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The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect today, and it brings significant changes to how companies that deal with EU citizens’ data can collect and process it. GDPR Makes Explicit (Opt-In) Consent The Law Most online services previously tended to enable all of their data gathering checkboxes by default, because that’s how they could get the most users to “agree” to that collection. By far the most significant change the GDPR brings is that this practice is no longer legal in the EU. Users will also get more control of their data, including being legally empowered to request that companies delete all the data they have on them. There are still some grey areas in the law, such as companies being allowed to claim that they can collect some classes of data without consent if they have a “legitimate interest” to do so. The intention of the EU politicians wasn’t to allow companies to claim that any data whatsoever can be called a “legitimate interest.” However, some online services may still push the legal limits on this, and courts may have to step in to clarify the issue. New Data Processing Agreements From Online Services Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed that most of the companies to which you’ve subscribed in the past have started sending you emails to agree to their new data processing terms. This is happening because the data previously gathered by companies on their users does not qualify for consent, so they need your explicit consent for the use of that data. Although they had two years to prepare, most waited until the last minute to implement the changes, all while claiming that they're making the changes because they care deeply about your privacy. Additionally, the emails usually come with a warning that if you don’t agree you may lose access to your account. That’s a condition that may not be legal in some cases, because that shouldn’t qualify as free consent. Other companies may have simply warned you that their terms have changed and that you don’t need to do anything beyond that. This is usually sent by companies that have already obtained your explicit opt-in permission to collect your data in the past. GDPR Hall Of Shame After getting tired of receiving so many GDPR emails all of the sudden, Owen Williams from the Netherlands built a website called the “GDPR Hall Of Shame,” where he calls out companies that implement GDPR poorly. Among those “shamed” by Williams are Verizon-owned Oath websites (Yahoo, TechCrunch, Engadget, etc), which seem to use an opt-out rather than opt-in method for sharing users’ data with hundreds of Verizon partners; Razer, which says that unless you agree to its new terms your mouse or phone will stop working; Zoom, which gives users only the options of receiving more marketing emails or fewer; and other companies. Twitter also seems to be forcing users to agree to the new terms or their account will be deactivated: Google, Facebook, WhatsApp Accused Of Violating GDPR The None Of Your Business (noyb) privacy rights group, founded by Max Schrems, also accused Google, Facebook, and Facebook subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram of violating the GDPR due to the companies “forcing” users to consent to their new terms.Schrems is the same Austrian activist who fought against U.S. intelligence agencies’ mass surveillance operations targeting EU citizens as well against the American companies violating EU citizens’ rights with their data collection. His lawsuit eventually brought down the Safe Harbor agreement and he’s currently in another lawsuit that may end up invalidating the new Privacy Shield and other loopholes American companies have found to avoid properly complying with EU data protection laws.In a public statement, noyb said: An end of “forced consent” does not mean that companies can no longer use customer data. The GDPR explicitly allows any data processing that is strictly necessary for the service – but using the data additionally for advertisement or to sell it on needs the users’ free opt-in consent. With this complaint we want to ensure that GDPR is implemented in a sane way: Without just moving towards “fishing for consent”. The “take it or leave it” approach embraced by some both large and small companies will likely not sit well with the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, which may soon start taking action against the companies they see as most blatantly violating the GDPR. If found guilty, the companies could end up paying up to $20 million or 4% of their global annual turnover, whichever of the two is the greater sum of money.

