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Can Facebook really apply the EU's data-privacy rules worldwide?
During his testimony in front of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Facebook would adopt the European Union's General Data Protection Rules (GDPR) as its privacy standard moving forward. This marks an evolution in Zuckerberg's position on the issue, having told Reuters earlier this month that he only agreed "in spirit" with the laws. If Zuckerberg follows through with this promise, it could have a significant impact on Facebook users around the world.
NASA to launch Hubble space telescope successor in 2018, will clean its room later
You know you're going to miss the Hubble Space Telescope once ceases operation and they let it simply burn up in orbit. But don't cry, dry your eye, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced plans to put its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, in orbit in 2018. The telescope, which will be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble, faced being cut completely by a Congressional subcommittee earlier this year as a result of budget constraints given its $8.8 billion price tag. After much Capital Hill grilling over the project being billions over budget, NASA has moved is scheduled launch -- initially set for 2013 -- to October of 2018. Although not the best news, it'll still get up there and you can hug your Hubble plushie tightly tonight knowing distant worlds will be that much closer.
Sony responds to Congress: all 77 million PSN accounts compromised, finger pointed at Anonymous
We've heard Sony explain itself at length regarding the gigantic PlayStation Network breach, but this might be the most useful version of the story yet -- it's the one that Sony's Kaz Hirai is forwarding to US Congress members concerned about your personal information. The official PlayStation.Blog has the full English document up on Flickr for your perusal, and we'll warn you it's much the same tale -- Sony says all 77 million PSN and Qriocity accounts have had information stolen, but the company's still not sure exactly which pieces have gone missing, whether credit card numbers are compromised or not, or who could be behind the hack. Sony does say, however, that it had 12.3 million credit card numbers on file, and 5.6 million of them from the US, and that investigators found a file on one of the servers named "Anonymous" with the words "We are Legion" inside it. Hard to draw many conclusions from that. Update: Anonymous has apparently responded saying it "has never been known to have engaged in credit card theft."
