Fortnite: Apple ban sparks court action from Epic Games

BBC

Apple has removed Fortnite from its App Store, preventing players from installing one of the world’s most popular games on iPhones. It came after a Fortnite update that let players buy in-game currency at a lower rate if they bought direct from maker Epic Games – bypassing Apple.

Apple takes a standard 30% cut of sales from its compulsory payment system.

Hours later, Google also appeared to remove the app from its Google Play Store – though it remains available on Android phones through other means, such as Epic Games’ own launcher.

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Covid-19 threatens to set UK data protection back a generation

City AM

Millions of businesses across the UK have quickly adapted to the Covid-19 environment. While some companies have adopted technology to handle customer data collection, many have turned to more tried-and-tested track and trace systems — namely, good old-fashioned pen and paper.

The hospitality industry, and especially pubs and bars, have had to become data protection experts overnight. For the most part, they’ve done a great job, and the industry at-large should be applauded for its efforts.

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Facebook is getting more serious about becoming your go-to for mobile payments

The Verge

Facebook is aiming for a more cohesive strategy around digital payments with the formation of a new division, Facebook Financial, that “will run all payments projects, including Facebook Pay,” according to Bloomberg. The unit is led by seasoned Facebook exec David Marcus, who was formerly in charge of Messenger before moving on to focus on the company’s blockchain efforts and Libra cryptocurrency.

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Digitalisation in Reliance Jio times: IoT, mobile internet to be key drivers of $5 trillion economy dream

Financial Express

With a vertically integrated offering traversing Digital infrastructure, 5-G, customer interfaces, devices and technology, the stage is set for India to exploit the full power of Digitalisation.

The coming quantum computing world will bring the Internet of things(IOT) alive in India. IoT fuels a world of connected devices to make our lives easier: smart cities, fleet tracking, temperature monitoring and the digital transformation of agriculture. IoT has the potential to disrupt both business and policy.

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Mobile Crypto Scam Targets Wealthy Indian Investors

Coin Telegraph

A new cryptocurrency scam in India is targeting wealthy individuals using a fake mobile app.

According to India TV News, cybercriminals are targeting high income individuals across India. Victims receive messages through social media groups asking them to sell and buy Bitcoin through a mobile app. This app, which supposedly acts as a crypto exchange, is actually entirely fraudulent. Once a user’s Bitcoin is deposited on the fake exchange, the scammers stop responding to queries from the victim and disappear.

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Amazon Broadens the Mobile Payment Patent Minefield

Payments Journal

Most tech companies build competitive barriers using patents. Amazon achieved this with a patent on one-click ordering that finally expired in late 2017. Now Amazon has received a patent in India that enables mobile payments with almost no user friction using geofencing and user account data.

“Amazon’s invention, relating to techniques for providing friction-free transactions using geo-locations and user identifiers, claims to have resolved the bottlenecks in providing mobile users a secure, easy to handle, and contact-free authorisation in the realm of existing methods of transactions.

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How blockchain and biometrics can secure e-voting in India, U.S. elections

Biometric Update

During a meeting held by the Election Commission of India, the IT Secretary of Indian state Telangana advocated for the use of biometric facial recognition for voter identity authentication, as well as connecting the voter’s phone number and IMEI to voter ID for verification, Medianama reports.

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Instagram wasn’t removing photos and direct messages from its servers

TechCrunch

A security researcher was awarded a $6,000 bug bounty payout after he found Instagram  retained photos and private direct messages on its servers long after he deleted them.

Independent security researcher Saugat Pokharel found that when he downloaded his data from Instagram, a feature it launched in 2018 to comply with new European data rules, his downloaded data contained photos and private messages with other users that he had previously deleted.

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‘Affordable Smartphones Will Drive Digital Inclusion in Africa’

This Day

With mobile connectivity now integral to the modern economy, a key part of any national development programme must be digital inclusion, telecoms experts have said. This they said, would be achieved by expanding mobile broadband coverage, adding that another important consideration is about smartphone affordability.

A recent GSMA report shows that smartphones make up 39 per cent of the 774 million mobile connections in sub-Saharan Africa. This is projected to grow significantly, but for Africa’s people to fully reap the dividends of mobile connectivity, it is critical that 4G-enabled smartphone handsets be made more easily attainable for the entry-level market.

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