UKEMVERANEWS

  This landmark case will look at whether major social media platforms were designed to encourage addiction, especially among young users. At the center of the trial is Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit alleges that these platforms were engineered with features that exploit psychological vulnerabilities, encouraging compulsive usage patterns among teenagers and children.     What's at stake in the trial There are serious allegations in the case, including: Algorithms for social media platforms were purposefully optimized to enhance user engagement at the expense of mental health. Features such as infinite scrolling, push notifications, and algorithmic content recommendations were designed to keep users online longer.  Platforms continued aggressive growth strategies despite internal research allegedly revealing awareness of potential mental health risks for adolescents. Plaintiffs argue that young users experienced increa...

National Information Development Agency (NITDA) has trained 111 Northwestern women on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Jigawa, the agency’s Director General, Dr Isa Pantami, said on Sunday. Pantami made the disclosure at the closing ceremony of the training in Dutse. He said the beneficiaries were drawn from seven states of North West. He added that the training was part of the agency’s initiative on ICT capacity building for women in the North West and NITDA’s intervention to develop the capacity of women in ICT. The director general, who described ICT skill as critical for prosperity and economic wellbeing of the nation, noted that the training was also to create jobs and promote self-reliance among women in the seven North West states. He announced that each of the 111 trainees was given a mini laptop computer by the agency. Gov. Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa said the state government would continue to partner with the agency in areas of digital job creation and e-l...

Google on Thursday unveiled Google Go, a new app built to support Android devices with one gigabyte Random Access Memory (RAM) and below. The Country Director of Google, Mrs Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, unveiled the app in Lagos. According to Ehimuan-Chiazor, the Google Go is available as at today in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through the Google Play Store. She said that it would come pre-installed on all Android Oreo (Go edition) devices and would be available for devices running Android v4.3 (Jelly Bean) and above. “Google Go provides a lighter, faster way to search, with everything you need just a tap away. “As more Africans come online every year, using mobile phones as their primary and sometimes only internet device, online is not somewhere they ‘go’ anymore but where they live, connecting with people, places and things that matter to them. “Weak data connectivity, high data costs and low RAM or storage space often makes it hard for people to get the most out of the interne...

Facebook founder and chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, foiled attempts by United States Senators to pin him down when he appeared before a joint Congress hearing on activities of Cambridge Analytica illegally mining users data on the social media platform. TheNewsGuru reports Zuckerberg appeared before Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Tuesday followed by a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday. Zuckerberg refused to submit to suggestions by Congress members that Facebook users do not have enough control of their data on the social media platform in the wake of the data privacy scandal. “Every time that someone chooses to share something on Facebook… there is a control. Right there. Not buried in the settings somewhere but right there,” he told the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. Zuckerberg revealed to Congress that his own personal data was included in that of 87 million or so Facebook users that was improperly shared wi...

Many travellers think that the only time to put their phones and other devices in airplane mode is only when they are flying. This is actually wrong. Regardless of the name, airplane mode can have a handful of advantages for travellers whether used on a plane or not. Accordingly, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency highlights reasons to use airplane mode even when you are not flying. Fix network or wireless problems In some cases, if you don’t get network services on your phone, the next thing you are likely to do is to restart your device. For phones and tablets, turning airplane mode on and off is essentially the same thing since it causes a restart of most networking services without rebooting your device. Save data Depending on how you’ve got your phone set up, there’s a chance you might be wasting a lot of data on a prepaid card due to automatic downloads, app updates, or streaming services. Although you can make a lot of changes to your settings to prevent ...

Egypt’s top Islamic body has banned a social media game that allegedly entices teenagers to commit suicide, saying it contains elements that are prohibited by Islam. Dar al Iftaa, the Egyptian institute responsible for religious matters, issued the ban on the game after Egyptian media reported several suicides that were allegedly related to the game, despite the lack of evidence. One of the suicides was by the son of Hamdy Al-Fakharany, a former Egyptian member of parliament for the Muslim Brotherhood, prompting the religious authority to issue the ban. Khalid Al-Fakharany, 18, committed suicide after playing the game, according to his sister’s Facebook posts. Several suicides in Jordan and Tunisia have also been linked to the game. The Blue Whale Challenge gained notoriety in 2016 and 2017 after several suicides in the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and Europe were purportedly linked to it. The game consists of a series of 50 challenges handed out by an organiser o...

The management of the global ponzi scheme, Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox (MMM), has announced a final shut down of operations. The ponzi scheme in a statement on its official global website on Friday said they were shutting down due to the death of the founder, Sergey Mavrodi. Mr Mavrodi, an ex-convict, died of heart attack on March 26. The scheme, which collapsed over a year ago in many countries including Nigeria, has been a subject of controversy globally. Mr. Mavrodi launched his controversial scheme in 2011 and crashed in Nigeria in December 2016; with millions of Naira belonging to Nigerians trapped in the scheme. Although the scheme announced a comeback in 2017, it could not launch operation before the renewed enthusiasm among its members fizzled out. On Friday, the scheme said continuous operation without Mr. Mavrodi made no sense. “Dear participants, after much deliberation, we have made the conclusion that continuing the System operation, without our leader and i...

