TikTok Fined For Inaccuracies In Its Parental Safety Controls Data

Social media giant TikTok has received a massive fine for giving inaccurate parental safety control data to a regulator in the United Kingdom.

The company has been penalized a whopping 1.87M British Pounds for the act which includes delays in making the reports that led to a further delay in the publishing of Ofcom’s transparency report linked to child safety.

The report was designed to give parents greater insights into which platforms are the safest for their children to use. As a part of this particular study, we saw Ofcom request TikTok, Snap, and a few other platforms for answers regarding how minors are protected on the app from gaining access to content that’s not suitable for their age.

This includes a long list of explicitly themed videos on TikTok as well as what the app was doing in terms of the Family Pairing offering that helps parents gain more control of young users' actions.

For those who might not be aware, the UK’s Communication Act forces companies working online to give out clear-cut and quick responses in terms of what it’s doing to comply with the law and ensure young users are up to date with the most comprehensive and timely data.

Ofcom has long been famous for scrutinizing apps and their respective security features that gather data. It’s a crucial way of holding them accountable for the daily workings of the app and also to ensure young users remain safe at all times.

They added more details on how getting data from apps like TikTok is part of the law and therefore when requests are generated, the response must be rolled out promptly. Those who fail to comply would be penalized and in this case, it’s TikTok.

What is interesting is that when Ofcom requested TikTok’s data, it was submitted by the app in September of last year. But after doing so, the company went back on its own claims, adding how the data that it sent was not accurate. Therefore, it was rolling out an internal investigation on this front to better understand the cause of this problem and why TikTok’s reportings were full of inaccuracies.

Ofcom mentioned through another investigation that TikTok failed in other areas too like governance processes. There were not enough checks being carried out on the app and any errors that may have taken place were not brought to the attention of the regulator. This further led to substantial delays in finding the right solution on this front.

Ofcom issued a direct response in terms of how TikTok’s delay resulted in them getting rid of details on how the app’s parental controls were so effective and that led to a great disruption of work on their part and limited transparency. Additionally, the app was not up to the mark in terms of giving progress updates.

While TikTok did end up giving the right data this year in March, it was more than seven months later than what the real deadline should have been. What is interesting is how the fine presented to TikTok is 25% less than what was originally planned because the app did admit to its wrongdoing and hence wished to settle the case in the end.

A rep for TikTok adds that Ofcom is well aware that TikTok did not intentionally carry out a breach and there was deliberation or reckless behavior involved. It did behave proactively in terms of admitting that it made an error and therefore was more than welcome to accept solutions that could prevent such instances from taking place again.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Stop Googling And Start Exercising Your Brain With 9 Healthy Habits To Prevent Old-Age Dementia, Top Academic Expert Reveals

Reaching for Google is one of the most common and convenient ways to find a solution to your problem. And the arrival of AI has made things so much easier for many of us.

However, what we fail to realize is that time and time again, we’re setting ourselves up for disasters in the long run by relying so much on technology.

A top professor from Canada wants the world to know that it’s about time that we took the right measures to curb dementia. He’s enlisted 9 simple and healthy habits that will make the biggest difference in the world, even though you might not see the impact right now when you’re young.

His latest book titled iMind: Artificial and Real Intelligence sheds light on how the tech world is too reliant on AI to get the job done. It’s often at the expense of our natural health or real intelligence. So to return to your natural or human mind, you can reverse the process by instilling these nine simple and healthy habits. After all, your brain is one of your body’s biggest assets.

For starters, play brain games to better engage in daily healthy exercises for the mind. This would develop your memory skills and also test it along the way.

Secondly, work on your associative memory. This entails linking new data to what is already known and therefore gives rise to a new dictionary of substance and meaning. Next, read books out loud and see the difference. This ensures you’re relying on multiple senses and also assists with reinforcing your memory skills.

Turn your daily activities into more lively and fulfilling moments instead of entering the autopilot mode. And what many of us forget is to add rest along the way. You must dedicate one day each week where you do nothing but rest and enter that mode of actual relaxation.

What is great is how he also emphasizes taking care of your mental health when you’re as young as your 20s and 30s. This is when you need to seriously review that lifestyle of yours.

Don’t forget to add that healthy diet because at the end of it all, you are what you eat and great nutrition will give rise to the best brain functioning abilities. Last but not least, keep alcohol consumption at a bare minimum. Getting rid of it entirely has great proven benefits that would lower your chances of getting dementia.

