Google moves to make android apps more private
Google unveiled new privacy limitations on Wednesday that will reduce monitoring across apps on its Android devices, following Apple’s move last year that upended multiple companies’ advertising methods. Google said it’s working on new privacy-focused alternatives to its advertising ID, a unique string of characters that identifies a user’s device. Ad-tech companies frequently use digital IDs in smartphones to track and share information about customers.
The changes may have an impact on large corporations that rely on user tracking across apps, such as Facebook parent company Meta. It meant Meta was impacted particularly hard by Apple’s changes. Apple’s privacy reforms, according to Meta, will reduce the social network company’s sales by nearly $10 billion this year. That announcement contributed to the company’s market valuation dropping by $232 billion in a single day, eventually falling below $600 billion. Meta had a capitalization of over $1 trillion in June of last year. Google has stated that it will continue to maintain current identifiers for the next two years, giving other companies time to make modifications.
Facebook and other corporations criticized Apple for introducing its App Tracking Transparency feature, which limits advertisers’ access to an iPhone user identifier and so limits targeting options. Users were given a pop-up message with that change that allowed them to ban apps from tracking their data for advertising purposes. In contrast to Apple, Google is reliant on advertising revenue. Google’s efforts to provide alternatives to third-party treats on its Chrome software have not been without problems.
“Apps for mobile devices have become an integral part of our daily life. Currently, over 90% of Google Play applications are free, allowing billions of consumers to access great content and services. Digital advertising plays a key role in making this possible,” Google said in its blog post.”
As politicians and customers become more aware and worried about their data, focusing on privacy policies might help the internet giant stay ahead of regulatory difficulties. Google also stated that it will seek feedback from developers, regulators, and privacy activists on its improvements.
Sources: BBC, Forbes News
After Effects of Storm Eunice.
Eunice is the fifth storm of the season. A weather phenomenon, such as a storm, is given a name by the Met Office when it will have medium or high impacts or the potential to cause an amber or red alert, as Eunice did. Eunice is the second storm in a week to hit the UK after Storm Dudley battered parts of Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.
Eunice, according to the UK meteorological service, is strikingly similar to the “Great Storm” of 1987, which caused havoc with hurricane-force winds and killed 22 people throughout the United Kingdom and France in October of that year. Both have a “sting jet,” a short, narrow airstream that forms inside a storm and produces strong winds over a radius of fewer than 100 kilometers. Sting jets, identified in 2003, have a lifespan of one to twelve hours. They’re hard to predict and generally uncommon, yet they make storms more deadly.
Storm Eunice brought damage, disruption, and potentially record-breaking gusts of wind to the UK and Ireland. Eunice resulted in both injuries and fatalities. On Friday afternoon in Haringey, north London, a lady in her 30s was killed when a tree fell on her car. A man in his fifties died in Liverpool after debris struck his vehicle. Outside of the United Kingdom, Eunice had a significant impact on Ireland. Due to the wind, many homes were without power on Friday night, and the transportation network was seriously impacted. As well as disrupting power supply and travel, Eunice also damaged buildings.
High winds have also resulted in hundreds of school closures over most of Wales and parts of England, the closing of the two Severn bridges between England and Wales, and the shutdown of the Humber Bridge, near Hull, for the fourth time in 40 years.
According to Cerium, more than 400 flights from or within the UK were canceled. Train services in Wales were also halted. Several routes were blocked by fallen trees. Ferry services were canceled. Shipping has been stopped temporarily.On Saturday, the Met Office has issued a less-severe yellow wind warning for parts of England’s and Wales’ south coasts, stating that it “may impair recovery operations from Storm Eunice.”
Sources: BBC, The Guardian.
A Wedding boom is expected in 2022
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has failed to put a damper on wedding celebrations. According to The Wedding Report, a market research agency, there will be 2.5 million marriages in the United States in 2022, the largest number since 1984. These folks will spend an average of $24,500 on them. According to a poll of 2,229 consumers and 283 companies, 20% of marriages scheduled for 2021 were rescheduled til 2022.
Back-to-back weddings, a full calendar of appointments, and a never-ending stream of brides. In 2022, the wedding industry is anticipating one of its busiest years ever. It follows nearly two years of uncertainty for couples planning to marry during the outbreak. While the virus shows no signs of alleviating anytime soon, the easing of restrictions has given grooms and brides the confidence to arrange their ideal weddings once more.
During the pandemic, some women had to postpone their weddings three or four times, according to Y.A.P Bridal, which launched a second studio, Sisters of Grace, on Shakespeare Street in April 2021. As a result, it is now juggling those first appointments with brides who have only recently begun their search for a new gown. January has already been a busy month for both stores, and brides may expect to wait five to six weeks for weekend appointments. Weekday appointments are also more popular than normal, as many want to get started on their plans as soon as possible. “This year and next year will be massive for the wedding industry,”the company said.
The most popular wedding venues in Newcastle are experiencing a rise in inquiries from couples planning to marry in the coming months. The energy and buzz in the business have returned this year, according to The County Hotel and The Vermont Hotel. Jamie Hunter, the head of weddings, is anticipating a busy summer filled with back-to-back weddings.
According to the poll, many firms claim that the second half of the year is their busiest. Inflation has raised the costs of many weddings, with 15% of couples reporting that they are still lowering their budgets by as much as 28%. Inflation in the United States reached its highest level in almost 40 years last month, with a 7% increase over the previous year. According to the analysis, things should begin to normalize around 2023, with the number of weddings and expenditure returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Belgium allows four-day work week
Belgium’s government has granted workers the right to a four-day workweek as part of its efforts to increase workplace flexibility in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Belgians will be allowed to work four days a week and have a three-day weekend without losing income, according to economic reforms agreed within the governing coalition on Tuesday. Workers will also be able to ignore their employers and work emails after working hours, due to a change in the country’s labor regulations.
Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said the aim of the labour market reforms, including new rules on night-working, was to create a more dynamic and productive economy. “If you compare our country with others, you’ll often see we’re far less dynamic. After two difficult years, the labor market has evolved. With this agreement, we are setting the benchmarks for a good economy,” he said.
After Iceland’s four-day workweek trial from 2015 to 2019 was declared a success, Belgium is the latest country to announce a labor revamp. Currently, 86 percent of the country’s workforce works a four-day workweek. Spain, Scotland, and Japan have all stated that they want to experiment with four-day workweeks.
If employees want to vary their working hours from week to week, they can request it and expect a reasoned response from their employers. Employees who work irregular hours will be asked to know their schedule seven days in advance. However, under the new labor regulations, instead of the present 8 p.m. cut-off, a night-work rate of pay will be in effect only after midnight. Under a new approach to self-employment based in part on European Commission instructions on so-called platform or gig work, Deliveroo couriers or Uber drivers will be awarded employee rights more rapidly.