five other major players are thrown into the mix as well.

Each and every one of the members of the additional five are from Europe, including Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Italy. This clearly shows that the Western powers of the world have extremely close ties, since only North American and European nations are official signatories in any capacity whatsoever.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, a few other nations that go beyond European borders are also seeing an increased level of prominence in global intelligence affairs. We have already mentioned South Korea’s inclusion as a third party, with other powerful East Asian nations such as Japan and Singapore also joining it in that regard. Israel is another unofficial member of this exclusive club, with the US frequently propping it up through the provision of military aid.

India and Thailand are also seeing quite a bit of prominence on this front. India is rapidly growing, and it may soon become the largest economy in Asia and perhaps even the entire world. It may be the sole nation that can compete with China for Asian dominance, so Western powers are attempting to bring it into the fold.

China has its own rival intelligence network that it has been building for quite some time now. The rising East Asian great power could potentially end up becoming a superpower on par with the US itself, and it has a range of regional powers that is relying on.

The name of China’s alliance is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It includes countries in the Russosphere such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as well as Russia itself, along with Pakistan which is notable considering it is a nuclear power. Interestingly, even India is a part of this alliance despite the inclusion of its greatest political rival. This makes India the only nation that is able to toe the line and not pick sides in the global war for domination.

While it might seem like these nations are collaborating in an entirely above board manner, this couldn’t be further from the truth. We only know about the informal 14 Eyes Coalition due to a leak, which just goes to show that governments would much prefer to keep these types of things under wraps.

So, what does this mean for the average consumer? Well, for starters, it means that we all need to start being a lot more careful about the manner in which our data is transferred and stored. Given how frequently these nations share data with each other, consumers must be informed about how they can protect themselves.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, these countries can easily bypass what they are referring to as the lowest common privacy denominator. Mass surveillance is at an all time high, and it is up to us to keep ourselves safe from prying eyes.

Many of these countries are trying to codify their attempts at mass surveillance. If any of this legislation ends up getting passed through the requisite legislative bodies, we may end up living in a society where no one would be able to keep a secret from the government.

There are several ways in which we can all keep intrusions at bay. First and foremost, it is imperative that we start encrypting all of our data. The single best way to go about doing that is by using some kind of a VPN.

A Virtual Private Network sends your data through various digital servers, thereby obscuring your footprint from anyone that may be trying to spy on you. Your internet service provider can monitor your online activities and share it with intelligence agencies if they present a warrant, but with a VPN, they would not have this data to begin with unless they procure it from the VPN provider.

Unfortunately, many VPNs are located in countries that are members of the Five Eyes network. While they might not necessarily give your data up, the countries that participate in this agreement are known for stopping at nothing to get what they need.

A far superior solution would be to use a VPN that is based in a nation that is not a signatory of any intelligence sharing agreements whatsoever. Now, with so many countries freely sharing intelligence, is there really a country out there that can stand out in any capacity?

ProtonVPN might be the answer, since its servers are housed in Switzerland which is famous for being the most privacy friendly country in the world. Switzerland has a long history of being neutral in all conflicts. That can be useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping your data completely and utterly safe, no matter how powerful the nation demanding it currently happens to be.

The main benefit of Proton VPN is that it uses something called Perfect Forward Secrecy. This generates an entirely new key for your various browsing sessions, thereby making it so that your other sessions will be perfectly safe even if one of them end up being compromised to any extent whatsoever.

Apart from encrypting your data with a VPN, you should also consider using something similar for your emails. The Five Eyes alliance uses something called SIGINT which refers to the interception of transmissions between two points. It was used almost exclusively in warfare, but following the aftermath of the Cold War, it was more and more frequently used to spy on regular everyday citizens.

It stands to reason that your own emails are passing through their filters, but with Proton VPN, these emails will be encrypted. Even if they end up getting intercepted, the information contained within them would not be readable. Only you as well as the intended recipient would be able to read whatever it contains.