The book by Elmasry is not just about great tips for the healthy mind but also about how human minds work, how microchips are designed, and the world of AI. It’s complex but very intriguing to see how so many elements are so diverse yet interlinked with one another. Who knew the world of smartphones and tech could draw a parallel with the human brain, right? We’re getting our hands on this soon and hope you can too.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Alphabet Reports Q2 2024 Gains: Google’s Revenue Up 14%, YouTube Revenue Rises to $8.67B

Google’s parent firm Alphabet is rolling out its financial records for Q2 of 2024 and it’s safe to say that there’s been an increase in revenue.

Figures struck $84.7B which was a rise of 14% when compared to the same time last year. On the other hand, the net income also rose to $23.6B when compared to 2023.

As usual, the company’s search sector was responsible for generating the greatest revenue which was $48.5B but another note worth mentioning is how its Cloud division was also able to bring in a huge revenue figure for the first time that stood at $10B.

Revenue from tech giant YouTube’s division stood at $8.67B for this quarter. This was up from the previous $7.6B that was recorded last year. The figures today were not the true representation of what analysts were expecting from Google as mentioned by CNBC.

The firm’s Other Bets domain which entails its sef-driving Waymo division managed to bring in a massive $365M for this quarter. This was up from the previous $285M that arose at the same time last year.

Sundar Pichai was quick to highlight the ordeal and mentioned that the company’s strong performance for this quarter was a clear representation of its great strength when it comes to Cloud and Search. The firm is also working on innovations for its AI Stack. The infrastructure and research teams are positioning the organization into a stronger leadership role as the world of tech keeps evolving.

Meanwhile, the company’s shares rose by 1% in the after-hour period of trading as it seems like traders are appreciating the figures despite the company missing out on predicted revenue for YouTube ads this time.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Social Media Content Creation Is More Alluring Than Classic Jobs For Most People, New Study Proves

A new study is shedding light on the growing trends of online content creation.

The news comes to us thanks to research published by IZEA that highlighted how many individuals would much rather take part in being an online content creator versus a classic or traditional office job.

Close to 54% of the masses between the age bracket 18 to 60 mentioned how they would be much happier if they got rid of their jobs if they could make a living as full-time social media influencers.

This study included close to 1200 social media users in the US and also explored those who might consider being a digital creator a great profession.

It’s interesting how there was little to no divide in opinions based on generation. Moreover, people of various ages had their say including boomers to Gen Z and many felt it was better to make the leap from classic jobs to content creation.

The CEO of IZEA is speaking about how this is not just a current trend but a clear idea of how such values could reshape our future in terms of work. It also goes to show how plenty of digital apps could reshape classic models for employment.

A whopping 26% of all users who were surveyed mentioned how they consider themselves to be influencers because they spend a lot of time online. Moreover, a huge number of people still struggle with juggling other types of jobs but it was interesting to see how 59% of the majority of influencers spoke about working as a full-time employee.

These are those whose incomes were over the $100K mark and were still soaring with time.

There are so many users on social media apps that continue to attain a huge chunk of followers by sharing plenty of experiences linked to fashion, beauty, travel, and even finance. The platforms are plenty with many having accounts everywhere like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

When they publish viral content, scale their audiences online, and earn funds via partnerships with different businesses, some also take part in affiliate marketing of goods and services and make use of other kinds of income streams. A few quit full-time positions to be a creator and are happy.

• Also read: Dream Jobs at Big Tech: Best and Worst Companies to Interview For

A lot of the appeal to being an influencer full-time is the funds that could be produced by generating content for different businesses. On average, the survey showed how many were producing incomes between the range of $100K to $200K in 2023. That’s a major 11% rise from 2023.

This year, we’re going to see more funds pour into this sector, as predicted by one leading US marketing firm as the figures for sponsored content will see a remarkable increase to $8B which is a whopping 16% rise YoY.

We must admit that the industry is not very stable financially all the time. It could go through periods of instability and some full-time influencers were witnessed returning to the corporate world. There was a certain figure of people that enjoyed building skillsets and working alongside teams. And we have to admit, working full-time as a creator is not easy.

It’s actually giving a false impression of glamor than what the reality is and that can be disappointing to some who come with high hopes.

On the user’s end, it’s getting more and more difficult to trust creators as more than 64% would establish a brand’s partnership offer for the sake of money only. So perhaps seeing shouldn’t always be believing, right?

