Month: May 2022

If Apple, Google and Microsoft have their way, soon we’ll be thinking of passwords as a bygone relic of the 20th century.

The FIDO Alliance — FIDO is short for “fast identity online” — said Thursday it’s working with the three companies to begin offering passwordless technology to websites and apps. Instead of using unreliable password logins, apps and websites could identify who you are with a fingerprint reader, face scanner or even your phone.

“Working with the industry to establish new, more secure sign-in methods that offer better protection and eliminate the vulnerabilities of passwords is central to our commitment to building products that offer maximum security and a transparent user experience — all with the goal of keeping users’ personal information safe,” Kurt Knight, Apple’s senior director of platform product marketing, said in a statement.

Similarly, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for identity program management, Alex Simons, said any viable product needs to be safer, easier and faster than what we use today. “The complete shift to a passwordless world will begin with consumers making it a natural part of their lives,” he said in a statement.

Google as well said it’s excited for the day “the world can safely move away from the risk and hassle of passwords.”

The announcement by the tech companies and FIDO underscore the industry’s efforts to fight the seemingly never-ending onslaught of hacking attacks that lead to theft of people’s personal information, financial fraud and security breaches at companies and governments around the world.

Read more: Make Your Passwords Stronger With These 5 Tips

Many experts agree that people’s tendency to use easily hackable passwords, and to use the same ones across many websites and apps, is one of the most important problems to solve. To do so, some people have turned to password managers, which store randomized passwords behind a central app that runs on their phone or computer. Many apps, websites and companies also now use two-factor authentication, which often sends a second password by phone or in an app, for the person to enter within a short period of time.

FIDO is hoping to streamline all these efforts into a technology standard that apps, websites and device makers can all trust and rely on. Its announcement, made in conjunction with World Password Day — intended to encourage people to do a better job securing their accounts — highlights how FIDO technology is hopefully becoming easier to use.

While FIDO is already used by hundreds of device makers and service providers, the alliance said that making its technology interoperable with more websites and apps will make it more appealing.

FIDO said it expects the new capabilities announced Thursday to arrive on devices powered by software from Apple, Google and Microsoft in the next year. We’ll likely hear more over the next month, during which all three companies typically hold their annual developer conferences to discuss new features they’re planning to offer.

Large tech companies such as Google and Facebook will have to abide by new competition rules in the UK or risk facing huge fines, the government said.

The new Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be given powers to clamp down on “predatory practices” of some firms.

The regulator will also have the power to fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover if they fail to comply.

Besides boosting competition among tech firms, the rules also aim to give users more control over their data.

The BBC approached several of the big tech firms, including Apple, Meta and Google, but has received no response.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said as well as large fines, tech firms could be handed additional penalties of 5% of daily global turnover for each day an offence continues.

For companies like Apple that could be tens of billions of US dollars.

“Senior managers will face civil penalties if their firms fail to engage properly with requests for information,” the government said.

However, it is unclear when exactly the changes will come into force, as the government has said the necessary legislation will be introduced “in due course”.

Europe agrees new law to curb Big Tech dominance
Digital minister Chris Philp said the government wanted to “level the playing field” in the technology industry, in which a few American companies have been accused of abusing their market dominance.

“The dominance of a few tech giants is crowding out competition and stifling innovation,” he said.

As well attempting to hold Big Tech to account, the DMU will look to give people more control over how their data is used by tech firms – for example with targeted personalised adverts.

It will also make it easier for people to switch between phone operating systems such as Apple iOS or Android and social media accounts, without losing data and messages.

Critics have called such closed systems “walled gardens” that lock consumers into using products from a specific company.

Google’s search engine, which is currently the default search engine on Apple products, will also be looked at by the regulator, the government said.

It added it wants news publishers to be paid fairly for their content – and will give the regulator power to resolve conflicts.

This move is in response to friction between Meta, Google and news publishers. The argument is that while many local and national news organisations struggle to survive, Big Tech companies are posting record profits – and raising advertising revenue from the stories they produce.

Meta and Google argue that the relationship is symbiotic, that they direct traffic towards news organisations.

Last year the situation escalated, when a proposed law in Australia looking to “level the playing the field” resulted in Facebook temporarily blocking Australian news organisations – before an agreement was reached.

The UK government said its new rules could increase the “bargaining power” of national and regional newspapers.

The issue of big tech and competition has been troubling the authorities for quite some time.

There’s no question that a handful of giants hugely dominate the market and hoover up considerable profits.

They have a captive market and they don’t want to share it. Google search is so popular “to google” is a commonly used verb. Around 90% of all internet searches are on Google’s search engine. But many have queried whether one company should have such a dominant position over a crucial part of the internet.

It also leaves businesses with little choice. Want to advertise to people searching for football boots in your area? Google would be the obvious choice. But critics argue that that its monopoly means the company can charge what it likes – and that’s ultimately bad for a healthy and competitive economy.

The UK’s new regulator has decided to focus the minds of these firms with eye-watering fines for not allowing fair competition – 10% global turnover and an extra 5% per day if the offence continues. That is mega money – even for companies worth trillions of dollars. It’s enough to get their attention.

2px presentational grey line
Also included in the plans is a move to give firms like Meta and Apple “strategic market status”, which will mean they will have to report takeovers before they complete to the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) for potential investigation.

Big Tech has long been criticised for buying up competition, as part of a strategy to “copy, acquire, kill”.

The criticism here is that fledgling business are bought up before they have the chance to get too big – and threaten the monopoly position of these companies.

Separately, it had been rumoured that the DMU would not be given a legal footing – and would therefore lack bite, however the government has said it will introduce legislation to put the regulator on a statutory footing in “due course.”

The consumer group Which? said it was “essential that the Digital Markets Unit is properly empowered” for the “sake of UK consumers and businesses”.

In an open letter, employees say Apple’s hybrid plan offers “almost no flexibility at all.”

A group of Apple employees is demanding more flexibility from the tech giant ahead of its planned return to office work later this month. In an open letter, the group, calling itself Apple Together, said the company’s plan for many employees to be in the office three fixed days a week offers “almost no flexibility at all” and could be damaging to diversity.

“The Hybrid Working Pilot is not an increase in flexibility, it is a smokescreen and often a step back in flexibility for many of our teams,” reads the letter, which was posted Friday and earlier reported by CNN. “We are not asking for everyone to be forced to work from home. We are asking to decide for ourselves, together with our teams and direct manager, what kind of arrangement works best for each one of us, be that in an office, work from home, or a hybrid approach.”

Like other tech companies, Apple delayed its return-to-office plans several times amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The iPhone maker now expects many employees to work in office at least three days a week by May 23, reported Bloomberg, though some teams may be required to be in the office more often.

Apple has already faced public pushback from some employees who’ve asked it to consider more-flexible work options, though the company’s leadership has stressed that it believes in-person collaboration is essential.

About 200 employees are engaging in the Apple Together group, according to CNN, a small portion of the company’s US workforce. The group says Apple has 100,000 direct employees in the US, including retail workers.

The Apple Together group also alleged that the hybrid plan could change the makeup of Apple’s workforce, saying it will make the company “younger, whiter, more male-dominated,” by squeezing out those who can’t relocate for a position or afford to pay for family care. In the letter, the group also said the hybrid plan doesn’t reflect the message Apple sends to customers that its products are great for remote work.

“We tell all of our customers how great our products are for remote work,” reads the letter, “yet, we ourselves, cannot use them to work remotely? How can we expect our customers to take that seriously?”