European Data Act: Unlocking the potential of industrial data

The European Commission has recently welcomed the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the European Data Act.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said: “This is a significant milestone in the journey towards a single market for data. The Data Act will optimise data use by improving data accessibility for individuals and businesses. This is very good news for our digital...

29 June 2023 | Enterprise

DoJ charges former Apple engineer with stealing autonomous car secrets

A former Apple engineer has been charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for stealing trade secrets relating to autonomous cars.

The indictment was unsealed by a federal court in California, revealing the case as part of a broader crackdown on efforts by hostile nation-states to illicitly acquire sensitive US technology for their own purposes.

The accused individual, Weibao Wang, was hired by Apple in 2016 as a software engineer for their autonomous driving project...

17 May 2023 | Connected Vehicles

UK introduces PSTI bill to protect IoT devices

The UK has introduced the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) bill which promises to protect IoT devices.

Many “smart” devices fail to live up to their name when it comes to security. As manufacturers seek to keep pace with the demand for IoT devices, security is too often an afterthought.

Julia Lopez, Minister for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure, said:

“Every day hackers attempt to break into people’s smart devices....

25 November 2021 | Consumer IoT & Wearables

Self-driving vehicles to become legal in the UK this year

Self-driving vehicles will become legal on the UK’s roads later this year, albeit with some initial restrictions.

The Department for Transport (DfT) will allow the use of autonomous driving modes which stick to a single lane with a 37mph (60km/h) speed limit.

Drivers won’t have to keep their hands on the wheel but will have to remain alert to retake control if required. Unfortunately, that means you can’t binge-watch the latest series or play your favourite game on...

28 April 2021 | Connected Vehicles

UK proposal gives autonomous car backup drivers accident immunity window

A proposal from the UK’s Law Commission suggests giving backup drivers of autonomous vehicles a window of immunity for potential accidents.

Despite rigorous testing, it’s almost guaranteed that some accidents will occur with self-driving cars⁠—especially with early deployments.

“Even the best designed AVs, which reduce the overall number of accidents, may still cause collisions.” explains the Law Commission.

“The main aim of the Law Commissions is...

21 December 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Proposition 22 was the big vote this week for Uber and Lyft

All eyes are on the presidential election, but the big vote for Uber and Lyft this week was on Proposition 22 in California.

Proposition 22 exempts gig companies from AB5, a labour law passed in 2019 which extended employee protections to gig workers like Uber and Lyft drivers.

Voters in California passed the law with around 58% of ballots in favour after intense campaign efforts from not just the ridesharing giants but also companies like Instacart and DoorDash which...

4 November 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Uber and Lyft lose appeal to avoid classifying drivers as employees

Uber and Lyft have been ordered to classify their drivers as employees by a Californian court after losing an appeal.

The ride-hailing giants classify their drivers as contractors which means they can avoid giving many of the usual rights and benefits afforded to employees. Uber and Lyft argue most drivers prefer the flexibility of so-called gig economy work.

Most groups representing drivers for the companies appear to be in favour of them being classed as employees....

23 October 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Ex-Google engineer sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing autonomous car secrets

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing autonomous car secrets.

Levandowski was employed by Google’s self-driving car division Waymo when he transferred over 14,000 secret files to his laptop before leaving the company.

The stolen files were taken to Uber, where Levandowski led the firm’s own robotaxi project. US District Judge William Alsup called Levandowski’s actions the "biggest trade secret crime I have...

5 August 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Uber hit with lawsuit to reveal how its algorithm works

Uber has been hit with a lawsuit by two British drivers in a bid to reveal how the company’s algorithm works.

The headquarters for Uber in Europe is in Amsterdam, so the drivers have taken their case to a Dutch court.

Uber’s drivers want to know what data is being collected about them – and how it’s being used. The drivers are concerned that Uber’s algorithm isn’t entirely neutral in how it decides who to allocate rides to.

"They want to prove that...

20 July 2020 | AI