Apple issues first automatic bug update for Macs

Apple has sent out its first automatic security update for Mac computers as researchers warn about new bugs.

Previously Apple has released security patches through its regular software update system which requires user approval.

The latest bugs were so severe it felt it needed to get customers protected immediately, the firm said.

"The update is seamless. It doesn't even require a restart," Apple spokesman Bill Evans told Reuters.

The Mac bugs were mentioned in security bulletins issued last week by the Department of Homeland Security and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.

It identified dozens of technology companies, including Apple, whose products might be vulnerable.

The vulnerability targets a component of its OS X operating system called the network time protocol (NTP) which is used for synchronising clocks on computer systems.

The protocol is a global method of synchronising time over a network and has previously been exploited by hackers.

Microsoft has been offering automatic updates for security flaws for some time.

Apple developed technology for automatically pushing out security updates two years ago but has never previously used it.

The firm said that it did not know of any cases where hackers had exploited the bug.

Apple 'failing to protect Chinese factory workers'

Poor treatment of workers in Chinese factories which make Apple products has been discovered by an undercover BBC Panorama investigation.

Filming on an iPhone 6 production line showed Apple's promises to protect workers were routinely broken.

It found standards on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were being breached at the Pegatron factories.

Apple said it strongly disagreed with the programme's conclusions.

Exhausted workers were filmed falling asleep on their 12-hour shifts at the Pegatron factories on the outskirts of Shanghai.

One undercover reporter, working in a factory making parts for Apple computers, had to work 18 days in a row despite repeated requests for a day off.

Another reporter, whose longest shift was 16 hours, said: "Every time I got back to the dormitories, I wouldn't want to move.

"Even if I was hungry I wouldn't want to get up to eat. I just wanted to lie down and rest. I was unable to sleep at night because of the stress."

'Continuous improvement'

Apple declined to be interviewed for the programme, but said in a statement: "We are aware of no other company doing as much as Apple to ensure fair and safe working conditions.

"We work with suppliers to address shortfalls, and we see continuous and significant improvement, but we know our work is never done."

Apple said it was a very common practice for workers to nap during breaks, but it would investigate any evidence they were falling asleep while working.

It said it monitored the working hours of more than a million workers and that staff at Pegatron were averaging 55 hours a week.

The poor conditions in Chinese factories were highlighted in 2010 when 14 workers killed themselves at Apple's biggest supplier, Foxconn.

Following the suicides, Apple published a set of standards spelling out how factory workers should be treated. It also moved some of its production work to Pegatron's factories on the outskirts of Shanghai.

Apple Stops Online Sales in Russia Over Ruble Fluctuations

Apple Inc. (AAPL) halted online sales of its products in Russia due to “extreme” ruble fluctuations, showing how the currency’s swings are rippling out to international businesses.

The iPhone and iPad maker stopped sales from its Web store as Russia’s currency lost as much as 19 percent today, with a surprise interest-rate increase failing to stem a run on the currency. The ruble briefly sank beyond 80 per dollar, and bonds and stocks also tumbled, with the RTS equity gauge dropping the most since 2008.

“Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing,” Alan Hely, a spokesman for the Cupertino, California-based company, wrote in an e-mailed statement today. “We apologize to customers for any inconvenience.”

The selloff in Moscow is spreading across the globe, prompting nervous investors to pull money from other developing nations amid concern that Russia’s financial struggles and the tumble in oil signal a global economic slowdown.

Dutch data watchdog threatens Google with £12m fine

Google has been threatened with a fine of up to 15m euros (£12m) if it does not do a better job of protecting the privacy of Dutch citizens.

The threat was made by the Dutch data protection agency (DPA), which said Google had broken local laws governing what it could do with user data.

The search giant has been given until the end of February 2015 to change the way it handles personal data.

Google said it was "disappointed" by the Dutch data watchdog's statement.

"This has been ongoing since 2012, and we hope our patience will no longer be tested," Dutch DPA chairman Jacob Kohnstamm told Reuters.

Privacy change

The row has blown up over the way that Google combines data about what people do online in order to tailor adverts to their preferences.

Information about keywords in search queries, email messages, cookies, location data and video viewing habits are all used by Google to build up a profile on each of its millions of users.

Dutch laws said Google should tell people about this data-gathering activity and get permission from them before it was combined or analysed, said Mr Kohnstamm.

A Google representative said "We're disappointed with the Dutch data protection authority's order, especially as we have already made a number of changes to our privacy policy in response to their concerns.