Facebook would start informing its users on Monday if their information “may have been’’ improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytical is a consultancy suspected of improperly using the data of as many as 87 million people. In a statement, Facebook said that 70.6 million people affected were based in the U. S. Up to 2.7 million Facebook users in the EU were affected, with another two million affected in the Philippines and Indonesia. Other countries affected include Mexico, Canada, India, Brazil, Vietnam and Australia, according to Facebook. In a further effort to improve transparency after the scandal, Facebook would send all 2.2 billion of its users a notice that would allow them to see what apps they use and what data they are sharing with those apps. The company said this would allow people to shut off the apps completely or turn off third-party access to their apps. Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a debate over whether it used the pers...

Mr Nosa Igiebor, a Mobile Engineer with Microsoft Nigeria, has advised Smartphone users to familiarize themselves with security features in their phones to safeguard them against hackers or theft. Igiebor told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja that users should also visit the official Android website to learn more about their phones and the security features in them. A mobile engineer develops and builds software applications for mobile devices; some can also specialise in Android or Internal Operating Systems (IOS) applications. “Cyber-criminals are increasingly targeting your mobile device because it contains valuable data such as banking passwords and usernames, e-commerce and social media log-ins, and personal information that can be used in identity theft scams. “ The good news is that a few simple best practices can safeguard your data against the most common cyber-threats, including malware, phishing and hacking. “There are a few simple steps user...

A United Nations migration official called Thursday for Facebook to police its site and its WhatsApp messaging subsidiary for use by abusive human smugglers. Leonard Doyle, director of media and communication at the UN International Organization for Migration, said that Facebook and WhatsApp have become the media of choice for people smugglers in the Middle East and Africa to advertise their services and make arrangements with migrants. But many of those groups abuse migrants, taking travelers hostage and beating them to demand ransoms from their families, he said. As it now blocks violent jihadist groups like Islamic State from promoting itself on Facebook pages, Facebook should police people smugglers doing the same thing, Doyle said in an online discussion hosted by Refugees Deeply, a migration-focused media group. “They have turbocharged the access to smugglers,” he said. “Big tech companies have a huge responsibility that they are not living up to.” Smugglers use...

Transsion Holdings, giant mobile phone (Tecno Mobile), has described Nigeria as still the biggest market in Africa in spite of some challenges. Mr Andy Yan, Vice President, Transsion Holdings, parent company of Tecno Mobile, made the assertion in Lagos at Tecno’s Global Spring Launch. News Agency of Nigeria report that Tecno unveiled Camon X Pro smartphone at the event held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. Yan said that Nigeria had provided a huge market for the organisation in spite of challenges of fluctuating foreign exchange. The official said that the company had contributed to the growth of Nigeria’s economy through job creation. According to him, Tecno has also impacted on Nigeria through its corporate social responsibility. Yan called for consistent policies to encourage investment in Nigeria, saying that unstable business environment discouraged investment. Yan said: “Investors, most importantly, must have a stable environment and policies to do businesses...

Google has announced, starting March 30, 2019, it will discontinue its uniform resource locator (URL ) shortener service, goo.gle, while beginning a transition process March 30, 2018, to replacing it with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL ). The Internet giant announced the development in a blog post while stressing that it will turn down support for goo.gl URL shortener beginning March 30, 2018. “To refocus our efforts, we’re turning down support for goo.gl over the coming weeks and replacing it with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL ),” the blog post read. “From April 13, 2018, only existing users will be able to create short links on the goo.gl console. You will be able to view your analytics data and download your short link information in CSV format for up to one year, until March 30, 2019, when we will discontinue goo.gl. Previously created links will continue to redirect to their intended destination,” a statement read on the goo.gl platform. the reporter reports FDLs are sma...

It may take a few years in order for Facebook to solve the problems associated with third-parties using data from its users in unauthorized ways, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday. “I think we will dig through this hole, but it will take a few years. *770# Mobile “I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions are just going to take a longer period of time,’’ Zuckerberg told newsmen. Cambridge Analytica became embroiled in an international scandal after it emerged that the company had received the data of around 50 million Facebook users without their permission and through improper channels. The company harvested the information to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of voters to boost U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Facebook announced recently it would shut down the Partner Categories, which allows third-party data pro...

