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Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister turned Meta executive, is leaving after a seven-year stint with the social media company. Clegg announced his departure in posts on X and Threads, saying that this is the right time for me to move on from my role as President, Global Affairs at Meta. Clegg will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a longtime policy executive and former White House aide to George W. Bush known for his deep ties to Republican circles in Washington. As Chief Global Affairs Officer, Kaplan as Semafor notes will be well-positioned to run interference for Meta as Donald Trump takes control of the White House. Clegg joined Meta in 2018, a year after the British public deemed the former leader of the Liberal Democrats unelectable. The company then known as Facebook was looking to improve its political relationships after Cambridge Analytica and other scandals. In 2022, he was promoted to President of Global Affairs, a position that reported directly to Mark Zuckerberg (his previous role was overseen by Metas then-COO Sheryl Sandberg). The former politician played a key role in some of Metas most significant and controversial decisions. He publicly defended the companys decision not to apply its fact checking policies to politicians and authored its public statements about the suspension and reinstatement of Donald Trumps Facebook account. More recently, Clegg has criticized the European Unions handling of tech regulation, arguing that the bloc is hampering advancements in AI. My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between big tech and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector, Clegg wrote in a post on Threads. I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe. Clegg said in a Facebook post that he will spend the next few months working with Kaplan and representing the company at a number of international gatherings in Q1 of this year before he formally steps away from the company. He didnt indicate what he may do next.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/nick-clegg-is-leaving-meta-after-7-years-overseeing-its-policy-decisions-204207077.html?src=rss
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Apple has moved to settle a five-year-old class action lawsuit over Siri privacy. Reuters reports that the proposed settlement was filed on Tuesday in Oakland, CA. The company agreed to pay $95 million to class members, estimated to be tens of millions of Siri-enabled device owners. US District Judge Jeffrey White needs to approve the settlement before it becomes official. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2019 report that Apple quality control contractors could regularly hear sensitive info accidentally recorded by the voice assistants Hey Siri feature. The clips were said to include medical information, criminal activities and even sexual encounters. Reuters says Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the case. Engadget reached out to Apple for comment. Well update this story if we hear back. Two plaintiffs claimed their inadvertently recorded mentions of Nike Air Jordans and Olive Garden restaurants led to receiving ads for those products. After talking about it with his doctor, another plaintiff said he got ads for a brand-name surgical treatment. After the original story broke five-plus years ago, Apple highlighted its layers of privacy protections and stressed that the recordings werent tied to Apple accounts. It also said its quality control teams studied the clips in secure facilities and were bound by strict confidentiality agreements. After an internal review, Apple suspended the program and admitted it wasnt fully living up to its ideals. The company returned to reviewing Siri recordings soon after but with some big changes. It reportedly fired hundreds of quality control contractors and changed its policy so that only Apple employees could review private Siri data. It also moved to delete inadvertently triggered audio clips and began requiring users to opt in to sharing Siri recordings or transcripts. Reuters notes that the proposed $95 million in cash amounts to about nine hours of profit for the company. (Nice work if you can get it.) The settlements class period runs from September 17, 2014 when Apple launched Hey Siri in iOS 8 to December 31, 2024. If you owned a Siri-enabled mobile product during that period (and Judge White approves the settlement), you might get up to $20 per device. However, youll have to join the class, and it isnt yet clear how to do that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-agrees-to-settle-a-2019-siri-privacy-lawsuit-for-95-million-195820723.html?src=rss
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Samsung just announced pending US availability for a new smartphone and fitness tracker. The Galaxy A16 5G and Galaxy Fit3 are both modest devices that are just about perfect for the budget-conscious. These gadgets will be available for purchase in the US on January 9, after becoming available in other parts of the world a couple of months back. The Galaxy A16 5G is a step up from its predecessor in nearly every way. This is a very good thing, as the Galaxy A15 5G easily found a spot in our list of the best budget Android phones. The A16 features a thinner design and slimmer bezels, all while including a slightly larger screen. This 6.7 FHD Super AMOLED display boasts 800 nits of peak brightness and a 90Hz refresh rate. It comes equipped with an Exynos 1330 processor, a 5000mAh battery with 25W fast-charging and up to 8GB of RAM. Customers can also choose up to 256GB of internal storage, though it supports microSD cards. As with many modern smartphones, the cameras are the real stars of the show here. Theres a 50MP rear camera, a 5MP ultra-wide, a 2MP macro lens and a 13MP front camera. Thats a pretty good setup for the price, which starts at just $200. The A16 5G will be available in black and light gray. Samsung The Galaxy Fit3 is a fairly bare-bones health tracker thats described as the perfect entryway for anyone seeking to begin their health journey. It offers some decent capabilities, like fall detection and sleep tracking. It even monitors blood oxygen levels, which is something not many trackers do at this price point. The battery life is great, at 13 days, and the IP68 rating means that it should be able to handle being submerged in water, so long as its not taken too deep. The tracker pairs with the Samsung Health app, which allows access to 100 different workout types. The Fit3 costs $60 and comes in a few colors, including gray, silver and gold. These colors apply to both the band and the tracker itself. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsungs-galaxy-a16-5g-phone-and-fit3-tracker-are-coming-the-us-193710051.html?src=rss
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