The UK Home Office has cited the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) to justify its claim it has a right to back-door access to the encrypted data of Apple users worldwide. This, which Privacy International has called an “unprecedented attack” that would set a “damaging precedent,” is similar to previous requests for back door access other governments have made and that Apple has refused.
Meanwhile, Jamie from our Department of the Obvious, shares a pair of studies about GenAI. The first, from SEO agency HigherVisibility, finds that people use GenAI search for complex questions and conventional search for simple ones. The second, from academics funded by Microsoft, finds that people with more trust in AI put less effort into checking its results and worries extensive AI use may result in the loss of skills needed to work without it.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has run roughshod over protections intended to protect the privacy of US citizens, has prompted a class action by union groups representing 7.2 million people. The lawsuit brought against the US Treasury Department for providing social security numbers, tax and bank information, alleges Musk’s team data access violated the US Privacy Act.
With CDP vendors increasing their workforces by 3.4% in six months, compared with an average of 0.2% each six months over the prior two years, the sector seems to be growing again, according to our own semi-annual industry update. There is much talk of composable CDPs but they still employ no more than 5% of the sector workforce. What is a clear trend is the acquisition of independent CDPs by vendors interested in adding a CDP to a larger system (usually an activation system).