CVS, Walgreens Look For Big Data Reward From Covid-19 Vaccinations

Thelasko shares a report from The Wall Street Journal: Administering Covid-19 vaccines comes with a valuable perk for retail pharmacies: access to troves of consumer data. Chains such as CVS Health Corp., Walmart Inc. and Walgreens-Boots Alliance, Inc. are collecting data from millions of customers as they sign up for shots, enrolling them in patient systems and having recipients register customer…

Microsoft’s Dream of Decentralized IDs Enters the Real World

For years, tech companies have touted blockchain technology as a means to develop identity systems that are secure and decentralized. The goal is to build a platform that could store information about official data without holding the actual documents or details themselves. Instead of just storing a scan of your birth certificate, for example, a decentralized ID platform might store a…

Boston Dynamics Is Selling its 70-Pound Robot Dog To Police Departments

The New York Times reports on what the city’s police department calls Digidog, “a 70-pound robotic dog with a loping gait, cameras and lights affixed to its frame, and a two-way communication system that allows the officer maneuvering it remotely to see and hear what is happening.”
Police said the robot can see in the dark and assess how safe it is…

Apple is Trying To Drag Valve Into its Ongoing Legal Battle with Epic Games, and Valve Wants Nothing To Do With It

A new court filing has revealed that, as part of the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, Apple subpoenaed Valve Software in November 2020, demanding it provide huge amounts of commercial data about Steam sales and operations going over multiple years. From a report: Apple subpoenaed Valve under the basic argument that certain Steam information would be crucial to…

How the NSA-led US Cyber Command Wishes You a Happy Valentine’s Day

Slashdot reader DevNull127 writes: The U.S. Cyber Command, headed by the National Security Agency’s director, has been a part of America’s Department of Defense since 2009. Today this unified combatant command wished its followers on Twitter a happy Valentine’s Day, adding “As our gift to you, we present 12 crypto challenges designed by the information security community. “Love is in the…

CD Projekt Red Hackers Reportedly Sold the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Source Code

The hackers behind this week’s ransomware attack on Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red appear to have found a buyer for the stolen data. Engadget reports: They ran an auction on a hacking forum but, as The Verge notes, they shut it down after reportedly accepting an offer from elsewhere. The starting price for the auction was said to be $1…

Man To Pay $34,000 Damages Over Negative TrustPilot Review

A man who left a negative review of a legal firm on the TrustPilot website has been ordered to pay $34,000 in libel damages. The BBC reports: Philip James Waymouth engaged London law firm Summerfield Browne online to provide advice but was unsatisfied with the service he received. He then left a review accusing the firm of being “another scam solicitor,”…

Intel Sues Oregon Engineer Who Left For Microsoft, Allegedly Taking Trade Secrets With Him

Intel sued a former Oregon employee last week, alleging he took trade secrets with him when he bolted for Microsoft and used the information to gain an advantage in subsequent business negotiations with Intel. From a report: The engineer, Varun Gupta, worked for Intel for a decade before leaving for Microsoft in January 2020, according to the suit. He allegedly loaded…

Amazon is Using AI-Equipped Cameras in Delivery Vans

Amazon drivers at some U.S. facilities will soon have an extra set of eyes watching them when they hit the road to make their daily deliveries. From a report: The company recently began testing AI-equipped cameras in vehicles to monitor contracted delivery drivers while they’re on the job, with the aim of improving safety. Amazon has deployed the cameras in Amazon-branded…