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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

My phone isn't spying on me... and yours probably isn't, either

Mark Bridge writes:

“Mobile operators track who you call. In other news, banks know how much money is in your account and utility companies know where you live.”

At the end of a week in which so-called ‘spyware’ on mobile phones had been creating headlines, this tweet from Benedict Evans offered an alternative perspective.

The story started when security researcher Trevor Eckhart pointed out that diagnostic software from Carrier IQ was installed on millions of smartphones and could - theoretically - be used to monitor an individual’s usage. Carrier IQ threatened legal action before withdrawing its threat and apologising.

But what does this mean to customers in the UK?

Very little, it seems.

Some versions of the Apple iPhone may have Carrier IQ installed, although the iOS software appears not to monitor the keyboard, only sends reports to Apple and can be switched off.

Most other reports have been outright denials. HTC says the software is on some US devices but not on any European phones. O2, Orange and Vodafone say they don’t install the software on any UK devices and don’t believe it’s pre-installed on anything they sell. Google says its Android-based Nexus One, Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus handsets aren’t affected. Nokia and BlackBerry say they don’t install or authorise Carrier IQ for their phones.

Yes, there are loopholes in some of those statements - for example, just because RIM doesn’t install an app doesn’t mean that a network doesn’t do it later - but I’d say they were largely reassuring.

Perhaps most importantly - and, as you know, I’m not a lawyer - Carrier IQ appears to be illegal under European law. Again, it’s no guarantee… but I’d say we Brits don’t have too much to worry about.

Well, not when it comes to Carrier IQ, anyway. Now, let’s talk about the Euro…

[More details: BBC News; TechCrunch.com; guardian.co.uk; Forbes.com; TheVerge.com; arstechnica.com]

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