Meta has announced that it will be passing on Apple’s 30 per cent service charge (often referred to as the “Apple tax”) to advertisers who pay to boost posts on Facebook and Instagram through the iOS app.

This move is a response to Apple’s in-app purchase fees, which apply to digital transactions within apps available on the iOS platform (announced in the updated App Store guidelines back in 2022). Advertisers wanting to avoid the additional 30 per cent fee can do so by opting to boost their posts from the web, using either Facebook.com or Instagram.com via desktop and mobile browsers.

Meta says it is “required to either comply with Apple’s guidelines, or remove boosted posts from our apps” and that, “we do not want to remove the ability to boost posts, as this would hurt small businesses by making the feature less discoverable and potentially deprive them of a valuable way to promote their business.” 

Apple has reportedly responded (a statement in MacRumors), saying that it has “always required that purchases of digital goods and services within apps must use In-App Purchase,” and that because boosting a post “is a digital service — so of course In-App Purchase is required”.

Meta’s introduction of the Apple tax for advertisers on iOS apps highlights the conflict with Apple over digital ad space control and monetisation and this move, aimed at challenging Apple’s app store policies, could make advertising more costly and complicated for small businesses.

Researchers at Northwestern University in the US have created a fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in soil so that it can potentially last forever (or as long as there are soil microbes).

Why? 

As Bill Yen (who led the research) suggests, the value may lie in its ability to supply power to IoT devices and other devices in wild areas where solar panels may not work well and where having to replace batteries may be challenging.

For example, talking about the IoT (on the Northwestern University website) Mr Yen says of the growing number of devices: “If we imagine a future with trillions of these devices, we cannot build every one of them out of lithium, heavy metals and toxins that are dangerous to the environment. We need to find alternatives that can provide low amounts of energy to power a decentralised network of devices.” 

Mr Yen also highlights how, putting a sensor out in the wild (e.g. in a farm or in a wetland), can mean being “constrained to putting a battery in it or harvesting solar energy” and points out that “Solar panels don’t work well in dirty environments because they get covered with dirt, do not work when the sun isn’t out and take up a lot of space.” 

Makes Sense To Use Energy From The Existing Environment

In tests, the revolutionary new fuel cell was used to power sensors measuring soil moisture and detecting touch, a capability that the researchers say could be valuable for situations like tracking passing animals.

To tackle the issues of the limitations of relying on normal batteries or solar panels in unsuitable areas, the researchers concluded that harvesting energy from the existing environment (e.g. energy from the soil that farmers are monitoring anyway) is a practical and sensible option.

How Does The Cell Work? 

After two years of research and 4 different versions, the fuel cell is essentially an updated and improved version of a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), an idea that’s been around since 1911! In essence, an MFC generates electricity using bacteria in the soil in the following way:

– Bacteria in the soil break down organic matter, releasing electrons in the process.

– These electrons travel through a wire from the anode (where bacteria are) to the cathode (another chamber), generating electricity.

– In the cathode, a reaction uses these electrons (plus oxygen and protons) to form water, keeping electrons flowing as long as there’s “food” for bacteria.

The Combination of Ubiquitous Microbes and A Simply Engineered System

Northwestern’s George Wells, a senior author on the study, says the key drivers of the success of the fuel cell design are the fact that it uses microbes that are “ubiquitous; they already live in soil everywhere” and that it has a “very simple engineered systems to capture their electricity”. 

Special Features 

The features that make the MFC made by the researchers at Northwestern University so successful are:

– Its geometry. Rather than using a traditional design where the anode and cathode are parallel to one another, this version leverages a perpendicular design.

– The conductor that captures the microbes’ electrons is made of inexpensive and abundant carbon felt, and the anode (made of an inert, conductive metal) is horizontal to the ground’s surface, with the cathode sitting vertically atop the anode.

– Although the entire device is buried, the vertical design ensures that the top end is flush with the ground’s surface.

– A 3D-printed top prevents debris from falling inside.

– A hole on top and an empty air chamber running alongside the cathode allow consistent airflow.

– With the lower end of the cathode being deep beneath the surface, this ensures that it stays hydrated from the moist, surrounding soil (even if the surface soil is dried out in the sunlight).

– Part of the cathode is coated with waterproofing material to allow it to breathe during a flood and, after a potential flood, the vertical design helps the cathode to dry out gradually rather than all at once.