An Indian billionaire who promised to help fund a rival to Facebook said Wednesday he had been “overwhelmed” with the response as the world grapples with concerns about data privacy. Anand Mahindra, whose Mahindra Group business empire spans everything from cars to real estate, sparked a flurry of brainstorming as Facebook reels from a scandal over the misuse of its user data. The social media giant has been under pressure to explain how data on up to 50 million users was allegedly taken from Facebook and used in political campaigns. Mahindra earlier this week urged India’s tech entrepreneurs to devise “our own social networking company” and offered seed funding to startups to get the better ideas rolling. The invitation provoked a flood of proposals, even from his own chief digital officer Jaspreet Bindra who was tempted by his boss’s offer. “To say I’m overwhelmed by the responses to my call for social network startup proposals would be an understatement!” Mahindra post...

Google Maps is now available in 39 new languages, the company announced today in a blog post. These languages — including Afrikaans, Danish, Filipino, Hebrew, Icelandic, Mongolian, Serbian, Slovak, Swahili, Turkish, and Vietnamese, to name a few — are spoken by around 1.25 billion people. Keep in mind there are a total of 6,909 living languages recorded in the Ethnologue catalogue. Many of the languages Google chose to add today are spoken by large populations. Swahili, in particular, has 8 percent of the African continent speaking it, while Turkish is spoken by 9 percent of people in Europe. The new language additions are coming to the mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows OS. Google Maps initially started off in English in 2004, and has gradually rolled out different language availability over time.

Former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Abubakar Umar, has threatened to take legal action against Globacom, one of Nigeria’s major telecoms service providers. Mr. Umar disclosed this Wednesday afternoon after receiving several unsolicited subscription alerts and deductions of money from his Glo line. He forwarded some of the unsolicited subscription alerts he received. One of the alerts reads: “Dear customer, your Jokes tips subscription alerts will be renewed on 2018-03-22 00:00: 00. You will be charged N100 for 1 month. To deactivate SMS Unsub joke 577. Thank you.” Another alert sent to Mr. Umar’s phone reads: “Dear customer, your SMS WIKI tips subscription alerts has been renewed for 100.00 NGN till 2018-04-11 00:00:00. To deactivate SMS STOP WIKI to 577. Thank you.” Mr. Umar said he will ask his lawyers to press charges against Glo if they failed to discontinue these unsolicited subscription alerts. Many Nigerians have been complaining about the unsolicited al...

     By myvictoryb Whistle-blower and former employee of Cambridge Analytica, Christopher Wylie, has finally revealed the Israeli hackers that were engaged to hack into Muhammadu Buhari medical records and private emails. Wylie made the revelation when he appeared before British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. He said Cambridge Analytica’s parent company SCL worked with Israeli spy firm, Black Cube, to compromise Buhari’s private data in events leading to the 2015 general elections. “The company utilized the services of an Israeli private intelligence firm, Black Cube. Black Cube on the Nigeria campaign was engaged to hack the now-president Buhari to get access to his medical records and private emails,” he said. Meanwhile, Black Cube, based in Tel Aviv, has vehemently rejected Wylie’s statement, and said it plans to investigate his claims to “reveal the truth and the motive” behind them. “Whilst we are flattered that we are seeming...

     By myvictoryb No fewer than 20 Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) have submitted requests to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in 2018 for clearance of their information technology projects. Mrs Hadiza Umar, the NITDA Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday. She said that some of the MDAs had been fully cleared, while some others had provisional clearance and the rest at various stages of the clearance process. Umar noted that NITDA recently cleared the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Information Communication Technology (ICT) security and system infrastructure upgrade projects. According to her, the cleared projects include Enterprise Network Security – Gateway Security project – aimed at upgrading the bank’s network appliances and ensures that network appliances are highly available and provides comprehensive real real-time protec...

        by myvictoryb No fewer than 92 persons have benefited from the 2017/2018 Postgraduate Scholarship programme of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The Head, Corporate Affairs, and External Relations Unit of the agency, Mrs. Hadiza Umar said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. According to Umar, the scholarship programme is part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s human capital development agenda for citizens to contribute to national development. “NITDA has awarded 92 scholarships in the 2017/2018 session for Masters and Doctorate degrees in relevant areas of ICT and ICT Law. “This is in the efforts of the agency at assessing and addressing ICT skills requirements to support President Buhari’s sustainable economic growth and development strides.” “The scholarship scheme was expanded to cover diverse areas including Masters in ICT Law through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the agency.” Umar said that...

by myvictoryb A study has shown that chemicals found in a variety of routinely used consumer products may be contributing to the substantial drop in sperm counts and sperm quality among men in recent decades. The study found the effect of chemicals that disrupt the body’s hormones, called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, may extend beyond more than one generation. The research results will be presented on Monday at “ENDO 2018”, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Chicago. Lead author Radwa Barakat with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said:“sperm counts among men have dropped substantially over the last few decades, but the reason for such an alarming phenomenon is not known. “These results suggest that when a mother is exposed to an endocrine disruptor during pregnancy, her son and the son’s future generations may suffer from decreased fertility or hormone insufficiency.” The researchers studied the effect of the Di(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalat...