Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written two novels.
He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.
He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride, and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.
He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and six other campaign groups have responded to the Facebook privacy controversy by calling on tech companies to sign a ‘security pledge.’ The pledge asks companies to make four promises to their customers and users …
The first ever Pokémon GO Fest, held in Chicago last July, turned into a complete flop. Inadequate cellular coverage meant that many couldn’t get online at all, and for those who could, server problems meant that many still couldn’t play …
Twitter is making it easier for you to share a particular moment from a live video stream by introducing a YouTube-style timestamp feature in its Android and iOS apps …
A memo written in 2016 has just come to light in which a Facebook VP argues that ‘questionable’ and deceptive tactics to grow the platform are justified – even if they cost someone their life.
The memo was written by one of Facebook’s longest-serving execs, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth …
Update: Now fixed.
Messaging app Telegram is down for many users in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and elsewhere …
Concerns over Facebook’s privacy policies don’t appear to be diminishing. Some users taking advantage of the opportunity to download an archive of all the data Facebook holds in their account are discovering a surprise: it includes videos they shot but never posted …
Snapchat appears to be planning to allow more connected apps, third-party apps that have access to some or all of your Snapchat data …
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly plans to accept an invitation to testify before Congress on the user data privacy controversy. The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday demanded that the chief exec appear before them, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee also expects Zuckerberg to testify.
Lawmakers want to know how the social network seemingly permitted data from around 50 million users to be used to influence the US presidential election …
Pressure is growing on Facebook to explain its failure to protect customers against misuse of their data by a firm of political consultants.
Both US and UK governments have demanded that CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally appear before them to give testimony. But in the case of the UK, Zuckerberg has already refused …
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has run full-page newspaper ads apologizing for the privacy breach that allowed a researcher to collect user data that was later used by Cambridge Analytica to help elect Trump. Fallout so far has included investigations in the US and UK, lawsuits and a petition.
The ads were run in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and six UK newspapers …
The fallout from the Facebook privacy controversy continues. After it was revealed that a firm of political consultants carried out a data-harvesting exercise disguised as a personality quiz, the latest developments include a lawsuit and a Mozilla-led petition for privacy changes to the app …
It’s increasingly common to use a VPN service to protect your privacy online – all the more so since the loss of net neutrality opening the door to ISPs choosing to create a two-tier Internet – but you have to exercise care in choosing your provider …
Not long after Telegram was pulled from Apple’s App Store when the company learned it was serving child pornography, the encrypted messaging app has lost a Supreme Court appeal in Russia, and been ordered to share its encryption keys with KGB successor, the Federal Security Service (FSB) …
Parts shortages mean that it will take Android brands two years to catch up with Apple’s Face ID technology, according to suppliers of key components used for 3D camera modules …
Google is offering a new service called Shopping Actions which will allow consumers to spot something they want in a Google search and then buy it through sponsored results alongside the organic results. The service is initially being piloted with Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Costco and other large chains, but will be open to smaller retailers too …
Niantic is keen to ensure you never get locked out of your Pokémon GO account, now rolling out the option to login using Facebook or Google as well as your Pokémon Trainer Club account …
Although Samsung has offered face unlock on its smartphones since the Galaxy S8, its efforts to date haven’t been particularly impressive as they are only 2D. Even the Galaxy S9 version can be fooled by both photos and videos, but that may be set to change …
Facebook ran into trouble following its acquisition of WhatsApp back in 2014. It appeared to backtrack on an earlier promise not to share data between the two services, and was later warned that it may be breaking the law in the UK and elsewhere …
The French government is taking both Google and Apple to court, accusing the companies of ‘abusive trade practices’ in the way that they treat developers.
Reporting on the case is light on detail, but France appears to have three objections to the way the relationship works between app stores and developers …
If you prefer Google Assistant to Siri, the latest version of the app is available for iPad as well as iPhone …
Google has fallen 20 places in a huge annual survey of corporate reputations. The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient shows that the company fell from 8th to 28th place …
A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suggests that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may be conducting illegal searches of electronic devices belonging to passengers on domestic flights …
Amazon’s Alexa devices offer free calling and voice messaging to other Echo owners – but from today, you’ll additionally be able to place these calls from your Fire, Android or iOS tablet …
Philips teased back in January that it would be launching outdoor Hue lights later in the year, and it has now provided details of the products – including pricing and availability.
The company says that it will be offering three types of outdoor lights in the USA and Europe in July …