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Instagram will stop encrypting private messages between users from May, after enduring years of criticism from law enforcement and child safety groups over the feature. Meta quietly announced this month on its help page for Instagram and in an updated 2022 news post that end-to-end encryption would no longer be available on direct messages between users on Instagram from 8 May 2026. It means Meta will be able to see the contents of messages between all users – which so far it only could for those who did not enable encryption. Guardian
A US physicist and a Canadian computer scientist have won this year’s Turing Award for their invention of a form of seemingly unbreakable encryption. Charles H Bennett and Gilles Brassard’s work, which dates back to 1984, is known as quantum cryptography and has “redefined secure communication and computing”, the award’s body said. Scientists believe their work will be central to electronic communications in a world that depends heavily on data-sharing, but which for years has been trying to develop more powerful quantum computers. BBC
An advert for an AI video editing tool which said it could “erase anything” – implying users could remove a woman’s clothing – has been banned. The advertising regulator found the YouTube ad for PixVideo – AI Video Maker, seen in January, showing “before” and “after” images of a young woman, the first with a red scribble over her midriff and the second revealing her bare skin, was offensive. Text across the bottom of the image said it could “erase anything”, followed by a heart-eye emoji. Sky News
Ikea’s new Matter-over-Thread products were supposed to prove that the smart home could be cheap, accessible, and reliable. The highly anticipated line — which includes sensors, remotes, smart plugs, air-quality monitors, and smart bulbs — has most everything you need to build a smart home, with prices starting at $6. It’s an exciting idea, but it’s still not ready for primetime. When I first got the Ikea devices in January, I had a lot of problems connecting them to my main platform, Apple Home. And it turned out I was not alone. The Verge
As telecoms executives mingled with Brussels bureaucrats at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this month, one topic was on everyone’s lips: satellites. Over just a few days, industry giants Vodafone, Orange and Telefónica were among those to unveil major satellite tie-ups, touting the technology’s benefits. “Through the sky, we can keep everyone connected wherever they are, anywhere on Earth,” claimed Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s boss. Telegraph
AI fatigue hit Windows users hard, and Microsoft finally heard the complaints. The company just canceled plans to embed Copilot deeper into Windows 11’s core functions—notifications, Settings app, and File Explorer features that seemed destined to clutter your desktop experience. This retreat marks a rare moment when user feedback actually changed a tech giant’s strategy, prioritizing what you actually want over what Silicon Valley thinks you need. Yahoo!
Earlier this month, Apple introduced the new iPhone 17e with modest upgrades over the iPhone 16e, including the addition of MagSafe. Now, a teardown of the device suggests that iPhone 16e users may also be able to gain MagSafe functionality through a relatively simple hardware upgrade. The team at iFixit performed the teardown and found that replacing the iPhone 16e’s rear panel with that of the newer iPhone 17e brings MagSafe support to the older model. GSM Arena
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