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Dream Jobs at Big Tech: Best and Worst Companies to Interview For

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that securing your dream job at big tech does not come easy. Not only are these high-profile organizations looking for top-notch talents from the best candidates around the globe, but the interview process can be daunting.

While each and every firm has its own way of interviewing those interested in the job, you’ll be amazed to learn how the companies tend to vary so much. It’s all thanks to interviewees who are letting us know how one job interview tends to compare to the next.

Questions like whether or not interviews at Apple are tougher than at Google are no longer a mystery, thanks to a latest study by ResumeIO which took the time to analyze more than 100k interview reviews throughout 14 large tech organizations.

A limited number of industries are giving out more benefits than what’s on offer by big tech giants. Hence, we thought it would be interesting to see what real interviews at these places are like. So let’s take a look at the best and worst places to go for interviews, all based on Glassdoor reviews.

In case you’re wondering, search engine giant Google is the toughest company in the world of big tech to land an interview for. Many went as far as to rate it 3.5 out of 5. On the other end of the spectrum, Apple came in on top as the best place to go for an interview, with the majority scoring it 4.2 out of 5.

Amazon had the greatest disparity in terms of people’s opinions about interview difficulties. Some felt the various positions on offer determined how easy or difficult your interview could end up being. For instance, a Fulfillment Associate position got 1.1 ratings out of 5. Yikes, that sounds scary!

When you look at the industry as a whole, roles requiring more tech experience are much more difficult than those without tech expertise.

• Also read: Digital Nomad Visas Are In Demand And These Countries Are Your Best Bet At Working Abroad

Shedding more light on the study’s claims about Google, we saw the search engine giant be called out for having the hardest interview process. It managed to outrank plenty of other archrivals of the industry in this regard including Meta, Apple, and Netflix.

Many find the news interesting because Google is known for promoting creativity and thinking outside the box. But from what we can confirm from Glassdoor reviews, interviewers are no longer keen on asking riddles or fun brain teasers. Instead, they’re throwing complex coding queries and those linked to math in the candidates’ direction. And if you think it couldn’t get worse than that, well, there’s a limited timeframe for you to complete it. Now that’s what you call pressure.

There are multiple interview rounds so that also makes it all the more daunting.

Looking at Apple, job applicants had a complete turnaround of an opinion. Again, it’s surprising considering how big of a name the iPhone maker has in the world of tech.

Some interviews go as long as 45 minutes but the experience applicants faced was always friendly with positive attitudes of the recruitment manager. This coupled with quick turnaround times in terms of feedback and hiring is another plus point that puts Apple at the top of the list.

Candidates were also delighted that their interview was more casual and conversational as compared to those where you feel like you’re being interrogated. This came with reviews about how the hirers were super engaged with the candidate at all times and were attentive to every little detail or aspect related to them.

The study also shared which tech roles were the simplest to interview for. And when you take tech firms like Tesla into consideration, Production Associate is the answer but the most complex interview would be Design Engineer in Elon Musk’s top firm.

This just goes to prove how competition for various roles varies widely in the same organization and how candidates for a single position reported completely different experiences when considering another role.

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If you’re an intern or a graduate, the study proved how these candidates had the best overall interview experience at some of the biggest tech giants. Obviously, less technical positions again scored hired like Netflix’s coordinator role had 4 star ratings while the same firm’s data scientist role got a rating of just 2 for its complex and difficult interview process.

The research also highlighted how software engineer roles at tech giants Google and Amazon were the hardest to interview for. It’s not too surprising as these roles on giant platforms need some of the best candidates to solve massive problems including coding hurdles. Netflix and Uber software engineering positions had the worst scores for interviews.

So as you can see, it’s never easy to nail that Big Tech interview but this study proves some places aren’t as intimidating as others.

Take a look at the infographics below for more insights:

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

WhatsApp's iOS Beta Adds Offline File Sharing, Web Version Tests Username Creation

WhatsApp’s Beta for iOS update 24.15.10.70 is here and the new feature WhatsApp is trying out is nearby file sharing. Due to this feature, WhatsApp iOS users will be able to share documents including images, videos and other files with devices nearby without needing an internet connection. This feature will be available in the new update of WhatsApp for iOS but for Android, this feature is still under development.

This feature will definitely be helpful for people who want to share files with people nearby but internet connection is not available. The sharing will be end-to-end encrypted and users will also be able to share large and high resolution files.