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Over the past few years the FBI has used all sorts of tactics to push its war on encrypted devices. The latest one seems to be to give Congress false information about how many devices the agency can't unlock. The FBI’s War On Encrypted Smartphones The NSA lost its own war against encryption in the late '90s, when it tried to get all manufacturers to add a “Clipper chip” to their devices so it could have access to users’ encrypted communications. The Clipper chip was later found to be vulnerable to multiple bugs, and if malicious parties had found them, they would likely have been able to access those encrypted communications. That means most users of such compromised devices would have potentially been at risk of getting hacked.This is why virtually all cryptography and security experts have argued against encryption backdoors. However, despite backdoors posing such a high risk to most users once they are implemented, the FBI has launched its own war on encryption. It seems the agency is willing to using every trick in the book to get Congress to pass an anti-encryption law, too, even if it means committing potential felonies to do so.First, the agency tried to set a precedent in court so that it could use a 200-year-old law to force companies to disable their devices’ security. The case in question involved an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters. While the lawsuit was happening, the FBI did its best to avoid searching for alternative solutions to access the iPhone it wanted unlocked, despite the seeming urgency with which it needed that access.FBI Gives Congress False DataRecently, the FBI told Congress that there were 7,775 devices it couldn’t unlock in 2017 because of their encryption features. The FBI has used this fact to further advance its “Going Dark” campaign, which was an effort to teach the public and Congress that the agency can see less and less information about criminals as they increase their usage of encryption. However, this campaign has some issues of its own, such as the fact that we now live in a Golden Age of Surveillance. The Golden Age of Surveillance theory states that as people use more and more internet-connected (and insecure) devices, more data about them becomes available to law enforcement. Encryption helps combat that trend.It turns out that the FBI wasn’t telling the truth about the number of locked devices. A report from The Washington Post revealed that the number of devices the FBI can’t unlock is significantly smaller than the agency told Congress, in the range of 1,000-2,000: The FBI has repeatedly provided grossly inflated statistics to Congress and the public about the extent of problems posed by encrypted cellphones, claiming investigators were locked out of nearly 7,800 devices connected to crimes last year when the correct number was much smaller, probably between 1,000 and 2,000. The EFF has also submitted its own FOIA request to learn whether or not the FBI is telling the truth on this matter. If the FOIA request reveals that The Washington Post was correct and the FBI was not, then the law enforcement agency could suffer yet another hit to hits credibility in its war on encryption.

The Adata SX8200 NVMe SSD is the best value in mainstream SSDs we've ever tested. Adata gathered all the right pieces to deliver a righteous user experience at prices that start at less than $100. For that price, you get a 240GB drive that is far superior to any SATA SSD and is likely twice as fast as your current drive. 64-layer 3D TLC flash is coming to SSDs across the board, so most new drives in 2018 will feature identical components. There are still some standout products with astronomical performance like the Optane and Samsung Pro Series, but while the waves they create are monumental, those products are far removed from most regular computer users. That means the SSD companies have to survive by making their similar products look extraordinary. This year, the way to stand out in the mainstream SSD market is to maximize the value of commodity parts and provide the best value. Adata already announced three SX8200 models in 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB capacities. We spotted a 2TB SX8200 drive on display at CES 2017, so larger models are likely on the roadmap. The SX8200 delivers up to 3,200/1,700 MB/s of sequential read/write throughput, but the specifications don't show how much data you can write to the fast SLC buffer. We'll measure that shortly. Random performance reaches as high as 310,000/280,000 read/write IOPS. Performance scales with capacity, so the 480GB SX8200 is the only model that provides the highest performance in all four categories. Adata chose Micron's 64-layer 3D NAND for this series. Adata receives wafers and bins its own flash so it can select premium flash for its SSDs and use the lesser flash in lower-performance products. Features Over-provisioning is "hidden" flash capacity the drive uses to spread data writes and erases across a larger po[CENSORED]tion of NAND blocks. This increases the endurance and write performance of the drive in areas you don't see on the specifications sheet. This is important to know because it's the not-so-secret source of the SX8200's performance. Adata's SX8200 uses the same Silicon Motion SM2262 controller as the Intel SSD 760p and HP EX920, which are two competing SSDs we really like for both their performance and cost. The HP EX920 introduced a dynamic SLC buffer that grows (based on free capacity) to ingest incoming data, while the Intel 760p has a fixed buffer capacity. The Adata SX8200 also uses a dynamic buffer, but it also leverages its over-provisioning to boost performance. Pricing, Warranty, And Endurance Last August, we began to hear about affordable SM2262-based products coming to market, and we published details when they became available in January. Intel set the initial pricing tone with the SSD 760p, and then HP undercut that drive with the EX920. Adata takes pricing another step lower with the SX8200. The 240GB SX8200 currently retails for as low as $99.99, and the 480GB model retails for $184.99. At the time of writing, we couldn't find the 960GB model online. We expect it to become available in the coming weeks as Adata builds larger packages stuffed with more Micron 64-layer NAND. Adata XPG SX8200 240GB 480GB 960GB Endurance - TBW (Terabytes Written) 160 TBW 320 TBW 640 TBW Adata matches the five-year warranty period of other premium NVMe SSDs. Like other SSDs, the warranty carries an endurance clause based on the amount of data you can write to the drive during the warranty period. Adata supports 160 TBW (terabytes written) with the 240GB SX8200 and endurance doubles with each capacity increase. Software Adata offers two downloadable software suites. Adata's custom SSD Toolbox enables SMART monitoring, secure erase, TRIM functions, and other miscellaneous features. Adata also provides a trimmed version of Acronis. The software allows you to clone data from an existing drive to the SX8200. This is a nice feature that allows you to install the drive without the hassle of reinstalling Windows and all your software. The XPG-branded heat sink is one feature that Adata did not pull straight out of Silicon Motion's reference design playbook. Adata includes a thin metal plate with thermal transfer tape already applied. The plate acts as a heat sink by distributing the heat from the controller to a larger surface area. You don't have to put the heat sink on, but the SSD looks a lot cooler when you do.

