Search Results for : Scandal

Consumers worry about privacy online but have been ready – at least so far – to give up some of their personal information in exchange for convenience. Communicate explores this paradox. We are often told that an increasing number of people are concerned about online privacy, afraid that their data would be used improperly or, […]

Adnan Bashir, Senior Manager for Corporate Communications at Sigma Systems, explains how the job of communications professionals will never be the same.  It goes without saying that a cloud of uncertainty now hangs over us all – and is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon. In the last few weeks, we have witnessed a cataclysmic disruption […]

In recent news authorities at Bali, an Indonesian Island, have asked tourists to either behave or leave their land. This warning came after an incident that was posted on Instagram about a couple from Czech Republic who acted disrespectfully at a temple in Bali. The incident has caused locals to ask for a tourist boycott.  […]

By Halley Theodore There’s a German word, schadenfreude, that describes one of our basest, yet most satisfying, emotions. Quite simply, schadenfreude is the pleasure we take in the misfortune of others. (Schaden = damage, and freude = joy). It has no real equivalent in English. Off-brand Muppets sang about the joys of schadenfreude in the musical […]

By Jeremiah Rosen Recent documentaries about business scandals are captivating audiences. Take, for example, the behind-the-scenes looks at the infamous Fyre Festival disaster and the disgraced Theranos that have set social media ablaze with commentary and memes. Each company was founded and led by charismatic, well, liars who were convincing enough to dupe unwitting investors […]

Facebook Inc. disclosed a flaw on its social network that made passwords of hundreds of millions of users visible to employees. However, the company says the issue has now been fixed. During a security review in January, Facebook found that the passwords were stored in a readable format, against its security procedures, but that they […]

Facebook and its family of apps such as Whatsapp and Instagram all suffered an outage yesterday for several hours across multiple countries in the world, including the UAE, the US, Brazil, Lebanon, among others. It’s safe to say that for a few hours, people across the world were transported back to the 90s. Just the […]

Facebook and Apple are in another fight over privacy and data after reports surfaced last week that Facebook built a consumer research app that opened a backdoor to iPhones. The phonemaker, which disabled the app, has accused the social network of violating its app rules. Apple and Facebook have had a contentious relationship since Apple […]

By Dave Parkinson, co-founder, Brave & Heart It’s that time of year again. The 2019 predictions are flooding through. “Never has so much been said by those who knew so little…” For a change, here is something a little more fun versus the usual articles that come out at this time of the year. So, […]

Facebook says it discovered a security breach earlier this week that affected almost 50 million accounts – out of the over two billion accounts on Facebook. The company says it has fixed the breach, which allowed hackers to take over people’s accounts. In a statement on Friday, Facebook said that it has informed law enforcement […]

By Puja Pannum, managing director at Blis MENA We can learn a great deal from the flurry of recent data scandals striking companies of all industries across the globe. And yet, the unavoidable crux of the issue is still at hand – data and advertising both massively lack transparency. Whilst an influx in data protection […]

Although it’s early days, brands such as McDonald’s, Staples and GM are paying cash and purchasing data direct from the consumer, giving literal meaning toward the notion that “data is the new currency”. Between regulation such as GDPR and scandals like those plaguing Facebook, consumers are aware more than ever of the so-called value exchange when using […]

Facebook has been under fire for a multitude of issues ranging from data privacy to fake news. Now, after multiple complaints, hearings and GDPR, it has to fix at least some of them. But, first… Facebook has been saying for a long time that it has tied up with external fact-checkers but its stringent control […]

Following issues of brand safety, measurability, data privacy and transparency, tech giants – mostly Facebook – have got themselves in hot water. Just last month Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg appeared in front of the US Senate over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Around the same time, users started a #DeleteFacebook movement with users deleting their account. […]

There’s one word that saw a 365 percent increase in usage since 2016 making it Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2017. That word is ‘fake news’. Although popularized in 2016 during the US elections – and since then by the US President – fake news is not exclusive to either; it is an all-pervasive […]

By Alex Malouf, IABC Chair for Europe, Middle East and North Africa I was glued to my screen twice in the last month. The first video was of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizing for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which is continuing to engulf the social media giant. The second also made for compelling viewing. A […]

Volkswagen Group has selected Omnicom’s PHD as its global media agency following a lengthy competitive review. WPP’s MediaCom, which has a lengthy relationship with the automaker, had handled most of the business, including the US market. The review covered VW Group brands including Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and commercial vehicles. PHD was an incumbent […]

The term Artificial Intelligence (AI) was coined in 1956 when American computer scientist John McCarthy defined it as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs”. AI, also known as machine learning, now refers to a machine’s use of algorithms to understand human activity and provide a response to it. There […]

On September 18, it was revealed that German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) had been cheating its consumers and regulatory bodies in addition to lying to them. The wake-up call came when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation to the company. Turns out that VW cars being sold in the US had […]

“Do everything with intent. Make sure intention is the number one ingredient in your creation.” Speaking at Cannes Lions, the award-winning producer Pharrell Williams touched on something all businesses should always be thinking about. The social landscape as we know it is changing, primarily because of an increase in consumer preferences towards morality. Millennials aren’t […]