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Simfin

online safety and digital citizenship specialist

Young People News

26 January 2020

Airbnb has developed technology that looks at guests’ online “personalities” when they book a break to calculate the risk of them trashing a host’s home.

Details have emerged of its “trait analyser” software built to scour the web to assess users’ “trustworthiness and compatibility” as well as their “behavioural and personality traits” in a bid to forecast suitability to rent a property.

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14 August 2019

Facebook secretly employed hundreds of contractors to listen to clips of its addicts' private voice calls to transcribe parts of conversations its AI software couldn't understand.

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13 August 2019

Yet another armed police force has been called in on yet another unsuspecting victim, as the recently crowned Fortnite world champion took a break from a livestream to deal with a swatting incident at his own front door.

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03 July 2019

Video-sharing app TikTok says it is "sorry" that some children and other young people have felt pressured into sending money to their favourite influencers on the app.

TikTok lets fans send their favourite videomakers "digital gifts", which can cost up to £48.99.

 

'Claire, 12, who lives in the north-west of England, sent TikTok star Sebastian Moy a £48.99 "drama queen" gift to show her appreciation for his videos.'

 

12 years old.

 

The company says it is most popular with 16- to 24-year-olds but there is evidence that many users are under 13, which is against the app's rules.

 

Rhys, 20 said he had spent more than £1,000 without realising it.

"Gifting on TikTok is a little bit like gambling," he said "It gets addictive. I really didn't see anything wrong with it at the time but now I don't think it's worth it.

"I have nothing to show for it.

 

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