Happy Monday. Here are some tech news to kick off the week.
1. Changes in Australian privacy laws
iTnews reports that on Saturday, Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the federal government would fast-track changes to Australia’s privacy laws that, if passed, would see fines for “repeated or serious” data breaches rise from $2.2 million to “up to” $50 million or 30 percent of “adjusted” billing. Dreyfus said the current penalties for breached organizations “were considered a cost of doing business” and therefore not a deterrent. .
When Australians hand over their personal data, they have a right to expect that it will be protected.
Next week I will introduce legislation to make sure that is the case. pic.twitter.com/QyuvOXDMPM
—Mark Dreyfus (@MarkDreyfusKCMP) October 21, 2022
2. Commitment to reduce methane emissions
It is still up to the government and Canberra has confirmed that Australia will sign a global commitment to reduce methane emissions which, as ABC reports, will not result in new taxes or levies. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced on Sunday that Australia would join more than 120 other nations that have already signed up to the voluntary pledge.
3. Neuralink show delayed until the end of November
Elon Musk postponed Neuralink’s “show and tell” event until November 30 (probably December 1 for us). As you can see in the tweet below, Musk didn’t provide any further details on what to expect. But as The Verge reminded us, last year Musk’s brain implant company showed a video of what appears to be a monkey playing Stink with his mind, so we might see something similar during next month’s event.
Neuralink show and tell now on November 30
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 23, 2022
4. More EV chargers for NSW
Good news for New South Welshman with electric vehicles: More than 500 EV chargers will be deployed across the state over the next two years as part of a $40 million government offer to spur adoption of the technology. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, fast and ultra-fast chargers will be installed at 86 locations in suburban Sydney, as well as more regional areas.
5. Big, big, gigs digital camera
Now we have good news for fans of the big stuff. As TechCrunch pointed out to us, the world’s largest digital camera is being built by astronomers who will take images of the distant universe with 3.2 gigspixel resolution (One gigapixel is equal to 1,000 megapixels). That camera will be the workhorse of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory telescope, which has been in the works for about two decades but is almost complete.
BONUS ITEM: yuck.
Have a good week, everyone.
