The Canadian Revenue Agency says online accounts were locked because of an “external threat”, Facebook picks the nuclear option and bans news on its platform in Australia, and Uber takes down the UberCheats app.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Friday, February 19, and I’m your host Alex Coop.
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There’s a ton of chatter about the CRA’s recent announcement that online accounts were locked after an internal analysis found a few user credentials in the hands of “unauthorized” individuals outside of the organization. CTV News is reporting that it wasn’t a cybersecurity threat, but user IDs and passwords were obtained “through a variety of means by sources external to the CRA.” Unsurprisingly, the move has left a lot of people confused. The CRA says that calling the agency is unnecessary “unless those targeted are applicants of the government’s emergency COVID-19 benefit with active applications.” Those cases, apparently, will be prioritized.
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Well, you hate to see it: Facebook has blocked Australian users from viewing and sharing news on the platform amid a government dispute. The move is in response to a proposed law in Australia which would make tech giants pay for news content. Oh, and as a bonus, the decision also affected several health and emergency pages. Meanwhile, Google has announced that it’s making significant payments in exchange for content from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Google has also signed up media outlets in Germany, Brazil, and the U.K., among others to its News Showcase program as part of a $1 billion licensing deal.
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Uber Shuts Down App That Told Drivers If Uber Underpaid Them – Uber got UberCheats removed from Google, claiming the app infringed its trademark on the word ‘Uber.’ from technology
And lastly, Uber has managed to force Google to remove a tool that helped the platform’s drivers figure out if Uber was underpaying them. UberCheats creator Armin Samii Tweeted saying the app was taken off the Chrome app store because Uber claimed it violated its trademark. Uber was also worried that “people might confuse it for an actual Uber product.” Aha, okay then.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly into your inbox everyday. I’m Alex Coop, thanks for listening!