HDR support is well-established in the television market, but computer monitors have taken longer to adopt the standard. We suspect one of the reasons is cost. It’s easy enough to add the appropriate silicon and software to existing panel designs, but the reality is that edge-lit LCDs that dominate the desktop just don’t have sufficient native contrast to make HDR work. The best performance we’ve seen from a VA-type panel is 5000:1 static, with perhaps 6000:1 from a properly-implemented dynamic contrast feature. That pales in comparison to what OLEDs can accomplish with their nearly-infinite dynamic range. The only LCDs that can truly do HDR justice are the full-array backlight models, and that’s where the price goes up significantly. Pros Ultra HD resolution DCI-P3 color HDR10 support HDMI 2.0 & DisplayPort 1.4 accurate color & good contrast Cons Too-blue mid-tones in HDR mode cannot be adjusted Verdict Aside from a few grayscale flaws in HDR mode, the EW3270U has no real issues to bring it down. It provides a decent gaming experience with FreeSync and LFC, and delivers the best DCI-P3 gamut we’ve measured to date. HDR support means extra dynamic range with appropriate content, and its VA panel sports good contrast in HDR mode. There's still room for improvement, but this is one of the best HDR 4K monitors we've tested yet--especially given its roughly $700 asking price. Dell’s UP2718Q remains our gold standard for HDR with its 384-zone backlight and over 17,000:1 contrast in HDR mode. But it costs around $1400 at this writing, significantly more than other 27” Ultra HD monitors. For the rest of us, VA panels with edge-array backlights will have to suffice for now. And we’re happy to say some progress has been made there. Today, we’re looking at BenQ’s latest EW-series screen, the EW3270U. With 3840x2160 pixels in a 31.5” viewable area, it boasts good pixel density, a DCI-P3 gamut, 10-bit color, and AMD's variable-refresh FreeSync tech up to 60Hz. It also boosts contrast above its IPS-based competition, thanks to its VA panel. If you’re a gamer considering the move to Ultra HD, the BenQ EW3260U has decent specs. Its refresh rate tops out at 60Hz, but that’s no different than any other UHD screen currently available. It does include DisplayPort 1.4 support for higher bandwidth however so, we’re sad to see that the frame rate capabilities aren’t higher. It seems there are other hardware considerations for faster speeds besides the connection interface. You do get FreeSync support though, over an impressive 24-60Hz range. That enables low-frequency compensation (LFC), so you’ll never see a tear, even your framerates dip into very low territory. Color support is exemplary, with a claimed 95% coverage of DCI-P3. And the monitor includes an sRGB mode so you won’t have to use a single gamut for all content. Color depth is a full 10-bits native, so any banding you see will be in the content, not caused by the monitor. The EW3270U also has full support for HDR10, as used in both gaming and video material. With two HDMI 2.0 inputs, DisplayPort, and USB-C, you can hook up any manner of sources and enjoy the latest content. And if you’d like to make older games and movies look more vibrant, an HDR-emulation mode can be engaged via a special button on the front. Overall, the BenQ EW3270U looks like a nice package, and it offers decent value too, selling for just over $700 at this writing. Packaging, Physical Layout & Accessories The BenQ EW3270U's stand is small but solid, and ships in two pieces. One attachment is made with a captive bolt, but a screwdriver is necessary to connect the panel. This is accomplished with two spring-loaded screws that are already in place. 