Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government is going to impose tax on advertisements on Google and Facebook in Bangladesh.

“We will ask for tax on their earnings in the upcoming national budget… such taxes are paid everywhere, including India,” he told reporters after a pre-budget discussion with owners of newspapers and private television channels at the State Guest House Padma.

The government will also impose “landing fees” on the Indian TV channels being broadcast in Bangladesh, he said.

Besides, it will ask all the cable operators in the capital and elsewhere to digitise their services in phases so that it could impose tax on their earnings.

Muhith also said the Value Added Tax (VAT) on private universities will stay but that would be collected from the university owners, not the students.

“We don’t know how they [the owners] will deal with the issue but charging students for this will be illegal,” he said.

On the newspaper industry, the minister said it would get concessions on newsprint import. The current 5 percent import duty will remain in force but the 12.5 percent VAT and 5 percent advanced income tax will be adjusted, he said.

However, the decision on the amount of the tax waiver was yet to be made.

Later, Muhith said the government would “rationalise” corporate tax in the next budget as the tax rate is very high.

The objective will be to remove so many different rates in the sector, he said.

Earlier at a meeting with senior officials of different ministries, the minister had promised to examine the scope for reducing corporate income tax for the upcoming fiscal. The finance ministry organised the meeting ahead of the budget.

Currently, the revenue authority collects corporate tax in six categories, ranging from 25 percent to 45 percent. