Meta's "pay or consent" advertising model is bad deal for consumers, according to an EU ruling. The European Commission announced on Monday that people who use Meta's services, such as Facebook and Instagram, don't have enough power to opt out of the company's highly personalized ad service. The quantity of data that Meta holds about people and then uses to target them with ads is too high, breaking EU rules.The Commission also criticized Meta for failing to ask its users for consent to combine their data f ...

Tesla issued two recalls for its distinctive, stainless steel Cybertruck on Tuesday, making four recalls in the vehicle's short history. This round of recalls involves two separate issues. The first is a faulty motor for the windshield-wiper blades that may cause them to cease functioning; the other is loose trim pieces that may fall off the vehicle while it's being driven. Both issues are detailed in NHTSA reports. For the windshield wipers, the NHTSA says that "excessive electrical current can cause the f ...

Target said this morning that its highly anticipated Target Circle Week sale event will kick off on July 7. As its name suggests, the sale will run for a full week, ending July 13. That means Target's shopping event will come to a close just a few days before the start of Amazon's popular Prime Day sale event, which was announced today as well.During Target's event, Target Circle members will be able to score top savings across various categories, ranging from household items to electronics to toys. The dea ...

Waymo said on Tuesday it's making its driverless ridehailing service available to anyone in San Francisco -- no wait list required. To get a lift in one of the company's autonomous vehicles, just download the Waymo One app and put in your destination. The self-driving arm of Google's parent company Alphabet has been operating in San Francisco since 2009, and rolled out fully autonomous rides in the area in late 2022. Waymo One is also available to all public riders in metro Phoenix and to select members of ...

Apple has broken EU laws designed to rein in the power of big tech, the European Competition Commission announced Monday. The tech titan's App Store rules prevent app developers from steering users towards alternative channels, such as their websites, where they might be able to offer customers better deals and offers, the regulator said.The Competition Commission also opened an additional investigation to decide whether the "core technology fee," which Apple charges developers, is compliant with EU rules.T ...

Apple has broken EU laws designed to rein in the power of big tech, the European Competition Commission announced Monday. The tech titan's App Store rules prevent app developers from steering users towards alternative channels, such as their websites, where they might be able to offer customers better deals and offers, the regulator said.The Competition Commission also opened an additional investigation to decide whether the "core technology fee," which Apple charges developers, is compliant with EU rules.T ...

Amazon is considering charging customers around $5-$10 a month to access a premium version of its Alexa voice assistant as part of a major revamp of the platform, according to a Reuters report. It's not the first time the idea has been made public. In January, reports surfaced that Amazon would release a paid subscription version of Alexa in June, though that hasn't happened yet.A spokesperson for Amazon didn't comment on the possible fee for a premium service but did confirm that generative AI figures heav ...

Just about every company in tech has jumped on the artificial intelligence bandwagon by now, and Apple is no exception. What makes it a little different is how it plans to handle the data security and privacy issues that come with AI.At its annual WWDC event earlier this month, the company unveiled Apple Intelligence, its own flavor of AI, which Apple pledges will set a new standard for AI privacy and security. That's despite its plans to "seamlessly integrate" OpenAI's ChatGPT into its products and softwar ...

The US government, acting on a referral from the Federal Trade Commission, filed suit against Adobe on Monday for reportedly making its subscriptions confusing and costly to cancel. The suit alleges that Adobe, among other things, hides the existence of an early termination fee when users sign up for the annual subscription plan, revealing the fee only when a subscriber tries to cancel. Adobe's products include Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat Reader and others."During enrollment, Adobe hides material terms ...

AT&T is joining the ranks of wireless carriers jacking up the prices of its older plans. The carrier has begun informing users, including with a support page on its website, that starting with their August bill it plans to raise rates by $10 per month for those with just a single line of service or $20 per month if you have multiple lines. According to the support page, the carrier says that the price increase will "affect most of our older unlimited plans" including: AT&T Unlimited & More PremiumAT&T Unlim ...