One of the biggest tech giants in the world might owe you money. Oracle America, Inc. has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged the company tracked people’s online and offline activities and made their data available to third parties without people’s consent. The company has agreed to pay $115 million as part of the settlement. Here’s what you need to know.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the way organisations operate, using vast amounts of personal data to make smart, informed decisions. However, this incredible potential comes with concerns about data privacy. To truly benefit from AI, organisations must navigate the fine line between leveraging its power and protecting sensitive information, all while staying compliant with stringent regulations.

Microsoft is making changes to a controversial feature announced for its new range of PCs powered by artificial intelligence after it was flagged as a potential “privacy nightmare”.

The company billed the “Recall” feature for Copilot+ as a way to make users’ lives easier by capturing and storing screenshots of their desktop activity.

But after people claimed hackers might be able to misuse the tool and its saved screenshots, Microsoft is making the feature opt-in instead.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data watchdog, had said it was “making enquiries” with Microsoft about the tool after concerns were raised.

“We have heard a clear signal that we can make it easier for people to choose to enable Recall on their Copilot+ PC and improve privacy and security safeguards,” said Pavan Davuluri, corporate vice president of Windows and devices, on Friday.

Mr Davuluri shared the update in a blog post.

The “Recall” tool featured prominently during the unveiling of Microsoft’s new PCs at its developer conference in May. The company is counting on artificial intelligence (AI) to drive demand for its devices.

Executive vice president Yusuf Medhi said during the event’s keynote speech that the feature used AI “to make it possible to access virtually anything you have ever seen on your PC” and likened it to having photographic memory.

The feature can search through a users’ past activity, including their files, photos, emails and browsing history.

While this is something lots of other devices do, the tool would also take screenshots every few seconds and search these too.

Microsoft said it “built privacy into Recall’s design” from the outset and users would have control over what was captured – such as by opting out of capturing certain websites or not capturing private browsing on Microsoft’s browser, Edge.

It said changes to the feature would give people a “clearer choice” to opt in to saving screenshots during set-up of the PCs, and would otherwise be turned off by default.

Users will also be required to use Windows’ “Hello” authentication process to enable the tool, and their “proof of presence” will be required if they want to view their timeline of saved activity or search through it in Recall.

The updates will be implemented before Copilot+ PCs launch on 18 June.

Avast has been fined $16.5m by the US Federal Trade Commission. The regulator said that the cybersecurity firm had been harvesting information from users about their browsing habits through its antivirus software. The FTC added that Avast misled users by informing them that their software would protect their online privacy by blocking third-party trackers, while instead collecting and then re-selling their re-identifiable browsing data.

“Avast promised users that its products would protect the privacy of their browsing data but delivered the opposite,” said the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Samuel Levine. “Avast’s bait-and-switch surveillance tactics compromised consumers’ privacy and broke the law.”