Some might also recommend that you use privacy conscious browsers. They don’t collect your data similar to Google Chrome and others, thereby giving you an added level of security that you would certainly be grateful for as the global surveillance network becomes ever more powerful.

ProtonVPN yet again offers something quite useful in this regard. Their email service uses a zero trust protocol, which is a level of encryption so advanced that even the company itself would not be able to crack it. On the off chance that an intelligence agency is successfully able to convince Proton Mail to hand over your data, they can simply state that they are unable to do that even if they wanted to.

This allows you to depend on technology rather than an institution and its ethics and morality. No matter how trustworthy a company seems, things like zero trust encryptions can ensure that your privacy will remain unassailable for the foreseeable future.

It would also be extremely useful for you to take a look at messaging apps that offer encryption. Signal and Telegram both stand out, although even something like WhatsApp might get the job done thanks to its end to end encryption.

The global agenda is turning mass surveillance into a foregone conclusion. Even if you don’t live in any of the countries that were mentioned in the Fourteen Eyes Alliance or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, you might still find yourself under surveillance without any knowledge of what is going on.

The use of ProtonVPN, Proton Mail and other types of services in a similar vein could prove to be the last line of defense. The governments of the world clearly don’t care about their citizens, rather they only seem to care about furthering their own ambitions. A decentralized, encrypted future is the only way forward, at least for those that don’t want to be under the microscope at all times.

Country	Five Eyes	Nine Eyes	Fourteen Eyes	Other
United Kingdom	✓	✓	✓
United States	✓	✓	✓
Australia	✓	✓	✓
Canada	✓	✓	✓
New Zealand	✓	✓	✓
Denmark		✓	✓
Netherlands		✓	✓
France		✓	✓
Norway		✓	✓
Germany			✓
Belgium			✓
Spain			✓
Sweden			✓
Italy			✓
Israel				✓
Japan				✓
Singapore				✓
South Korea				✓

Read next: Which Global Airports Have The Fastest Wi-Fi Speeds? The Answer Might Surprise You
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Anthropic’s New Powerful Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI Model Set To Provide Serious Competition To Other AI Archrivals

The AI competition is heating up as more generative AI models pop up at the speed of light.

The recent entry seems to be from OpenAI rival Anthropic who just rolled out a new and powerful offering called Claude 3.5 Sonnet. However, experts claim the upcoming release might be more of an incremental step than a major leap in the forward direction.

The model can carry out analysis of text and images alongside text generation. And to date, it’s believed to be the company’s best offering so far.

When we look at the statistics, the Claude 3.5 Sonnet does a better job in terms of performance for this model than it would replace which is the Claude 3 Sonnet. It ends up beating the company’s former flagship model which is Claude 3 Opus.

While benchmarks are not usually dubbed to be the most useful means for determining progress and performance, it’s being used here and experts feel it might be slightly better than its older variant and greater in performance to OpenAI’s famous GPT 4o which is major news as it was tested against both of them.

Other than this new model, the company is rolling out another exciting workspace endeavor called Artifacts where users could edit and add to written content such as codes and documents that are produced by models from Anthropic. While it’s in the stage of preview for now, this will soon gain more features including ways for collaboration with bigger groups and storing knowledge bases for the future.

The company’s main goal right now seems to be efficiency. The latest Generative AI model is doing great in terms of performance, the company adds, and is understanding better when complex instructions are rolled out in its direction like humor.

The speed is another great factor worth mentioning. The model’s speed of rolling out prompt responses is touching the sky as it’s nearly twice as fast as the model from the past, the company adds.

Other points worth a mention include spectacular vision where photo analysis is done so well in one place while chart and graph interpretation is more accurate text transcription is also carried out from images that might not be so great like distorted graphics or those featuring artifacts.

So how come so much difference between it’s older model? The product head at Anthropic says major enhancements are arising due to changes in architecture and making use of new training data like AI-generated material which the company is yet to disclose what the real source is.