100mm VESA mount lugs are on the back, but you’ll have to supply your own hardware to use them. The in-box cable bundle includes HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C, plus a standard IEC cord for the internal power supply. You also get a printed quick start guide and a manual on CD. The EW3270U is backed by a three-year warranty. BenQ has trimmed a few things to keep the EW3270U’s price down. The panel, while well-constructed, feels light compared to some of its more-expensive stablemates. The stand is simple and offers only tilt adjustment, 15° back and 5° forward. There is no swivel or height adjustment, or a portrait mode. That said, movements are firm and the base is quite solid, finished nicely in piano black and dark gray matte. The front anti-glare layer is appropriate for a high-res monitor, and rejects light well without causing any image artifacts. We saw no grain or other anomalies. Controls are on the bottom-right edge, and consists of five keys, plus a large LED-lit power button that glows green when the screen is turned on. Prominently displayed here is an HDR key that toggles HDR-emulation, and a feature called Brightness Intelligence+. When engaged, the latter uses a sensor on the front bezel to alter color temperature based on the brightness and color of your room’s lighting. This creates an interesting effect that some users will like, but as it changes settings based on light, we left it off for all our testing. HDR-emulation can help some images look better, but of course true HDR content will look the best. The monitor's side profile is fairly slim, with a smooth taper across the back, uninterrupted by grille work. Ventilation comes from two large downward-facing ports on the bottom and a barely-visible strip up top to exhaust heat. The two speakers fire down at the desktop and deliver reasonable volume in the high frequencies. But with little bass, they can sound harsh if you turn them up too high. The input panel faces down and is packed with two HDMI 2.0 ports (with HDCP 2.2 for protected 4K content), a single DisplayPort 1.4, and USB-C. The latter only serves as a video input; there are no downstream ports to create a USB hub here. Rounding out the connections is a 3.5mm headphone jack that can also be used with powered speakers.

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Your smartphone is your most personal gadget and it's also the most likely to get damaged. You probably won't be holding an unboxed video card in one hand while you walk to work or bringing your PSU with you into the bathroom. But your phone is a constant and vulnerable companion so, if you can get a more durable device, you should. To find out which handset can take the most abuse, our sister site Tom's Guide put 12 of the today's most po[CENSORED]r phones through a series of escalating drop tests. The staff dropped devices onto wood and concrete from heights of four and six feet, recorded the drops in slow-mo and measured the damage after each fall. They also did different drops where the phones landing face down or on their edges. Finally the team tossed each phone into an (unused) toilet to determine whether it could survive underwater. After damaging $18,000 worth of handsets, the results are in and the most durable phone, by far, is Motorola's Z2 Force. The Force ithstood a 6-foot face drop onto concrete without getting a scratch on the screen (it got some scuffing on the case from edge drops). However, the toilet was Motorola's literal Waterloo, as the device shut down and appeared to die after a few seconds in the tank (it came back to life after drying off but we wouldn't trust that). If you don't want a Z2 Force, you should invest in a good screen protector and rugged case for your phone. Every other device, including the iPhone X and Galaxy S9, got serious screen damage during the tests, though the budget-minded LG X Venture endured the 4-foot face drop onto concrete without issue. Really pushing things to the limit, the team at Tom's Guide also put all of these phones onto a drone and dropped them from 100-feet in the air onto a wood panel. Again, Motorola's phone survived, while others smashed to bits and others (perhaps because they didn't hit face first) actually took less damage than when they were dropped from 6-feet onto concrete.

