Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are hiring a seasonal, on-call “Beach Water Person” based in Kauai, Hawaii, where the family owns a sprawlingcompound, according to a new job listing on Greenhouse associated with West 10, the Zuckerberg family office.
This is an interesting choice for a job title, because according to the job description, the primary duties of this “Beach Water Person” include serving as a “Beach Lifeguard,” and “Pool Lifeguard.” In other words, being a lifeguard.
The job listing names a few additional duties related to water activities, such as instructing “stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), canoe paddling, snorkeling, and other ocean-based activities.” These, however, come after the water safety duties in the job description.
This position easily could have been called “Pool/Beach Lifeguard,” or simply “Lifeguard.” For the sake of comprehensiveness, “Pool/Beach Lifeguard and Boat Deckhand” would have also worked. Alternatively, the Zuckerbergs could have chosen “Beach/Pool Attendant,” a job title roughly synonymous with lifeguard that could reasonably be interpreted as encompassing extra duties associated with leisure, such as tending to a boat or teaching people how to stand-up paddleboard.
Arguably, any of these options would have provided more clarity than “Beach Water Person,” which does not appear to correspond with a job title anywhere else in the English-speaking world.
WIRED did not immediately hear back from representatives of the Zuckerberg family. Lacking a human to speak with, we decided to ask Meta’s AI chatbot “what is a ‘beach water person’?”
“‘Beach water person’ would just mean someone who loves being in/near the ocean,” the chatbot said. “The word for that is thalassophile—’a person who loves the seas and oceans.’” Ok!
The Home Office is yet to publish information about the scale of software errors in its electronic visa (eVisa) system, but what little data is already available suggests that tens of thousands have been affected.
On 31 December 2024, the immigration documents of millions of people living in the UK expired after being replaced by the Home Office with a real-time, online-only immigration status.
While the department has been issuing eVisas for several years – including to European Union (EU) citizens who applied to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) after Brexit, those applying for Skilled Worker visas, and people from Hong Kong applying for the British National (Overseas) visa – paper documents have now been completely phased out.
Instead, people are now expected to use a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) digital account to generate “share codes”, which they must use to prove their immigration status when dealing with a range of third parties, including employers and letting agencies.
Unlike the old physical documents, the Home Office’s eVisa system does not provide a stable record of an individual’s immigration status. Instead, the system generates the status in real time every time someone needs to prove it, which is determined by trawling dozens of disparate databases to source the relevant information.
Given that millions of people are now required to prove their immigration status via the system, even a 1% error rate would mean tens of thousands of people are affected at the very least.
“More than 10 million eVisas have now been issued, and the vast majority of people continue to use them without any problems,” a Home Office spokesperson told Computer Weekly. “We will provide support to anyone who has difficulties and resolve any problems raised as swiftly as possible.”
However, while immigration lawyers and civil society organisations have long been attempting to uncover the true extent of the issues being faced, the Home Office itself has so far refused to divulge meaningful information that would help these groups grasp the scale of the problem.
Two separate Freedom of Information requests – submitted by lawyers and media outlet Politico in February and June 2025, respectively – were previously denied by the Home Office. In the first instance, it withheld the information on the basis that extracting the information from its databases would exceed the cost limit. In the second instance, it withheld the information because the information was intended for future publication.
Information about the scale of eVisa issues was recently unveiled by Simon Tomlinson, the Home Office’s then-policy lead for eVisas in migration, borders and international policy and programmes, during a judicial review challenge brought by two people affected by system errors.
While the High Court heard – and ultimately dismissed – the judicial review case in early March 2026, Tomlinson noted that in November 2025 alone, 41,000 calls were made to the UKVI Resolution Centre.
The Home Office cannot declare the eVisa project a success, while at the same time covering up the extent of technical failures Monique Hawkins, the3million
He added that, between April and October 2025, 116,011 further eVisa enquiries were submitted by members of the public, although the ruling itself does not make clear whether that is the number reported to the Resolution Centre specifically, or to the Home Office generally.
Computer Weekly asked the Home Office for clarification on where the reports were made, but received no response on this point.
Although there was, in fact, no error in 34,550 cases (29.7%), the ruling noted that the remaining 81,461 (70.2%) related to errors that subsequently had to be addressed.
“The Home Office cannot declare the eVisa project a success, while at the same time covering up the extent of technical failures,” said Monique Hawkins, head of policy and advocacy at the3million.
“We continue to see the human impact of such failures, as people contact us every single day. Just today, I spoke to someone who, following major surgery abroad, has been unable to return to her home in the UK because of a technical failure in the Home Office process to link passports.
“Transparency on this issue is crucial, and should be something the Home Office welcomes if it truly believes it has been successful. Without it, there is no way of knowing whether the Home Office is effectively monitoring failures, or providing the resources for faster resolution of such failures.”