"However, we've recently shared some proposals for further changes with the European privacy regulators group, and we look forward to discussing with them soon."

The Dutch DPA was one of a group of six European data regulators that looked at Google following changes made in early 2012 to unify its privacy policies around the world.

Tech rivals join Microsoft in fight over US data demand

Apple and eBay are among those supporting Microsoft's stand against handing over data stored in Ireland to the US government.

One year ago, prosecutors issued a warrant for emails stored by Microsoft in an Irish data centre, in connection with a drug-related investigation.

The tech giant refused to comply but was ordered by a judge to hand over the information in July.

Microsoft has now filed letters of support from a large number of allies.

These include tech firms Verizon, Amazon, Cisco and HP, as well as trade associations such as the US Chamber of Commerce, and Digital Rights Ireland.

Various news organisations such as CNN, the Guardian and the Washington Post are on board along with computer scientists from universities across the US including Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Earlier this year, New York judge James Francis said that a warrant for online information was the equivalent of a subpoena and had to be obeyed.

Privacy rights

The firm and its supporters argue that the centre in Dublin is outside US jurisdiction, while the prosecutors claim that as the data itself is accessible by the firm from within the US, this does not apply.

"We believe that when one government wants to obtain email that is stored in another country, it needs to do so in a manner that respects existing domestic and international laws," wrote Microsoft's Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs, in a blog post.

"In contrast, the US government's unilateral use of a search warrant to reach email in another country puts both fundamental privacy rights and cordial international relations at risk."

BT to decide this week on EE or O2

Europe's most senior telecom dealmakers chartered flights into the City of London this weekend to thrash out takeover talks with BT.

In the next few days, the telecom giant is expected to reveal whether it will buy EE or O2 in what will mark the biggest shake-up of the UK mobile sector in recent history.

Executives from France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are understood to have flown in on the heels of the chairman of O2 owner Telefonica, Cesar Alierta, who visited London last week as part of his efforts to seal a deal over the weekend.

“Everyone is in town for this”, one source said.

BT has reportedly favoured a deal with O2 but sources close to the situation have said that it was still open to a potential combination with EE.

Industry sources and investors have praised BT chief executive Gavin Patterson’s decision publicly to play off O2 and EE against each other, as it gives the company the strongest negotiating position possible. A takeover of O2 is widely seen as a more straightforward deal. In contrast, EE is joint-owned by French operator Orange and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and the two sides have frequently had opposing views about the future of EE.

A deal with O2 would also be cheaper, at around £9.4bn based on seven times its earnings, whereas BT could have to fork out up to £12bn for EE.

However, EE would bring BT more customers and is thought to have a more valuable network after significantly investing in mobile spectrum.

It was said that there is still EE takeover interest from Tom Alexander, the former boss of EE, and private equity firms KKR and Apax, but they are determined not to be used as a stalking-horse and will want EE’s owners to decide on next steps should BT opt against a takeover. All parties involved declined to comment.

Four reasons BT should buy O2

BT is expected to use its own shares to finance part of a takeover although some of its biggest shareholders have signalled that they would be willing to take part in a rights issue to finance a mobile deal.

A takeover of either company will see BT re-enter the mobile market more than a decade after its decision in 2001 to spinoff O2, then BT Cellnet to pay down debts.

Facebook thinking about 'dislike' function - Zuckerberg

Facebook is thinking about adding a way to "dislike" posts on its site, founder Mark Zuckerberg has said.

Speaking at a Q&A session in California, he said it was one of the most requested features the social network receives from its users.

He said the site would need to find a way to make sure it did not become a way to demean people's posts.

According to Facebook's own figures, 4.5 billion "likes" are generated every day.

"One of things we've thought about for quite a while is what's the right way to make it so that people can easily express a broader range of emotions," Mark Zuckerberg told an audience at Facebook's headquarters.

"A lot of times people share things on Facebook that are sad moments in their lives. Often people tell us that they don't feel comfortable pressing 'like' because 'like' isn't the appropriate sentiment.

"Some people have asked for a dislike button because they want to say, 'That thing isn't good.' That's not something that we think is good for the world.

"The thing that I think is very valuable is that there are more sentiments that people want to express."

Fake likes

Facebook's Like button has been criticised as being a method by which the social network collects data on its users' browsing habits.

The system has also come under fire due to a high volume of "fake likes" - when the popularity of a brand or piece of content is inflated artificially.

Facebook has moved to combat the trade of so-called "like farming" - businesses that, for a price, will provide a huge number of likes quickly. This will be via automated robots, or by a network of humans paid a tiny sum for each click.