LIV is turning its sights away from corporate sponsored events and towards content creators and VR arcades with a reasonably affordable mixed reality studio package. Last year, LIV introduced the LIV Cube, which is a portable mixed reality studio for corporate events and tradeshows. The package included a green screen cube, lighting, a camera, and a high-end gaming computer with an expensive capture card, and you could pick one up for a cool $10,000. This year, LIV is taking a new approach, and it now hopes to attract content creators and arcade owners. Early this year, LIV released a free client on Steam that takes all the hard work out of calibrating a mixed reality setup. And now it’s offering a LIV Cube studio package (which doesn’t include an expensive computer or camera) for $3,000 plus shipping. LIV didn’t just remove the computer from the package. The company redesigned the LIV Cube with new materials and components. The inside of the LIV Cube V2 features 345C green screen fabric on all three walls and the ceiling. The package also includes a green vinyl floor. The outside of the cube has light-blocking blackout fabric, which helps maintain an even color on the green interior walls. The blackout fabric also prevents interference from other tracking sensors, which lets you set up multiple LIV Cubes in the same room. LIV said the cube would also prevent cross-talk between wireless headset transmitters. The LIV Cube V2 also includes an improved lighting configuration, with 12 LED lights spread around the entry point of the cube to cast even light into the box. All 12 lights are interconnected and are powered by one outlet. The LIV Cube V2 is compatible with the HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Oculus Rift (with three or four sensors), and the upcoming Pimax 5K/8K headsets. The package includes side mounts for SteamVR base stations and corner mounts for Rift Constellation sensors. It also includes an overhead mount for a fixed webcam. LIV also made the new version of the LIV Cube easier to transport. The original cube featured eight-foot-long poles that didn’t break down, so you would need a large truck or van to bring it anywhere. The poles on the new configuration break down to four-foot lengths for easier transport, and the entire package comes in two 40lbs bags that you can bring anywhere, including on an airplane. LIV is currently accepting pre-orders for the LIV Cube V2, and the company expects to deliver the first units in August.

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AMD's Ryzen 7 2700 includes the same eight cores as its more expensive Ryzen 7 2700X flagship, plus simultaneous multi-threading technology that allows each core to work on two software threads at the same time. But its clock rates are trimmed back to create a $30-cheaper model sporting a little less performance. Even though the 2700 loses its enthusiast-targeted X modifier, AMD still arms the chip with an unlocked ratio multiplier for flexible overclocking. And this less expensive CPU should hit nearly the same frequencies as the Ryzen 7 2700X we like so much. AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Pros Faster than previous-gen Ryzen models Bundled cooler adds value Backward compatibility with 300-series motherboards Indium solder improves thermal transfer Cons Needs a better cooler for overclocking No value-oriented 400-series motherboards yet Large performance deficit compared to a stock Ryzen 7 2700X Verdict AMD's first-generation "non-X" Ryzen processors were universally hailed as budget champions. That changes with the company's 2000-series CPUs, though. Its Ryzen 7 2700 is only $30 cheaper than the 2700X. Given a choice between them, we'd rather have the flagship's great performance and capable bundled cooler for a few dollars more. Last generation, plenty of overclocking headroom and lower prices earned AMD's non-X Ryzen SKUs praise up and down the stack. Much of that was based on the company's bundled coolers, though. For example, the then-flagship Ryzen 7 1800X launched at $500 with no thermal solution at all. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 1700 sold for $330 with a cooler in the box. Now, AMD bundles a heat sink and fan with all of its new Ryzen chips. Moreover, it only sells 2700 at a $30 discount. Worse, although it's possible to match Ryzen 7 2700X's performance after a bit of overclocking, you need an aftermarket cooler to get there. AMD's freebie won't cut it. This time around, there's not much reason to step down a tier. Ryzen 7 2700 With its 2000-series Ryzen processors, AMD was challenged to deliver more than the incremental improvements we've been seeing from Intel lately. To begin, the company swapped out its 14nm manufacturing process with a 12nm node, enabling higher clock rates at the same power consumption levels. AMD also optimized the Zen architecture by adding more sophisticated multi-core boost algorithms and lowering cache and memory latencies. Together, those changes enable speed-ups in pretty much every type of workload we test with, and they're all baked in to Ryzen 7 2700. AMD rates its Ryzen 7 2700 at a much lower 65W thermal design power than its 105W Ryzen 7 2700X. That's partly why the 2700's base frequency is a much more conservative 3.2 GHz, while its maximum Precision Boost clock rate tops out at 4.1 GHz. You'd think, then, that the bundled 95W Wraith Spire thermal solution with LED lighting would be beefy enough for aggressive overclocking. It's not, though. If you're really after Ryzen's peak potential, purchase a more capable aftermarket heat sink/fan combination or closed-loop liquid cooler. All 2000-series Ryzen CPUs are compatible with motherboards sporting new X470 or older 300-series chipsets. You can even overclock the new processors on value-oriented B-series platforms. While lower-cost 400-series chipsets aren't available yet, we're counting on them to offer a more affordable option for enthusiasts looking to tune 2000-series Ryzen CPUs. The Ryzen 7 2700 supports up to DDR4-2933 memory, just like the 2700X. Just be aware that you'll only get those data rates with single-rank modules installed in a maximum of two slots. Even then, it takes a motherboard with six PCB layers to operate at 2933 MT/s stably. AMD uses Indium solder between its Ryzen 7 die and heat spreader, improving thermal transfer performance compared to Intel CPUs reliant on paste instead. Like all 2000-series models, the Ryzen 7 2700 comes with v, which is a software-based tiering solution that blends the low price and high capacity of hard drives with the speed of an SSD, 3D XPoint, or even up to 2GB of RAM.