Computer Weekly contacted the Home Office about when it is planning to publish the data, and why it has not already given the figures cited in court, but received no on-the-record response.
According to further data held by the3million, which hosts an online reporting tool for people experiencing eVisa issues, 917 people reported problems with the system directly to the organisation between April 2024 and now.
“In Q1 2026, a number of eVisa holders reported a recurring technical fault in which a ‘ghost’ application appeared on their account, blocking them from updating their travel document details. In each case, a previous UKVI application was showing as pending despite the individual having no live application,” it said in a snapshot report of eVisa problems.
“Although the volume of submissions reporting this issue was low, it points to a deeper and longstanding concern: that technical faults or unannounced back-end changes made by the Home Office can render someone’s sole proof of immigration status unreliable or inaccessible.”
However, the3million said it estimates that for every eVisa problem reported to it, “there are 500 people out there who do not report to us”. The group has previously gone on the record to say the cases reported to it are likely “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Potential data protection investigation
Although the UK data regulator has been actively considering whether to investigate the Home Office’s eVisa system over data protection concerns since November 2025 – after 19 civil society groups wrote an open letter highlighting the “high volume” of data quality and integrity errors linked to the scheme – it has yet to commit to an actual investigation.
Speaking with Computer Weekly, the person affected said that ongoing technical errors with the eVisa system meant his account continued to display an expired student visa, instead of his new spouse visa, and wrong passport information for almost half a year.
Computer Weekly previously contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about why it has not yet opened a formal investigation or publicly responded to the letter, despite widespread data protection issues being reported with the system.
“We regularly engage with government departments, including the Home Office, to ensure that data protection obligations are met and potential risks are mitigated,” said an ICO spokesperson. “We can confirm that we have received the letter outlining these concerns, and are continuing to carefully assess the issues raised before responding.”
In December 2025, Computer Weekly received a Freedom of Information (FoI) Act response from the ICO about the volume of eVisa complaints it had received since paper documents were phased out at the end of December 2024.
However, the regulator said at the time that it was unable to say how many eVisa-related cases there were, because it would require a manual search of hundreds of complaints raised against the Home Office.
“The reason is that we do not record the requested information in a way that is easily reportable and would require a manual search of hundreds of records to find the information that you are requesting,” it said.
“We hold 851 cases about the Home Office in the previous two years. Assuming that one year is approximately half that, then there would still be 425 cases to manually search. Each search could take approximately three to four minutes to complete, which would still take it over the cost limit. It should also be noted that some of the searches would take considerably longer.”
Computer Weekly asked the ICO whether it now has a clear idea of how many eVisa-related data protection complaints have been raised against the Home Office, but it did not respond to this point.
After completing a major upgrade to its New York metro platform to a quad-node network architecture, Internet Exchange (IX) operator DE-CIX has turned to a different deployment, working with NGO Internet Pour Tous, along with internet connectivity and web hosting provider United SA, to expand the Kinshasa-based Africa Congo Internet Exchange (ACIX) with an additional datacentre presence in OADC Texaf’s Kinshasa FIH1 facility.
Established in 2023, ACIX is designed as a neutral Internet Exchange environment open to all licensed operators, internet service providers (ISPs), mobile network operators (MNOs), cloud providers, content providers, enterprises, financial institutions, academic networks and international carriers operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the wider region.
NGO Internet Pour Tous was established in the DRC in 2021 to support the DRC government’s Plan National du Numérique Horizon 2025. The mission includes, among others, reducing the cost of Internet connectivity, improving the quality and availability of connectivity, and providing free connectivity to thousands of schools in the DRC.
ACIX is operated by DE-CIX on behalf of Internet Pour Tous as part of the DE-CIX-as-a-Service (DaaS) programme, with the intention of creating a regional hub for connectivity within central Africa. The NGO said that it can play a central role in supporting the development and coordination of the ACIX initiative as a neutral ecosystem platform intended to promote inclusive interconnection and digital ecosystem growth across the country.
DE-CIX’s DaaS program includes a set of services – such as installation, maintenance, provisioning, marketing and sales support – designed for datacentre operators or other third parties to create their own Internet Exchange and interconnection platform fully operated by DE-CIX.
ODAC is claimed to be Africa’s fastest-growing datacentre company and operates a growing network of carrier-neutral datacentres across the country, designed to support the development of open, interconnected digital ecosystems. OADC Texaf provides a carrier-neutral and open-access hosting environment for the ACIX infrastructure in its Kinshasa datacentre campus.
With the new datacentre presence at OADC Texaf’s Kinshasa FIH1 facility, ACIX will become the first distributed IX in the DRC, regarding the creation of what is described as a neutral and “state-of-the-art” colocation datacentre as marking an important step in strengthening the digital infrastructure ecosystem of the DRC.
