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Technology 30 November 2020

The Week in Internet News: New York City Sued for Homework Gap

Grant Gross
By Grant GrossGuest AuthorTechnology Reporter

A virtual gap: Homeless advocates and legal groups have sued New York City for a lack of reliable Internet access in the city’s 27 homeless shelters, Reuters on WTVBam.com reports. Thousands of students living in the homeless shelters are struggling to keep up with virtual school during the COVID-19 pandemic, the plaintiffs say. The city has promised to install WiFi service in the shelters. New York City recently returned to virtual school after COVID-19 rates ticked up.

Repair it yourself: The European Parliament has voted to make it easier to repair electronic devices outside of the company that sold them, Euronews.com says. The legislation would allow independent repairs without hurting the value of the device during trade in, a move that’s a “major blow” to big device makers.

Device spying: The Singapore-based developer of smartphone application Muslim Pro, targeted at Muslim users, has denied allegations that it is selling the personal data to the U.S. military, The Straits Times reports. Developer Bitsmedia says it is immediately ending relationships with its data partners, however. Vice.com recently reported that the app was among several selling personal data to the U.S. military.

Facebook fined: The South Korean government has fined Facebook about $6 million for sharing the data of 3.3 million users in the country without their consent, ZDNet says. The Korea Personal Information Protection Commission said it would also file a criminal complaint against Facebook for breaking local personal information laws.

Access to the Internet has never been more important. Learn how you can help close the global digital divide.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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