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EVGA is one of the few OEMs that isn’t flooding the market with a heft of new Intel 300-series motherboards, but it did come to the Coffee Lake party with its new H370 Stinger. The EVGA H370 Stinger is a mini-ITX motherboard being marketed as “a budget-friendly workhorse for your HTPC or gaming PC.” The tiny board packs a ton of features, including support for 8th generation Intel Coffee Lake-S processors, up to 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2667, a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, and two M.2 interfaces (one Optane-ready 2880 port on the rear of the board, one Key-E vertical slot). The 10-layer PCB sports a 9-phase PWM, an external clock generator, and a plethora of rear panel I/O connectivity. The back panel I/O has average USB connectivity for a mini-ITX board, with two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. There are also two more USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 2.0 port headers (for four total ports) for the front panel, in addition to a USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector. For display output, the H370 Stinger features a HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 interface. Although the pint-sized motherboard offering may not stack up against the mountains of boards being doled out by other OEMs, EVGA is at least setting itself apart from the pack with fewer 300-series options, giving some credence to the saying “I only need one, dude.” Full pricing, specifications, and availability of the new H370 Stinger mini-ITX motherboard are currently unknown, but we’ll be pressing EVGA for answers when we visit with the company this weekend at PAX East.

A research team from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China announced that it has developed the world’s largest 3D photonic quantum chip that can demonstrate a 2D quantum walk and boost the performance of quantum simulation. Quantum Walks A quantum walk is analogous to a classical random walk (succession of random steps), except the walker in a quantum walk is in a superposition of positions. That means the walker could be in all of the positions at the same time. What this means in practice is that a quantum walk can show superior performance to classical random walks for quantum searching and quantum simulation applications. Previously, most experimental quantum work was in one dimension, but now it can be done in more dimensions. The STJU team used a technique called “femtosecond laser direct writing” to construct a 3D photonic chip with up to 49x49 nodes, making it the world’s largest-scale chip ever. Using this chip, the team was able to demonstrate a 2D continuous-time quantum walk in real spatial space. The STJU team’s work should pave the road for the development of quantum algorithms based on quantum walks, as well as easier and more complex quantum experiments in the future. Accelerating Towards Practical Quantum Computers Over the past few years we’ve seen not just more universities but also companies such D-Wave, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Rigetti, and others, as well as governments starting to double down on quantum computers, working on and investing in quantum computing research. Quantum computers promise to aid in the discovery of major breakthroughs in science and medicine and solve many other significant world problems, which couldn’t be easily solved with classical computers.

European Parliament president Antonio Tajani announced that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to meet with Parliament to discuss the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Tajani said Zuckerberg is expected to head to Brussels to answer Parliament's questions as early as next week. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica collected information about 50 million Facebook users in America through a quiz app that did not disclose how much data it was gathering or how it would be used. Lawmakers around the world haven't been pleased about that revelation, and many have called on Facebook executives generally and Zuckerberg specifically to answer questions about how this happened. Zuckerbergv. But when it came time to answer questions from Parliament, Zuckerberg sent Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer in his stead. Parliament didn't find Schroepfer's answers satisfactory, however, and the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee chairman, Damian Collins, requested that Zuckerberg travel to the UK so he could personally testify on Facebook's behalf. Collins sent a letter to Facebook's head of public policy, Rebecca Stimson, a few days later on his next trip to the UK if he didn't testify in front of Parliament before May 24. It's not clear if Zuckerberg's planned trip to Brussels will satisfy Collins' demand for his testimony; Zuckerberg is meeting with the European Parliament instead of with the UK Parliament. Either way, Zuckerberg will finally address European concerns about who has access to Facebook's user data, what they're allowed to do with that information, and for how long they're able to hold on to it. Tajani said in his statement announcing Zuckerberg's agreement to testify: The founder and CEO of Facebook has accepted our invitation and will be in Brussels as soon as possible, hopefully already next week, to meet the leaders of the political groups and the Chair and the Rapporteur of the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Our citizens deserve a full and detailed explanation. I welcome Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to appear in person before the representatives of 500 million Europeans. It is a step in the right direction towards restoring confidence. Neither Facebook nor Zuckerberg have released statements about when he plans to answer the European Parliament's questions, or if the wandering CEO plans to visit the UK while he's in the neighborhood (so to speak). The clock is ticking on that May 25 deadline, and if Zuckerberg wants to see Big Ben any time soon, he's going to have to continue to meet with lawmakers even after the Brussels trip.

