In a recent BBC article, it was reported that the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has listed all consumer grade internet routers made outside of the USA, as being not secure. So because the FCC has to authorise all equipment before it’s imported, marketed or sold. Going forward all new foreign made wired and wireless routers will be banned in the US.
Which is interesting as this is going to affect a number of American companies including Ubiquity, Google and Netgear. As American companies often design their routers in the United States, but physically manufacture the product in countries like Vietnam, China and Taiwan.
According to the FCC Covered list and a factsheet. The reason for this action was taken, is due to concerns around national security. In particular where foreign routers have been used to attack US infrastructure.
True, consumer routers are a major security concern. However as other US allies, have not made similar announcements. The banning of foreign made routers in the US. Could well be more a political policy, rather than a security concern identified by national security.
Also if the security issues are so serious, that foreign routers need to be banned. What will the US government do about the millions of foreign made routers already in use in American homes? And why are Starlink routers not on the list?
Sure, Starlink routers are assembled in the USA. But Starlink import a lot of their components from other countries including the ones identified by the FCC as being bad actors. So how is assembling a router in the US safer, if you’re fitting a foreign made chip that may have been compromised?
Meta found liable for endangering children.
In other news, Meta has been found liable of endangering children in a New Mexico court. According to a Le Monde article, the multibillion dollar company setup by Mark Zuckerberg was found to have been targeting children and prioritising profits over safety. All the while knowing about the harmful effects of its products. Something that is not really a new allegation, as Frances Haugen blew the whistle on Meta back in 2022.
Meta and Google found liable for social media addition.
However, literally a day later, in a separate court case in California. Both YouTube and Meta were found guilty of intentionally building an addictive platform that harms mental health. Which according to the BBC will see both companies pay $6m (£4.5m) in damages to a 20 year old woman.
What’s interesting is that both these cases, have now set precedent in the US. So it’s likely that in the future more social media companies will find themselves in court. However, what worries me is that even with all the verifiable evidence and legal precedent that social media platforms do real harm. We as human beings can’t seem to be able to drop social media from our lives.
Apple rolls out Age Verification in the UK for iPhone.
With the introduction of iOS 26.4. UK users will need to prove that they are over 18, in order to use certain services. Which is an action that was taken independently by Apple, not mandated under British law. So more than likely we are seeing an ad hoc trial for a more wide spread global rollout later.
While it’s not clear exactly how Apple is verifying someone is over 18. There have been reports that some users were not being prompted to verify their age. According to an Apple support page. If you are asked to confirm you are an adult. You will need to provide Apple with a valid credit card or scan your driving licence or passport.
Setting aside the privacy implications that a foreign based company, will now have access to a large number of British citizens personal ID. What exactly do you do if you don’t have either a credit card or the correct government ID?
Content we’re working on or posting on this month.
While working on an MS Word video that looked at customising the user interface. I noticed a bug, where by the mini toolbar can’t be disabled. For those that may not be familiar with MS Office. When you highlight or right click the mouse, a secondary toolbar will appear.
However the mini toolbar simply replicates what’s already being displayed in the ribbon. Making it in my opinion feel redundant. So for the first video of the month, we are going to take an alternative way to disabled the mini toolbar.
Then for our “Whats in my tech toolkit” series, we will be taking a look at a Victorinox Swiss Army 1 ALOX. Something which while very simple, I shockingly under utilise as it mostly gets used for opening boxes.
For this month’s Excel video, where going to take a quick look at the SUM function in Excel. In particular how you add two non adjacent columns of data. Something that being self taught, I did not realise you could do until I made this video. So you can always learn something new.
Finally at the end of the month. We will be returning to our Synology Router series, so that we can take a look at Traffic Control. Which allows you to manage and regulate data traffic over your home network to improve performance, and relieve data congestion while prioritising specific applications or devices.
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