Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has called for punitive fines of up to 10 percent of company sales for repeated and serious data breaches, as public anger grows over large-scale leaks.
The government is seeking swift legislation to impose stronger sanctions on firms that fail to safeguard personal data, reflecting President Lee Jae Myung’s stance that violations require firm penalties instead of lenient warnings.
Kim said corporate responses to recent breaches had fallen far short of public expectations and stressed that companies must take full responsibility for protecting customer information.
Under the proposed framework, affected individuals would receive clearer notifications that include guidance on their rights to seek damages.
The government of South Korea also plans to strengthen investigative powers through coercive fines for noncompliance, while pursuing rapid reforms aimed at preventing further harm.
The tougher line follows a series of major incidents, including a leak at Shinhan Card that affected around 190,000 merchant records and a large-scale breach at Coupang that exposed the data of 33.7 million users.
Officials have described the Coupang breach as a serious social crisis that has eroded public trust.
Authorities have launched an interagency task force to identify responsibility and ensure tighter data protection across South Korea’s digital economy instead of relying on voluntary company action.
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UNCTAD has launched the first global database to consolidate national estimates of e‑commerce value, aiming to provide clearer insights and highlight major gaps in digital economy data.
The announcement was made during the sixth meeting of the UN Trade and Development Working Group on Measuring E-commerce, with representatives from 42 countries participating.
E-commerce and digitally delivered services are among the fastest-growing sectors of the global economy, yet most countries lack robust statistics to capture online transactions, cross-border trade, and social-media-based commerce.
Experts warned that inadequate data hinders policymaking, masks inequalities in digital access, and limits the benefits of digital transformation.
The working group recommended a 2026 review of indicators, including AI, platform business models, remote work, and fully digital services. Guidelines will be promoted via expanded capacity-building programmes, supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Cooperation between governments, the private sector, and international organisations is vital for consistent global measurement and to avoid duplication.
Experts called for technology-neutral, comparable frameworks and innovative tools, such as payment records and data mining, to improve global e‑commerce measurement.
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Teenagers account for most of the serious threats reported against supermarket staff across South Island stores, according to a privacy report released on Foodstuffs South Island’s facial recognition trial.
The company is testing the technology in three Christchurch supermarkets to identify only adult repeat offenders, rather than minors, even though six out of the ten worst offenders are under eighteen.
A system that creates a biometric template of every shopper at the trial stores and deletes it if there is no match with a watchlist. Detections remain stored within the Auror platform for seven years, while personal images are deleted on the same day.
The technology is supplied by the Australian firm Vix Vizion, in collaboration with Auror, which is already known for its vehicle plate recognition systems.
Foodstuffs argues the trial is justified by rising threatening and violent behaviour towards staff across all age groups.
A previous North Island pilot scanned 226 million faces and generated more than 1700 alerts, leading the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand to conclude that strong safeguards could reduce privacy intrusion to an acceptable level.
The watchlist only includes adults previously involved in violence or serious threats, and any matches undergo human checks before action is taken.
Foodstuffs continues to provide regular updates to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as the South Island trial proceeds.
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Splat is a new mobile app from the team behind Retro that uses generative AI to transform personal photos into colouring pages designed for children. The app targets parents seeking creative activities, free from advertising clutter and pay-per-page websites.
Users can upload images from their camera roll or select from curated educational categories, then apply styles such as cartoon, anime or comic.
Parents guide the initial setup through simple preferences instead of a lengthy account creation process, while children can colour either on-screen or on printed pages.
Splat operates on a subscription basis, offering weekly or annual plans that limit the number of generated pages. Access to payments and settings is restricted behind parental verification, helping prevent accidental purchases by younger users.
The app reflects a broader trend in applying generative AI to child-friendly creativity tools. By focusing on ease of use and offline activities, Splat positions itself as an alternative to screen-heavy entertainment while encouraging imaginative play.
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Florida lawmakers are preparing a sweeping AI Bill of Rights as political debates intensify. Senator Tom Leek introduced a proposal to provide residents with clearer safeguards while regulating how firms utilise advanced systems across the state.
The plan outlines parental control over minors’ interactions with AI and requires disclosure when people engage with automated systems. It also sets boundaries on political advertising created with AI and restricts state contracts with suppliers linked to countries of concern.
Governor Ron DeSantis maintains Florida can advance its agenda despite federal attempts to curb state-level AI rules. He argues the state has the authority to defend consumers while managing the rising costs of new data centre developments.
Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about young users forming harmful online bonds with AI companions, prompting calls for stronger protections. The legislation now forms part of a broader clash over online safety, privacy rights and fast-growing AI industries.
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ChatGPT has introduced a new feature, ‘Your Year with ChatGPT,’ allowing users to review their interactions with the AI over the past 12 months. The optional summary highlights high-level themes from conversations and provides usage statistics.
The feature is gradually rolling out to Free, Plus, and Pro users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Users must have Memory and Reference Chat History enabled and meet a minimum activity threshold to access the review.
Those with limited activity will only see basic statistics.
Available anytime via the prompt ‘Your Year with ChatGPT’, the review reflects on how individual usage evolved throughout 2025. ChatGPT emphasises that the experience is designed to provide insights for frequent users, with access varying by account type, region, and language.
The new feature allows AI enthusiasts to reflect on their engagement over the year and gain a personalised snapshot of their interactions, encouraging a fresh look at how ChatGPT has been integrated into daily use.
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Apple has been fined €98 million by Italy’s competition authority after regulators concluded that its App Tracking Transparency framework distorted competition in the app store market.
Authorities stated that the policy strengthened Apple’s dominant position while limiting how third-party developers collect advertising data.
The investigation found that developers were required to request consent multiple times for the same data processing purposes, creating friction that disproportionately affected competitors.
Regulators in Italy argued that equivalent privacy protections could have been achieved through a single consent mechanism instead of duplicated prompts.
According to the Italian authority, the rules were imposed unilaterally across the App Store ecosystem and harmed commercial partners reliant on targeted advertising. The watchdog also questioned whether the policy was proportionate from a data protection perspective under the EU law.
Apple rejected the findings and confirmed plans to appeal, stating that App Tracking Transparency prioritises user privacy over the interests of ad technology firms.
The decision follows similar penalties and warnings issued in France and Germany, reinforcing broader European scrutiny of platform governance.
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Almost 3.5 million students, staff and suppliers linked to the University of Phoenix have been affected by a data breach tied to a sophisticated cyber extortion campaign. The incident followed unauthorised access to internal systems, exposing highly sensitive personal and financial information.
Investigations indicate attackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Oracle E-Business Suite, a widely used enterprise financial application. The breach surfaced publicly after the Clop ransomware group listed the university on its leak site, prompting internal reviews and regulatory disclosures.
Compromised data includes names, contact details, dates of birth, social security numbers and banking information. University officials have confirmed that affected individuals are being notified, while filings with US regulators outline the scale and nature of the incident.
The attack forms part of a broader wave of intrusions targeting American universities and organisations using Oracle platforms. As authorities offer rewards for intelligence on Clop’s operations, the breach highlights growing risks facing educational institutions operating complex digital infrastructures.
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France’s national postal service, La Poste, suffered a cyber incident days before Christmas that disrupted websites, mobile applications and parts of its delivery network.
The organisation confirmed a distributed denial of service attack temporarily knocked key digital systems offline, slowing parcel distribution during the busiest period of the year.
A disruption that also affected La Banque Postale, with customers reporting limited access to online banking and mobile services. Card payments in stores, ATM withdrawals, and authenticated online payments continued to function, easing concerns over wider financial instability.
La Poste stated there was no evidence of customer data exposure, although several post offices in France operated at reduced capacity. Staff were deployed to restore services while maintaining in-person banking and postal transactions where possible.
The incident added to growing anxiety over digital resilience in critical public services, particularly following a separate data breach disclosed at France’s Interior Ministry last week. Authorities have yet to identify those responsible for the attack on La Poste.
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Generative AI is increasingly being weaponised to harass women in public roles, according to a new report commissioned by UN Women. Journalists, activists, and human rights defenders face AI-assisted abuse that endangers personal safety and democratic freedoms.
The study surveyed 641 women from 119 countries and found that nearly one in four of those experiencing online violence reported AI-generated or amplified abuse.
Writers, communicators, and influencers reported the highest exposure, with human rights defenders and journalists also at significant risk. Rapidly developing AI tools, including deepfakes, facilitate the creation to harmful content that spreads quickly on social media.
Online attacks often escalate into offline harm, with 41% of women linking online abuse to physical harassment, stalking, or intimidation. Female journalists are particularly affected, with offline attacks more than doubling over five years.
Experts warn that such violence threatens freedom of expression and democratic processes, particularly in authoritarian contexts.
Researchers call for urgent legal frameworks, platform accountability, and technological safeguards to prevent AI-assisted attacks on women. They advocate for human rights-focused AI design and stronger support systems to protect women in public life.
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