Google announced that its security indicators for HTTPS and HTTP pages will change starting this fall, in versions 69 and 70 of Chrome. HTTPS websites will not longer be shown as "Secure," while HTTP pages will be shown as "Not Secure" in red font, when users enter data. Evolution Of Web Security Indicators Over the past couple of years, both Chrome and Firefox have started encouraging web developers to adopt HTTPS encryption by giving them small incentives such as showing their websites’ address next to a padlock icon with a “Secure” label in green. This was supposed to make users trust these websites more, because the data exchange between the user and the server would be encrypted. Since then, and due in no small part to the Let’s Encrypt project, which is backed by Mozilla, EFF, and others and has been offering free HTTPS certificates to everyone, many more websites have adopted encryption. Now, Google believes that users should expect that the web is “safe by default.” Therefore, users shouldn’t need bright green labels and padlocks to know whether or not the website they visit is secure. Chrome 69 To Lose The “Secure” Label Starting with Chrome 69, which should land this September, Google’s browser will lose the green “Secure” wording, and its padlock will turn from green to grey. The company added that eventually Chrome will also use the padlock, too, and all you’ll see will be the web address without HTTP, HTTPS, or any other label or symbol next to it. It’s possible Google also doesn’t want internet users to believe that a site is “secure” just because it's using HTTPS encryption. A site could use HTTPS encryption and then still lose all of your account data to hackers due to poor server security hygiene. HTTPS encryption only guarantees that your connection to the site is secure, but it says nothing about how secure your data is on a company’s server. Chrome 70 To Add “Not Secure” Warning In Red Chrome 56 started showing users a “Not Secure” warning in grey on login pages. Starting with Chrome 70, this fall, users will see a “Not Secure” warning in red when they enter data on HTTP pages. The HTTP pages will also be labeled “Not Secure” in grey at all times. Perhaps the most controversial change in Google’s announcement is Google’s statement that users should expect the web to be safe. Whether we’re talking about HTTPS, PGP, S/MIME, or other encryption and security protocols, it may not serve users to hide what protocols are being used to protect their data. At the end of the day, this is also an issue of transparency, and users deserve to know how their traffic and data are protected. Google expects that when the “Secure” label and padlock are gone, users will continue to believe that the same sites are just as secure. However, this may not happen because users have been trained for decades to expect no security unless claimed otherwise.

It is, as Lego Batman might say, off the chain. Due out in August, Lego's App-Controlled Batmobile lets you build the caped crusader's vehicle then control it from your iOS or Android device. Due out in August for $99, the Batmobile is part of Lego's new "Powered Up" platform of electronic toys. We had a chance to see the Batmobile in action and were enticed by its design, which looks a lot like a black tank. It comes with a silver Batman minifig and has four missiles that you can shoot, but only if you press down the triggers by hand. The app we saw in our demo was still in very rough form. A Lego rep was able to steer the car and make it do a few stunts, including a wheelie, but he said that the final version of the software will let you customize the look and feel of the controls. A future update to the app that will come later in the year will allow you to write programs for the car. We got a brief glimpse at the programming mode and it uses the same, dead-simple block-based language as Lego Boost. The blocks are arranged horizontally and have no text at all so even preliterate children will be able to use the car as a learning tool. The company advises that the toy is for ages eight and up, but we've seen children as young as five master Lego Boost. At its press event, the block-maker also showed off a couple of other new products that it also labels as "Powered Up." The Lego City Passenger Train and Lego City Cargo Train sets create motorized, moving trains that you can drive with a bundled remote control unit. However, these sets are not programmable like the Batmobile. The upcoming Lego Duplo Steam Train, which the company first showed at Toy Fair, will use an app to teach very young children elementary programming concepts. If you own a Lego Boost set, our sister site Tom's Guide's favorite robot set, you'll be able to use its motorized components it to enhance several upcoming products. Lego Ninjago Stormbringer is a dragon that you can program when paired with Boost, and Lego City Arctic Scout Truck is a vehicle you can control when it's paired with Boost components. Lego Creator Expert Rollercoaster is a working ride for your minifigures that gets more functionality when you add your Boost motors.