The project aims to take advantage of the strategic geographic position of Kinshasa, located between the two most densely populated regions of the African continent. Forming an interconnection bridge between the neighbouring countries from the Atlantic on the west to the Indian Ocean on the east, ACIX will act as a connectivity hub for equatorial Africa, where networks can exchange data and house content with “significantly” improved performance.
Through the IX, networks from equatorial Africa will be able to exchange data with other networks at reduced latency improving the performance of content and applications, from education to Internet banking. There will also be stronger network resilience and broader interconnection opportunities for the national and regional internet community.
“ACIX is more than an Internet Exchange; it is foundational digital infrastructure for the future of Central Africa,” said Hussein Ibrahim, CEO of United SA. “Strong digital ecosystems are built on strong interconnection. ACIX represents an important step toward a more connected and digitally empowered region, where data can remain local, networks become more resilient and innovation can scale across borders.”
“As a neutral infrastructure provider, our role is to enable open interconnection and support the development of the broader digital ecosystem,” added Mohammed Bouhelal, managing director and director, business development of OADC Texaf DC. “Hosting ACIX within a carrier-neutral environment contributes to creating a trusted platform where all ecosystem participants can interconnect on equal terms.”
Marco Brandstaetter, global programme manager for DE-CIX as a service at DE-CIX, added: “DE-CIX is proud to support Internet Pour Tous and United SA in the expansion of ACIX and the development of a distributed, datacentre and carrier neutral Internet Exchange for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“The integration ofOADC Texaf’s newly built Kinshasa facility will enable additional networks to connect to the exchange and benefit from improved connectivity. ACIX is creating digital opportunities for the DRC and equatorial Africa by aggregating networks and enabling low latency and resilient local data exchange.”
Noting that every conversation moves work forward, and aligning with its goal to connect conversations, enterprise data and workflows so people can move seamlessly from discussion to execution, Zoom has added an agentic search function to its platform and extended its My Notes system to mobile devices.
The bigger picture message from the artificial intelligence (AI)-first work and communications platform provider is that it is aiming to close the gap between conversation and execution. That is to say that despite conversations happening everywhere – on mobile devices, across platforms and in-person – Zoom believes the systems of record that have traditionally supported work aren’t keeping up.
By bringing the power of My Notes to mobile and making enhancements to its AI Companion platform, Zoom said that whether a discussion happens in a boardroom, over coffee, or on a call, the outcome is the same: clear next steps and work that gets done after every conversation so people can stop losing momentum.
The company observed that with manual notetaking, thoughts are often incomplete, action items are missed, and hours are spent reconstructing context after the fact. While most note-taking tools capture conversations, Zoom said few help finish the work that results from them.
“Work happens everywhere, and now notetaking can come with you, enabling you to never miss an important insight or key decision, whether in a virtual meeting or a spontaneous coffee shop meet-up,” said Zoom chief product officer Russell Dicker. “My Notes is a key part of taking conversations to completion, which allows work to move forward seamlessly, so you can focus on the people in front of you instead of worrying about how to reconstruct the conversation context later.”
My Notes is described as an AI-first personal notetaker that, when on mobile, allows users to capture and act on conversations from Zoom and in-person meetings, staying present in the moment while AI handles the documentation and initiates next steps.
My Notes is a key part of taking conversations to completion, which allows work to move forward seamlessly, so you can focus on the people in front of you instead of worrying about how to reconstruct the conversation context later Russell Dicker, Zoom
It works across video conferencing platforms, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and in-person conversations. Instead of just transcribing messages, it is designed to capture, organise and convert every discussion into actionable next steps, right where the conversation happens. Notes stay personal by default, but users can share summaries with their team via Zoom Canvas, Chat or Slack, and create reusable templates for recurring meetings such as one-to-ones, brainstorms or client calls.
Key features, according to Zoom, include the ability to build from the conversation out, capturing “what matters” and connecting it directly to what happens next. My Notes automatically generates concise summaries, extracts action items and tracks decisions, so users can focus on conversations instead of documenting them.
Automated workflows can be triggered directly from My Notes, such as sending follow-up emails or creating tasks, so next steps happen while context is still fresh. Workflows are available both to hosts and participants.
Select predefined templates designed for a specific role – sales, marketing, IT, HR – or with custom workflows created when scheduling a meeting. These can be attached during a My Notes session and managed with follow-up actions afterwards. Users can review, edit and approve steps, combining automation efficiency with human oversight.
Expanded agentic search capabilities are said to mean that unlike traditional search, which only looks within a single app, agentic search for Custom AI Companion lets users query across 10 available third-party connectors, now with extended capabilities for Salesforce (such as specific account information), Workday (such as employee records or time-off balances), and ServiceNow (such as IT tickets or incident status), as well as Zoom Meetings, Chat, Phone and Canvas.
With built-in reasoning and context awareness, agentic search not only retrieves information but also interprets intent, surfacing the most relevant insights and next steps.
The result, according to Zoom, is that “nothing falls through the cracks”.
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