More Power 

The Northwestern researchers claim that the power produced by their fuel cell can outlast similar technologies by 120 per cent.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

This is an example not just of how an old technology has been re-vamped and supercharged, but also how a relatively simple solution fuelled by nature can be the answer to modern world challenges.

This simple, cheap device, that uses a potentially endless supply of free, natural energy as its power source could be of huge value in areas like precision agriculture to feed the world. For example, farmers wanting to improve crop yields can now have a long-lasting, no-maintenance, natural way to power the sensors/devices needed to measure things like levels of moisture, nutrients, and contaminants in soil. This cell will also free farmers from the task of having to travel around a 100+ acres farm cleaning solar panels or changing batteries. Another major advantage of the product’s design is the fact that some of it can be 3D printed and all the components could be purchased in a hardware shop.

All this means it has a wide potential geographic reach. The fact that there’s already a plan to make the next version from fully biodegradable materials, avoiding using any conflict minerals in its manufacture is also a big environmental plus. In short, this simple, cheap, and highly effective cell could offer opportunities and fuel results that are dramatically greater than the sum of its parts.

If you want to develop a comprehensive guide on your brand’s voice and writing style to ensure consistency across all company communications, you can use ChatGPT to help you. Here’s how:

– Open ChatGPT and input a description of the attributes of your brand’s voice (e.g. professional / friendly / authoritative) and any specific do’ss and don’ts in your communication (e.g. usage of jargon, or tone adjustments for different audiences).

– Ask ChatGPT to compile a set of guidelines that detail how to communicate in your brand’s voice, including examples of appropriate and inappropriate phrases.

– For example, to draft an email in the brand’s voice, , state the purpose of the email and any key information that needs to be included and ask ChatGPT to draft the email based on the provided brand voice summary and content specifics.

– Review the draft, and revise if necessary.

– The brand voice guidelines can be applied in a similar way to all other types of communications you write using ChatGPT.

If you’ve ever been concerned about the privacy aspects of AI, you may be very surprised to learn that conversations you have with Google’s new Gemini AI apps are “retained for up to 3 years” by default.

Up To Three Years 

With Google now launching its Gemini Advanced chatbot as part of its ‘Google One AI Premium plan’ subscription, and with its Ultra, Pro, and Nano LLMs now forming the backbone of its AI services, Google’s Gemini Apps Privacy Hub was updated last week. The main support document on the Hub which states how Google collects data from users of its Gemini chatbot apps for the web, Android and iOS made interesting reading.

One particular section that has been causing concern and has attracted some unwelcome publicity is the “How long is reviewed data retained?” section. This states that “Gemini Apps conversations that have been reviewed by human reviewers…. are not deleted when you delete your Gemini Apps activity because they are kept separately and are not connected to your Google Account. Instead, they are retained for up to 3 years”. Google clarifies this in its feedback at the foot of the support page saying, “Reviewed feedback, associated conversations, and related data are retained for up to 3 years, disconnected from your Google Account”. It may be of some comfort to know, therefore, that the conversations aren’t linked to an identifier Google account.

Why Human Reviewers? 

Google says its “trained” human reviewers check conversations to see if Gemini Apps’ responses are “low-quality, inaccurate, or harmful” and that “trained evaluators” can “suggest higher-quality responses”. This oversight can then be used “create a better dataset” for Google’s generative machine-learning models to learn from so its “models can produce improved responses in the future.” Google’s point is that human reviewers ensure a kind of quality control both in responses and how and what the models learn in order to make Google’s Gemini-based apps “safer, more helpful, and work better for all users.” Google also makes the point that the human reviewers may also be required by law (in some cases).

That said, some users may be alarmed that their private conversations are being looked at by unknown humans. Google’s answer to that is the advice: “Don’t enter anything you wouldn’t want a human reviewer to see or Google to use” and “don’t enter info you consider confidential or data you don’t want to be used to improve Google products, services, and machine-learning technologies.” 

Why Retain Conversations For 3 Years? 

Apart from improving performance and quality, other reasons why Google may retain data for years could include:

– The retained conversations act as a valuable dataset for machine learning models, thereby helping with continuous improvement of the AI’s understanding, language processing abilities, and response generation, ensuring that the chatbot becomes more efficient and effective in handling a wide range of queries over time. For services using AI chatbots as part of their customer support, retained conversations could allow for the review of customer interactions which could help in assessing the quality of support provided, understanding customer needs and trends, and identifying areas for service improvement.