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Nvidia's 10-series of "Pascal" GPUs is getting really long in the tooth, with the original GTX 1070 and 1080 cards having released a full two years ago. We've been through a number of Intel and AMD CPU generations since then, so it's long past time for a new GeForce platform. Unfortunately, Nvidia has been extremely tight-lipped about its next-generation graphics "Turing" chips. On the bright side, according to industry sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the new cards should be arriving as soon as July. Here's what we know right now. What will the new chips be called: GTX 1180 or GTX 2080? The chips will be based on the Turing platform, but Nvidia hasn't announced a brand name. We've seen conflicting rumors that state that the new cards will be called either the 11-series or the 20-series. In other words, the high-end card will be called either the GTX 1180 or GTX 2080. Considering that we're moving on from the 10 series, the GTX 1180 makes more sense, unless Nvidia is trying to say that its new card is 10-generations ahead of the current ones. When will the GTX 1180 come out? According to industry sources who spoke with Tom's Hardware Germany's Igor Wallossek on condition of anonymity, we expect a July release for the Founder's Edition cards with third-party cards to follow in August or September. Laptop versions of the cards will come later in the year. These sources indicate that Nvidia will be delivering the GPU and memory over to partners on or around June 15th. We expect the company to deliver Founder's Edition Cards to retail sometime in July. New Quadro cards based on Turing could debut at Siggraph in August. How long will it take for third-party vendors to make their Turing cards? Third-party GPU vendors such as MSI, Gigabyte and Asus will be later to market than Nvidia's first-party cards, because they have to go through a number of validation steps. For any card they make (even AMD cards), OEMs have to follow these procedures: BOM Release Bill Of Materials Release Start EVT Engineering Validation Test 1-2 weeks DVT Design Validation Test 2 weeks WS Working Sample 1-2 weeks EMI-Test Electromagnetic Interference Test less than week PVT Production Validation Test 2-3 weeks PVT Sorting PPBIOS Final BIOS a few days Ramp & MP Mass production and shipping a few days However, on top of these steps (which may also apply to AMD third-party cards), Nvidia has its own "Green Light" program which adds some extra quality-assurance. These steps include Phase/Step Description Specs and Guidelines Partner gets the program guidelines and specifications CDP creation Partner submits CDP (Virtual Customer Design Project) to Nvidia CDP approval Nvidia reviews the CDP and approves it Design approval Partner submits mechanical design (graphics card shell) and the board design files Sampling Nvidia ships chip samples to partner. Acoustic approval Partners without acoustic labs provide board samples to Nvidia. Otherwise, partner generates dB(A) curves. Green Light approval Partner conducts the Green Light review using the special software (VBIOS and driver) and submits the result to Nvidia Option 1: If the board passes Green Light, a Partner Production (PP) VBIOS will be provided by NVIDIA. Option 2: If not, Nvidia will tell the partner what needs to be fixed. Box art approval Partner provides the box art to Nvidia for review (must comply the GeForce GTX brand guidelines) Mass production After all approvals the partner can start the mass production. No further changes of the Green Light approved design are allowed Of course, our information comes from a series of anonymous sources, rumors and estimates based on typical production processes. We reached out to Nvidia, but the company declined to comment. What will the GTX 1180 have inside? Our sources haven't shared technical details, but tech site Wccftech reported in April that the 1180 could have 3,584 CUDA cores, a clock speed of 1.6 to 1.8-GHz and 8 to 16GB of GDDR6 memory. The site also claimed that the card would have a TDP of 170 to 200 watts. What about the GTX 1170? In May, Wccftech also shared some rumored specs for the rumored GTX 1170 (the successor to the GTX 1070). It is said to have 2,688 CUDA cores and also have 8 to 16GB of GDDR6 memory. Its clock speed could range from 1.5 to 1.8-GHz and its TDP is alleged to be 140 to 160 watts. Tom's Hardware Germany provided the original, German-language article on this topic. Igor Wallossek contributed to this report.

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