Netherlands
Latest
Apple tweaks third-party dating app payment rules to comply with Dutch regulator's order
But it still disagrees with the regulator and is appealing the use of third-party payment systems.
Apple reportedly hasn’t complied with a Dutch order to open app payment options
The company reportedly has yet to adhere to an Authority for Consumers and Markets order in a way that satisfies the regulator.
Apple will let dating apps in the Netherlands offer third-party payments
Apple will let dating apps like Tinder offer alternative payment options in the Netherlands after a regulator ordered it to make the change.
Dutch politicians were tricked by a deepfake video chat
Dutch parliament members were fooled into holding a video call with a deepfake impostor pretending to be Alexei Navalny's chief of staff.
Prosecutors say Trump's Twitter was 'hacked' through simple password guess
Dutch prosecutors say a man really did 'hack' Donald Trump's Twitter account by guessing the password.
Anti-5G cell tower attacks spread to the Netherlands
Unsupported fears over 5G's health effects have led to attacks against Dutch cell sites.
Facebook just lost its last fact-checker in the Netherlands
Facebook is all about the fact-checking, except of course when it allows politicians to lie and, you know, affect the course of democracy. That was made clear in the Netherlands, where a newspaper called Nu.nl just quit as Facebook's fact-checking partner in the Netherlands. "What is the point of fighting fake news if you are not allowed to tackle politicians?" NU.nl's editor-in-chief Gert-Jaap Hoekman asked in a blog post. "Let one thing be clear: we stand behind the content of our fact checks."
Germany and the Netherlands form a joint military network
Networking on the battlefield won't just be limited to communication between units for one country. Germany and the Netherlands have created a joint military network, TEN (Tactical Edge Networking), that helps soldiers from the two countries coordinate their operations. They'll even share computers, radios, telephones and other equipment. TEN will initially link Germany's land operations with the Netherlands' tactical communications program.
Outage in Netherlands knocks out emergency services for hours
The Dutch were given a frightening lesson about society's reliance on technology. A major telecommunications outage knocked Netherland's version of 911 offline for a few hours on Monday, reported Reuters. The outage originated on Royal KPN's network and impacted both landlines and mobile phones. It's unclear what caused the event, though KPN has ruled out a security breach. The network went offline at around 3:45 pm in the Netherlands, and was restored roughly four hours later. Public officials immediately flocked to social media to warn Dutch residents of the outage. In case an emergency hit, people were instructed to go to the nearest hospital or fire station directly rather than call a dispatch operator. Temporary mobile phone numbers were soon given out for emergency services. Police could even be reached by email or Whatsapp. Other emergency services in the country asked residents to reach out to them on Twitter or Facebook.
The Netherlands places missing child alerts on ATMs
The Netherlands will be the first country in the world to display Amber alerts on ATMs when a child is reported missing. The initiative, which went into effect last week, will display the photos of missing children as the screensaver on more than 300 ATMs across the country. To start, the alerts will be displayed on machines located in airports and shopping centers, but the country's authorities plan to expand the service to other ATMs over time.
Botched update crashes hundreds of Netherlands police ankle monitors
Mangled software updates are a headache for everyday users, but they created serious trouble for Dutch law enforcement in recent days. Officials have revealed that a software update created a "disruption" for hundreds of ankle monitors used to track bail releases and house arrests, leaving police without a way to locate suspects and criminals. The issue was fixed hours after it began on May 9th, but it lasted long enough that officers had to check in with wearers and even preemptively arrest some of them to ensure they stayed put.
The FTC will hold a public workshop on loot boxes in August
The Federal Trade Commission pledged in November to investigate loot boxes, and it's set out the timeline for the first steps in the process. It will hold a public workshop on August 7th to look into consumer protection issues linked with them.
After Math: Hope for the Holidays
While Christmas decorations have already been festooned throughout big box retailers since the start of November, the holiday season is finally in full swing now that Thanksgiving is over. As such, industry and government both are gearing up to celebrate the reason for the season: capitalism.
Dutch court rejects man’s attempt to change legal age for Tinder
Last month, Emile Ratelband, a motivational speaker from the Netherlands, asked a Dutch court for a legal age change. His argument was that while he was technically 69 years old, he felt 20 years younger, and that age difference was hurting him both in his work life and on Tinder. But the court has now issued its ruling, and Ratelband will have to remain 69 in the eyes of the law.
Federal Trade Commission agrees to investigate loot boxes
The Federal Trade Commission has agreed to investigate loot boxes in games, along with their impact on kids. The agency's commissioners committed to the probe after Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) raised the issue at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee hearing. Loot boxes offer players in-game items, but because you can often buy them with real money and the virtual goods within are awarded at random, some claim they're tantamount to gambling.
After Math: They're on the move
With the president's made up migrant caravan crisis having mysteriously vanished now that the midterms are over, it's time to take a look at the other movers and shakers from the industry this week. Volkswagen announced the development of a $23k Tesla rival, China has developed security cameras can now ID people by their gait, and Google's built a computer model to guess which restaurants will give you the runs.
Dutch man hopes legal age change will get him more Tinder matches
People have surely resorted to some interesting tactics in order to score a date on Tinder, but Emile Ratelband, a motivational speaker from the Netherlands, is taking a peculiar route. Ratelband claims that though he is 69 years old, he feels 20 years younger, and his actual age is making it difficult for him to find matches on the dating app. So now he has filed a lawsuit to get his age legally changed. "When I'm 69, I am limited," Ratelband said. "If I'm 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work. When I'm on Tinder and it says I'm 69, I don't get an answer. When I'm 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position."
Kaspersky to move to Switzerland following latest government ban
Things are going from bad to worse for Kaspersky Labs, the Russian anti-virus software developer. The Dutch government says it's planning to phase out the use of the software "as a precautionary measure", and is proactively suggesting other companies do the same.
Dutch police seize revenge porn site Anon-IB
Dutch police have seized revenge porn site Anon-IB, Motherboard reports. The site currently redirects to a Dutch police force website with an image stating, "Cybercrime teams from the Dutch police have seized the Anon-IB forum in an ongoing investigation concerning criminal offenses. More information concerning this investigation will be made available on April 26, 2018 on www.politie.nl." A spokesperson for Politie -- the Dutch police force -- told Motherboard that no Anon-IB administrators had been arrested yet but some users of the site had been brought in.
Police take down the world's largest DDoS-for-hire service
The internet might be slightly safer against distributed denial of service attacks in the near future... slightly. Police in twelve countries have taken down WebStresser, believed to be the world's largest service for paid DDoS attacks. The joint campaign (Operation Power Off) seized WebStresser's infrastructure in the US, UK and the Netherlands, and busted site administrators ranging as far as Australia and Hong Kong.
