Welcome, all again to – 5-For-Friday – your weekly, tech news roundup.
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1. Gatwick Airport in Drone Chaos.
Rogue drones ‘deliberately’ flown over Gatwick – one of the UK’s busiest airports – causing days of travel chaos.
Incoming planes were forced to divert to the other UK and European airports, as the drones repeatedly appeared over the airfield.
The runway at Gatwick reopened early Friday morning after shutting down for more than a day.
Thousands of passengers remain stranded at Gatwick as police continue their search for those responsible for the chaos, which started on Wednesday night.
The situation had involved the British Army, called in to support the local police in tackling the issue
The UK Government have been looking at different ways of addressing the dangers of drone use in areas where they pose safety risks.
Could this see a potential ban on drones in the UK?
2. Slack Users Who Have Visited US Sanctioned Countries Banned.
Some users of Slack had their accounts closed, with reports claiming the ban is due to the users in question visiting countries currently under US sanctions.
Slack says this ban is to comply with US regulations and believed to be affecting users who have visited nations including Iran and North Korea.
Many of the banned users have taken to social media to vent their anger and say they received no advanced warned, with some stating they’ve not visited the countries in recent years.
One user – a PhD student in Canada – believes his account was shut down because Slack thought his ethnicity had links to Iran, without any real source or confirmation.
3. New York Times Publish Facebook Data Investigation.
Facebook has been in hot water again this week over its data privacy practices, following an investigation by the New York Times.
The newspaper disclosed fresh details about the way in which they shared access to users’ data with other tech firms, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Spotify and Yandex.
Facebook has defended its behaviour and stated it never gave others access to personal data without permission of the user and had seen no evidence that the data had been misused.
4. Former UK Tech Industry ‘Unicorn’ Goes Into Administration.
Blippar specialises AR software for linking information and adverts to real-life objects, and even people’s faces – is to be sold off after filing for administration.
Blippar – claimed to be valued at $1bn – said it was unable to secure the additional funding that it needed from one of its investors.
Users had deserted its platform, and the company had little recurring revenue, with multiple filed accounts showing that the company never looked like achieving the lofty revenue goals.
5. Teenage Hackers Earning Thousands On Fortnite.
Teenagers are making thousands of pounds a week as part of a global hacking network built around the popular video game Fortnite.
About 20 hackers told the BBC they were stealing the private gaming accounts of players and reselling them online.
Fortnite is free to play but is estimated to have made more than £1bn through in-game purchases and add-ons.
The hackers can sell player accounts for as little as 25p or hundreds of pounds, depending on the items.
The items sold are collected as in-game purchases but are purely cosmetic and do not give gamers any extra abilities – but the hacking network is banking the payments.
Until next week. We hope you have a great weekend!
#TeamCredas