The secrets linked to training data here have to do with competition and also to prevent the company from getting targeted legally by others. Remember, there are plenty of competitors in the industry such as Amazon, Google, and even OpenAI. So getting the right source of training from copyrighted content belonging to others without giving compensation is really turning out to be a problem right now.



Read next: YouTube’s New App Tracking Transparency Prompt To Soon Ask iOS Users If They Want Personalized Ads
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

YouTube’s New App Tracking Transparency Prompt To Soon Ask iOS Users If They Want Personalized Ads

With the launch of iOS 14.5, we saw tech giant Apple force developers to inform users about an opt-in if they wished to track them down. But then in 2021, all apps from Google stopped indulging in certain kinds of tracking for compliance and also rid of that prompt altogether.

Now, the latest on this front is that popular video-sharing app YouTube is once again rolling out a new ATT prompt where users would first be asked to opt in to enable personalized tracking for ad purposes.

The app explained how it hopes to include the one-time permission feature where YouTube is giving users the chance to ‘allow’ the platform to track their activity via two options.

The first one says Allow and that means when selected, all activity from the app would be linked to that from non-Google platforms and pages to showcase personal ads and enable ad measurements. The user’s selection would apply to all on the app when turned on.

The second option says ‘Ask App Not to Track’ where if the setting isn’t turned on, no activity would be linked through non-Google platforms and pages for personalized ad sharing and measurements. This would give rise to a lower frequency of relevant ads and those that are repeated more often than others.

Such prompts aren’t going to be a part of the Premium subscribers and those having child accounts on the app would also not see this.

When you click on ‘Allow’, the platform claims users would expect to see better or more useful ads which were of greater quality. For instance, the ads popping up on the app could better display what they believe in or what their interests are aligned with.

On the other hand, the app says the feature will soon be up for grabs to all iPhone and iPad users who will now have the chance to be tracked in a more sophisticated manner which not only benefits the company but also is more aligned with the users’ interests.

Furthermore, the user can opt to switch that feature off whenever they want by going to their settings and then clicking on the privacy and security tracking tabs.

We don’t see how this setting could impact the linking of user activity via other apps from Google and its respective pages so it’s going to be welcomed in our opinion. What do you think?

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Researchers Raise Alarm Against Instagram’s Algorithm For Serving Sexual Content To Young Teens
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Researchers Raise Alarm Against Instagram’s Algorithm For Serving Sexual Content To Young Teens

A new study is unraveling the dark side of Instagram and its algorithm where alarming statistics proved how young teens are being recommended sexually charged content.

The recommendations feature creators in ‘barely there’ attire where underage viewers as young as 13 were a part of the audience.

The news arose in the latest study from WSJ and another Northeastern University which says it’s about time Meta took notice and serious action against the behavior while calls for banning such accounts were also made by activists noting down the issue.

On the first visit, researchers saw how young viewers’ recommendations were mostly from females dancing around in revealing clothing where their cleavage was completely visible.

The fact that viewers were seeing these posts more often meant that graphic content kept on becoming a part of the algorithm’s recommendations which many feel is just not okay. Most of the videos were a part of the app’s Reels feed and suggestions were mindblogging for some.

Other alarming content featured sex workers promising viewers nude pictures in their DMs. And that again was happening so frequently, the published study explained.

In another set of fixed tests carried out in June, the Journal began explaining how content after content became more graphic in nature including anal sex being openly promoted to those as young as 13, provided the viewer saw Reels related to women on their feed.

Seeing the algorithm go to this extent to serve content of this kind where females caressed their bodies and did everything from flashing private parts to more was just a lot for the authors to handle, adding how Instagram’s algorithm needed a big-time clean-up before matters became worse.

• Also read: Cracking Passwords Has Never Been Easier Thanks To This Smart Guessing Algorithm

Meta has pushed back on those findings of the report, where the spokesperson brushed the matter off as just an experiment conducted that didn’t match up in real-time with what youngsters were being exposed to.