– Depending on the jurisdiction and the industry, there may be legal requirements to retain communication records for a certain period, i.e. compliance and being able to settle disputes.

– To help monitor for (and prevent) abusive behaviour, and to detect potential security threats.

– Research and development to help advance the field of AI, natural language processing, and machine learning, which could contribute to innovations, more sophisticated AI models, and better overall technology offerings.

Switching off Gemini Apps Activity 

Google does say, however, that users can control what’s shared with reviewers by turning off Gemini Apps Activity. This will mean that any future conversations won’t be sent for human review or used to improve its generative machine-learning models, although conversations will be saved with the account for up to 72 hours (to allow Google to provide the service and process any feedback).

Also, even if you turn off the setting or delete your Gemini Apps activity, other settings including Web & App Activity or Location History “may continue to save location and other data as part of your use of other Google services.”

There’s also the complication that Gemini Apps is integrated and used with other Google services (which Gemini Advanced – formerly Bard, has been designed for integration), and “they will save and use your data” (as outlined by their policies and Google’s overall Privacy Policy).

In other words, there is a way you can turn it off but just how fully turned off that may be is not clear due to links and integration with Google’s other services.

What About Competitors? 

When looking at Gemini’s competitors, retention of conversations for a period of time by default (in non-enterprise accounts) is not unusual. For example:

– OpenAI saves all ChatGPT content for 30 days whether its conversation history feature is switched off or not (unless the subscription is an enterprise-level plan, which has a custom data retention policy).

– Looking at Microsoft and the use of Copilot, the details are more difficult to find but details about using Copilot in Teams it appears that the farthest Copilot can process is 30 days – indicating a possibly similar retention time to ChatGPT.

How Models Are Trained

How AI models are trained, what they are trained on and whether there has been consent and or payment for usage of that data is still an ongoing argument with major AI providers facing multiple legal challenges. This indicates how there is still a lack of understanding, clarity and transparency around how generative AI models learn.

What About Your Smart Speaker? 

Although we may have private conversations with a generative AI chatbot, many of us may forget that we may have many more private conversations with our smart speaker in the room listening, which also retains conversations. For example, Amazon’s Alexa retains recorded conversations for an indefinite period although it does provide users with control over their voice recordings. For example, users have the option to review, listen to, and delete them either individually or all at once through the Alexa app or Amazon’s website. Users also have the option to set up automatic deletion of recordings after a certain period, such as 3 or 18 months – but 18 months may still sound an alarming amount of time to have a private conversation stored in distant cloud data centres anyway.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Retaining private conversations for what sounds like a long period of time (3 years) and having unknown human reviewers look at those private conversations are likely to be the alarming parts of Google’s privacy information about how its Gemini chatbot is trained and maintained.

The fact that it’s a default (i.e. it’s up to the user to find out about it and turn off the feature), with a 72-hour retention period afterwards and no guarantee that conversations still won’t be shared due to Google’s interrelated and integrated products may also not feel right to many. The fact too that our only real defence is not to share anything at all faintly personal or private with a chatbot, which may not be that easy given that many users need to provide information to get the right quality response may also be jarring.

It seems that for enterprise users, more control over conversations is available but it seems like businesses need to ensure clear guidelines are in place for staff about exactly what kind of information they can share with chatbots in the course of their work. Overall, this story is another indicator of how there appears to be a general lack of clarity and transparency about how chatbots are trained in this new field and the balance of power still appears to be more in the hands of tech companies providing the AI. With many legal cases on the horizon about how chatbots are trained, we may expect to see more updates to AI privacy policies soon. In the meantime, we can only hope that AI companies are true to their guidelines and anonymise and aggregate data to protect user privacy and comply with existing data protection laws such as GDPR in Europe or CCPA in California.

In this insight, we look at what blockchain identifiers are, their roles, users, and relevance to businesses, plus how they could work with the domain name system.

What Are Blockchain Identifiers? 

Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, is the decentralised, secure, incorruptible ledger system that enables transparent and tamper-proof transactions. Its value is in providing enhanced security, efficiency, and trust in digital operations

Blockchain identifiers are the unique codes used within blockchain technology to securely identify and authenticate transactions, assets, or participants.

