Entertainment
Google ordered to pay $425m in privacy case
A federal jury decided on Wednesday that Alphabet’s Google must pay $425 million for invading users’ privacy by continuing to collect data for millions of users who had switched off a tracking feature in their Google account.
The verdict followed a trial in the federal court in San Francisco over allegations that, for more than eight years, Google accessed users’ mobile devices to collect, save, and use their data, breaking privacy assurances under its Web & App Activity setting.
The users had been seeking more than $31 billion in damages.
The jury found Google liable on two of the three claims of privacy violations raised by the plaintiffs. However, it decided that Google had not acted with malice, meaning the company was not liable for any punitive damages.
A spokesperson for Google confirmed the verdict. Google had denied any wrongdoing.
The class action lawsuit, filed in July 2020, alleged that Google continued collecting users’ data even when the setting was turned off, through its connections with apps such as Uber, Venmo, and Meta’s Instagram, which rely on Google’s analytics services.
At trial, Google argued that the data collected was “nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and stored in segregated, secured, and encrypted locations.” The company said the data was not tied to users’ Google accounts or any individual identity.
US District Judge Richard Seeborg certified the case as a class action, covering about 98 million Google users and 174 million devices.
Google has faced other privacy lawsuits, including one earlier this year where it paid nearly $1.4 billion in a settlement with Texas over claims that the company violated the state’s privacy laws.
In April 2024, Google also agreed to destroy billions of data records of users’ private browsing activities to settle another lawsuit, which alleged it tracked people who believed they were browsing privately, including in “Incognito” mode.
Entertainment
Microsoft 365 hit by major outage caused by failed infrastructure
Microsoft is hit by a major outage that has crippled its 365 products for thousands of users.
The outage affected business communities widely.
Reports of technical failures began coming in early afternoon on Thursday, January 22, impacting core productivity platforms such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Teams.
The DownDetector confirmed over 45,000 reports were recorded for Microsoft 365 and around 40,000 for Outlook.
This hindered sending or receiving emails, accessing files, or joining team meetings.
The outage is confirmed by Microsoft officials.
The company’s 365 X (formerly Twitter) account stated that investigators “identified a portion of service infrastructure in North America that is not processing traffic as expected.”
Officials added that the team is working to restore the infrastructure to recover the service traffic.
Prior to one day, users experienced a similar outage that was attributed to a third-party networking issue.
As of now, Microsoft support teams are working to resolve the issue for the affected systems; however, a specific timeline has not been provided yet.
Microsoft advises its customers that updates are available on its official Cloud status webpage.
Entertainment
Drake takes legal battle over Kendrick Lamar track to next level
Drake is now furious as he fighting back after a court threw out his defamation case against Universal Music Group.
The 39-year-old rapper filed an appeal officially on January 21 in U.S. Court of Appeals while showing that he isn’t ready to give up just yet on the heated high-profile lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
The case dramatically started in January 2025 where he said that the song hurt his reputation because it called him a “certified pedophile.”
However, Drake also argued that Universal’s promotion of that track made things even worse but now Kendrick is not part of the lawsuit.
A federal judge dismissed the case in October 2025, claiming that the lyrics were opinions, not facts.
Drake’s team disagreed to judge’s conclusion as they went on to add that the song presented its words as clear facts and that it misled fans through its marketing while causing even more damage.
For the unversed, Drake first filed a notice of appeal in November 2025, officially starting the process.
Moreover, the never-ending case which has been sparking buzz for so long now continued to draw a lot of attention in the music world.
All of Drake and Kendrick’s fans and industry insiders are now talking about where the thin line is.
Entertainment
Harry Styles world tour promises unforgettable star packed nights
Harry Styles is hitting the road in 2026 with a huge world tour and a star-studded lineup.
The former One Direction singer is all set to perform 30 shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden and bring chart-topping performers.
All of his fans in Amsterdam will see Robyn on stage with him, London will host Shania Twain, Sao Paulo will feature Fcukers.
However, Mexico City will welcome Jorja Smith, New York City will get Jamie XX, Melbourne will see Foushee and last but not the least Sydney will have Skye Newman joining the shows.
Shania shared her excitement on her Instagram account, saying that she has great memories of performing in UK over the years.
She then added that playing Wembley Stadium with Harry Styles is a huge bucket list moment for her at 60.
Moreover, the tour which is called Together, Together, will run from May until December.
Along with the live shows, Harry will be also giving his fans new music to look forward to as hus 12-track album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally will be released on 6 March.
The singer and songwriter’s next single, Aperture, dropped on 22 January at midnight.
With big cities, famous guests and new music, Harry Styles 2026 tour promised to bring more excitement for fans than ever before.
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