Facebook disables messaging features

  • Facebook is disabling several features in its Messenger and Instagram apps for people in Europe, to make sure they comply with a change in privacy rules
  • From 21 December, messaging apps will fall under EU rules known as the ePrivacy directive
  • Facebook has decided to switch off several interactive options and offer just a core messaging service until it can add the extras back in
  • Group chat polls on Messenger are among the tools to be switched off
  • The ability to set nicknames for friends on Messenger will also be deactivated, while the sharing of augmented-reality face filters via direct message on Instagram will also be switched off in Europe
  • Facebook said it had not published a list of all the features it was suspending in Europe because it would be quickly reactivating ones that it was confident complied with the rules

Private school teacher jailed for having sex with pupil 

  • A private school teacher who had sex with a pupil has been jailed\
  • A man who taught at St Joseph’s College in Reading, groomed the girl before having sex with her on three occasions, Reading Crown Court heard
  • The ex-head of maths, 33, was sentenced to 22 months in prison after admitting the offences and he will go on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
  • Judge Paul Dugdale described it as one of the “most serious” abuse of position of trust cases he has had to deal with
  • The court heard he had sent the girl explicit texts and Snapchat messages, before having sex with her in his car after a school sports day

US Government warns of new cyber attack 

  • US officials have warned that a sophisticated hacking campaign uncovered this week poses a “grave risk” to the government, critical infrastructure, and the private sector
  • The US Treasury and Commerce Departments were among those attacked
  • The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) said thwarting the attack would be “highly complex and challenging”
  • Many suspect the Russian government is responsible. It has denied the claims
  • In a statement on Thursday, Cisa said government agencies, critical infrastructure entities, and private sector organisations had been targeted by what it called an “advanced persistent threat actor”, beginning in at least March 2020
  • The actor behind the hacks “demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft in these intrusions”, it said

Sony pulls new game Cyberpunk 2077 

  • Sony has pulled the game Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation store and offered refunds
  • Players complained that Cyberpunk 2077 has been riddled with bugs and glitches and is prone to crashes
  • Earlier this week, the game’s developers CD Projekt Red offered refunds for the game
  • The company has also committed to releasing patches to improve Cyberpunk 2077.
  • It’s unclear when Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) plans to return the game to the PlayStation Store

More families trapped in temporary accommodation in England

  • The number of people in temporary accommodation in England is at its highest level in 14 years, says a new report by the charity Shelter
  • It jumped by 6,000 in the first three months of the pandemic and now stands at 253,000, according to Shelter’s analysis of government data
  • Temporary accommodation offered by councils, ranges from bed and breakfasts to self-contained flats
  • The government says finding people a permanent home is a “priority”
  • It suggests the increase in people living in temporary accommodation this year may be down to the “everyone in” scheme, which aimed to get rough sleepers off the streets and out of hostels at the start of the pandemic