Meta says it has time and time again managed to reduce sensitive themed content linked to teens to such an extent that it’s at a bare minimum, completely eliminating what the research had to say.

The fact that this study was carried out for seven months is again alarming as Meta keeps denying how the results were just part of an artificial experiment and nothing more. While the test was certainly carried out to see how the app responded to illicit recommendations, it’s mind-boggling how so much is being ignored and for so long in that experiment.

Over the years, the app’s algorithm has been questioned in the past too but the tech giant keeps claiming it’s rolling out stricter measures to ensure underage users remain safe at all times on the app.

One example of that is those below the age of 16 are automatically blocked from viewing explicit content and recommendations.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• Which Global Airports Have The Fastest Wi-Fi Speeds? The Answer Might Surprise You
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Which Global Airports Have The Fastest Wi-Fi Speeds? The Answer Might Surprise You

When traveling, having great internet speed and connectivity is of the essence. And that’s why we thought it would be interesting to decipher which global airports beat others in this respect.

Believe it or not, internet speeds at various airports vary significantly. But when we look at the US, the average decent rating is said to go beyond the 100 Mbps mark as per a new report by Ookla.

Seven American airports are said to hold this honor and it’s not wrong to add how those near Silicon Valley reigned supreme against other arch-rivals competing for the top spot. This is why San Francisco makes the top of the list, beating 15 other components.

As far as download speeds are concerned, it’s an average of 173Mbps to 233 Mbps which is deemed to be the fastest internet.

On the other hand, New York’s Newark and JFK tied for second place, coming in at 166Mbps and 152Mbps respectively while JFK was 151Mbps and 131Mbps.

In third place, Arizona’s Harbor Airport saw download speeds hitting the 151Mbps and 187Mbps mark for downloads and uploads. Next, Seattle, Dallas, and Las Vegas must be appreciated for similarly fast internet speeds that crossed the 100 Mbps mark.

Faster networks are said to ensure faster uploads on social media, not to mention smooth like butter video calls, and the best media streaming options. So basically, you need great speed for functions that go above and beyond the usual texting and web browsing done on a routine basis.

When we talk about the other end of the spectrum and take the slowest internet speeds into consideration, Mexico hails as the slowest in the North American region. On average, the upload speed hits just 5 Mbps while downloads are stuck at just 3 Mbps so the entire airport experience is never a great one.

When we look at America, Houston’s George Bush Airport is quite slow compared to other counterparts as is Boston’s Logan International. The figures are 19Mbps and 25 Mbps respectively for downloads while uploads range between 25 to 40Mbps.

Experts have spoken about how server latency could even affect the Wi-Fi network feeling with states like Atlanta and Seattle providing the lowest ones of them all in American airports.

While this report has not provided all comprehensive findings for each city around the globe, it’s quite evident from the stats how it’s hard to find median speeds for downloads exceeding the 100Mbps mark in cities outside the US.

We’re talking about some of the busiest airports in the world, including those in London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Barcelona, and even Amsterdam all being stuck at speeds below the 100Mbps mark. And if you’re in Spain, it might be painful to see speeds hitting just 18Mbps!

Meanwhile, it’s refreshing to see Toronto’s Pearson International giving download speeds of 94Mbps while Paris also saw figures go slightly above the 100Mbps mark.

China’s Hangzhou and Shanghai Airports were close behind with speeds going above the 100Mbps figure in Asia so that was nice to see.

We agree that great Wi-Fi is never the only thing needed for a wonderful traveling experience but it always helps when you need to do work on the go. Meanwhile, experts also mentioned how things do vary from one person to the next, not to mention how the total connections up for grabs also play a pivotal role in the kind of Wi-Fi speed you can expect.

Hence, always proceed with caution and never trust public Wi-Fi without the use of VPNs because as security experts say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Read next: From SIM to eSIM: The Next Step in Digital Evolution
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World