What Do They Look Like? 

Since blockchain identifiers are generated using cryptographic algorithms and each is designed to be unique, they look like long strings of code. For example:

Bitcoin addresses, which serve as blockchain identifiers for wallet locations look like ‘1BoatSLRHtKNngkdXEeobR76b53LETtpyT’.

Ethereum addresses which also act as blockchain identifiers, look like ‘0x323b5d4c32345ced77393b3530b1eed0f346429d’.

Who Uses Them? 

Blockchain identifiers are employed by a wide range of users, including cryptocurrency holders (as shown in the examples above), businesses leveraging blockchain for supply chain management, and developers creating decentralised applications (dApps). These identifiers are essential for anyone involved in the blockchain ecosystem because they ensure the integrity and traceability of transactions.

Blockchain Identifiers And Domains? 

Domain names (part of the DNS system) are, of course, designed to be human-readable addresses that map to the strings of IP address numbers underneath, thereby allowing users to easily find websites without needing to memorise complex strings of numbers. As shown in the examples above, however, blockchain identifiers are long stings of code and not designed to be human-readable, but both domain names and blockchain identifiers broadly serve as tools to navigate and secure the digital world (although they operate in different layers for different purposes).

Since they have this similar purpose, the convergence of blockchain identifiers and domain names is an idea that’s beginning to take shape, offering enhanced security and user control over online identities.

DNS 

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a foundational technology that has shaped how we interact with the internet, making it accessible and navigable through human-readable domain names. This system is crucial for the digital identities of entities worldwide, enabling a seamless connection across diverse devices and platforms, from computers and smartphones to the Internet of Things (IoT). The universality and uniqueness provided by DNS are vital for keeping the internet’s vast network of devices connected and functioning.

An Evolution With Blockchain? 

However, the emergence of blockchain technology introduces a potential evolution for digital identification and transactions. Blockchain, for example, offers a secure, decentralised ledger system, enhancing transparency, integrity, and resistance to tampering. Its application has extended beyond cryptocurrencies to address some of the limitations of traditional DNS, particularly in terms of security and memorability of identifiers.

Examples

Startups like Ethereum Name Services (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains, for example, are bridging the gap between blockchain’s secure, decentralised nature and the user-friendly accessibility of DNS. They create “blockchain identifiers,” effectively linking memorable, human-readable names with the complex, cryptographic addresses of blockchain wallets. This integration retains the DNS’s ease of use while significantly improving security, reducing the risk of fraud, and enhancing user control over digital identities.

Could Be More Secure 

Replacing the centralised control of DNS with blockchain’s decentralised model could mitigate vulnerabilities in the current system, e.g. DNS spoofing and attacks on central registries. Blockchain-based domain names could also resist censorship and provide a more secure, user-owned online identity that is less susceptible to fraud and downtime.

Also, using blockchain could remove the need for management by entities like ICANN and registrars, and remove the need for renewal fees, expirations, or deletions.

Challenges 

Despite blockchain technology’s benefits, it’s important to note that blockchain identifiers have many challenges and potential shortcomings in comparison with the DNS system, including:

– Scalability issues, i.e. blockchain networks can struggle with high transaction volumes, leading to slower confirmation times and increased costs.

– Integrating blockchain identifiers with existing web infrastructure could be very complex, requiring significant technical effort and adaptation of current systems.

– The current user experience of managing blockchain identifiers can be complex and unfriendly, especially for non-technical users.

– Despite the security of blockchain, high-profile hacks and thefts in the cryptocurrency space have led to concerns over the security of blockchain-based systems.

– The association of blockchain with volatile cryptocurrencies may have eroded confidence in blockchain identifiers as a stable and reliable system for domain management.

– The lack of widespread understanding of blockchain technology among the public could hinder trust and adoption.

– Blockchain-based domain names could conflict with existing DNS names, leading to confusion and potential security risks.

– The decentralised nature of blockchain could make it challenging to resolve disputes over name ownership or to enforce naming conventions, increasing the risk of name collisions.

– Without a centralised authority to enforce trademark rights, blockchain identifiers could lead to increased incidents of squatting and trademark infringement.