On the other side, WhatsApp for Web client is also working on a feature which will let users create usernames. This feature will be helpful to users who do not want to give out their phone numbers to connect with others. Other users will be able to find these unique usernames and will have to check for the availability of usernames if they’d want to create one.

WhatsApp is still working on this feature and it is currently under development. This feature will take some time to enroll as WhatsApp needs a lot of testing before making this feature public. But it is a great feature for people who want to maintain their privacy on WhatsApp.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Securing the Internet of Things: Challenges and Solutions

You’ve likely heard of the Internet of Things (IoT), as it’s effectively taking the digital world by storm. It works by connecting devices around the world and changing the way that certain industries do business, manufacturing, and healthcare among them. As with anything, as the IoT evolves, it also faces its own set of challenges, most importantly the security challenges posed by IoT devices. Understanding the risks is a vital part of finding appropriate solutions and Digital Forensics is a good way to deal with and mitigate them. Keep reading for all of the information you need.

What to Know About the Evolution of IoT

The most important thing to know about IoT is that its development has created an environment in which billions of devices are connected. At the same time, the level at which data can be collected is extraordinary. This is true both at home and at work. It’s now possible to connect your smartphone to your home’s thermostat, your office security cameras to your home laptop, and your tablet to your car’s stereo system, just to name a few. In fact, some experts predict that the number of IoT devices will exceed 30 billion by 2025.

As you can likely assume, there are loads of benefits that go with IoT and the ability to connect devices all over the world. However, the explosion in growth also presents dramatic challenges when it comes to security. Those challenges can be broken down into the following categories:

IoT Devices Themselves

One of the most significant security challenges is the IoT device itself. Without adequate security systems in place, a device is more at risk of being attacked. To close the gaps, devices should be equipped with encryption capabilities and firmware updates.

Data Protection

Most IoT devices do some degree of data collection, with sensitive and personal details being part of it. For that reason, it’s vital to have some system in place that protects that information and reduces the risk of an attack that steals it. That includes banking information and healthcare details. Encryption and access control are two steps for mitigating this risk.

No Standard Security Measures

With the number of IoT ecosystems out there, there’s a distinct lack in standards of security systems. The risk is present in a number of ways, including operating systems, manufacturers, and communication measures that differ among them. The challenge this presents interferes with secure interoperability and opens you to the risk of online sextortion, online blackmail, and other issues.

Cybersecurity Risks

Those who target IoT devices are aware of the gaps in protection and use that knowledge to carry out attacks, including hacking devices, data breaches, and DDoS attacks. Some estimates say that two-thirds of organizations have experienced some kind of IoT incident in the past year.

IoT Security Solutions

Knowing the risks is part of the battle, but what are the solutions? The approach must be multi-pronged and rely on a robust security policy, coupled with the appropriate technology and collaboration among those involved with security measures. With that in mind, several solutions can beef up IoT security.

Secure by Design

Secure by design solutions are those that are implemented during the design of a given IoT device. That means that the security is integrated into the hardware of the device, as well as adding encryption capabilities and tools that prevent attacks and unauthorized access to the device and its data.

Blockchain

Using blockchain allows for secure data storage and transactions on an IoT device. The system is designed to enhance the integrity of data, but also requires authentication proof and utilizes access control to ensure security. With the increased demand for IoT protection, blockchain is predicted to continue growing in the years to come.

Artificial Intelligence

AI gets a bad rap sometimes, but it can be quite useful in some situations. It can be used to scan large amounts of data, working to identify abnormalities and potential threats. Artificial intelligence is a helpful tool for finding possible security issues before they get worse and cause even more damage.

Access Control and Authentication

This includes systems like multi-factor authentication, biometrics, and role-based access control. Each of these tools prevents unauthorized users from getting into an IoT device, thereby protecting sensitive data and reducing the risk of a breach.

Security Collaboration

Working together is an ideal way to offer enhanced security for IoT devices. That includes device manufacturers, stakeholders, cybersecurity teams, software developers, and others. By collaborating, IoT security can be standardized, making it more effective, as well as making it easier to detect potential threats going forward, so they can be dealt with appropriately.

Summary

As with anything else that exists in the digital realm, IoT security is expected to continue evolving and enhanced technologies are expected to develop that address many of the associated security risks. It’s necessary to protect IoT devices and it should be a top concern for companies, meaning that you are likely to see innovative new ways to do so as time goes on.

Image: DIW-Aigen
by Asim BN via Digital Information World