While the US the last few years has been less aggressive with tech firms, the European Union has stepped in aggressively. Techcrunch.com reports that the EU has fined LinkedIn $356 million for tracking ads and privacy breaches. LinkedIn had claimed ‘consent,’ ‘legitimate interests,’ and ‘ contractual necessity,’ based on legal bases for processing peoples’ info…but the Irish Data Protection Commission…under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, wasn’t buying any of it. The complaint against LinkedIn originated in France in 2018. The EU has given them 90 days to bring their EU operations into compliance. LinkedIn said in a statement that while they believed they were in compliance all along, they will work to make sure they are under this new ruling by the deadline.

Apple Intelligence features are going to be out to a lot of folks imminently…although you have to sign up and go on a waitlist after the final version of iOS with the features drops next week. Apple has been getting some heat from users of the beta over their photo editing tools not being as good as Android’s. Now, according to bgr.com, Apple’s head of software, Craig Federighi, has said in an interview that this is by design. He keyed on the Clean Up tool. He noted that while many AI tools try to generate new parts of the photo, Apple has chosen not to. “People view photographic content as something they can rely on as indicative of reality,” Federighi said. “It’s important to us that we help purvey accurate information, not fantasy.” 

There is all kinds of software and hardware to track people in the world today. Here’s a scary one…it is a tool law enforcement agencies now have called Locate X. Mashable.com says the software, from data surveillance company Babel Street, has ben known since 2020. What’s new is that police agencies in states like Alabama…which has completely outlawed abortion… have been able to track women traveling out of state for abortions. One tracked a woman from her home to a big box retailer, then to church, and finally to an abortion clinic in Florida…where the software indicated she stayed for 2 hours, before returning to her Alabama residence. A word to the wise to any woman in  a state where the procedure is outlawed now…turn off your phone, or take a burner phone with you out of state. 

Yes, you have to take things Elon Musk promises with a grain of salt…or sometimes, an entire salt mine. With that disclaimer, I turn to engadget.com’s story that Tesla has said in its 3rd quarter disclosure report that it is making preparations for ‘more affordable models,’ ‘its lowest level ever’ at $35,100. Tesla goes on to say they will start production in the first half of 2025, and that “These vehicles will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.” Tesla did have a decent 3rd quarter, finally ending a 4 quarter streak of missed earnings targets.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.