Not Replacing DNS, But Bridging A Gap

Therefore, some commentators have pointed out that instead of replacing DNS, blockchain technology and crypto wallets can be supported by DNS, e.g. users registering .eth domain names with ENS, while .art DNS domains provide the platform to integrate crypto technology. Blockchain technology could, therefore, be used by domain registries and registrars to bridge a gap, thereby improving the security and integration of the Internet.

What Does This Mean For Your Businesses? 

UK businesses are familiar with domain names and perhaps, to extent to the fact that there’s an underlying DNS system to the Internet. Blockchain technology, however, is still relatively new to many, and its image may have been tarnished by association with volatile cryptocurrencies. That said, businesses leveraging blockchain for supply chain management, and developers creating decentralised applications (dApps), as well as any businesses who’ve dabbled in/are involved with cryptocurrency may already be familiar with blockchain identifiers. Broadly speaking, blockchain identifiers offer the benefits of enhanced security, decentralisation, and transparency in managing digital identities and transactions.

Some think they promise a more secure and user-controlled alternative to traditional DNS, potentially mitigating vulnerabilities like spoofing and centralised control. However, currently, due to their challenges, they are more of a bridge to gaps in the DNS system than a viable replacement. For example, the challenges to blockchain identifiers replacing the current DNS/domain system include problems with technical scalability, integration complexities, and the need for broader user understanding and confidence. Also, the decentralised nature of blockchain could lead to name collisions and trademark issues.

That said, although blockchain technology is still evolving and has its challenges, it does have important benefits that have meant it has been adopted in many different industries and fields, and blockchain identifiers have proved to be vital to the integrity and traceability of transactions.

The US The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that robocalls using AI-generated voices are now illegal.

What Are Robocalls And Why Make Them Illegal?

A robocall is a call made using voice cloning technology with an AI-generated voice, i.e. it is a telemarketing call that uses an automatic telephone-dialling system and an artificial or prerecorded voice message.

This type of call is now common practice in scams targeting consumers, hence the move by the FCC to make such calls illegal.

Escalation As Voice Cloning Technology More Available

These types of calls have escalated in recent years as this technology has improved and become widely available. The FCC says it’s reached the point where the calls now have the potential to effectively confuse consumers with misinformation by imitating the voices of celebrities, political candidates, and close family members.

How Changing The Law Will Help

The FCC’s Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, has explained how making such calls illegal will help saying: “Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters. We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice.” She also said the move will mean that: “State Attorneys General will now have new tools to crack down on these scams and ensure the public is protected from fraud and misinformation.”

What Will It Mean For Telemarketers?

The law used by the FCC to make these robocalls illegal is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act which is broadly used to restrict the making of telemarketing calls and the use of automatic telephone dialling systems and artificial or prerecorded voice messages. The updated FCC rules, as part of this act, will mean:

– Telemarketers need to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before robocalling them using AI-generated voices.

– The FCC civil enforcement authority can fine robocallers and take steps to block calls from telephone carriers facilitating illegal robocalls.

– Individual consumers or an organisation can bring a lawsuit against robocallers in court.

– State Attorneys General have their own enforcement tools which may be tied to robocall definitions under the TCPA.

Countrywide

The fact that a coalition of 26 State Attorneys General (more than half of the nation’s AGs) recently wrote to the FCC supporting this approach means that the FCC will have partnerships with law enforcement agencies in states across the country to identify and eliminate illegal robocalls.

Worry In An Election Year

The move by the FFC is timely in terms of closing avenues for the spread of political misinformation. For example, in January, an estimated 5,000 to 25,000 deepfake robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden were made to New Hampshire voters urging them not to vote in the Primary.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Advances in AI voice cloning technology and its wide availability have given phone scammers and deep-fakers a powerful tool that can be used to spread misinformation and scam consumers. In light of what happened in New Hampshire, the FCC wants to clamp down on any possible routes for the use of deepfakes to spread political misinformation as well as protecting consumers from scams.

The prevalence of these types of calls makes it more difficult for legitimate telemarketers (who are likely to be pleased by the action taken by the FCC). The fact that 26 State Attorneys General covering half the country support the FCC’s law change gives the move power and reach, but whether it will be an effective deterrent for determined scammers in what may become a very messy election remains to be seen. Also, the telephone is just one route as voters and consumers can be targeted with misinformation in many other ways, perhaps more widely and effectively, e.g. through social media and shared deepfake videos. That said, the law change is at least a step in the right direction.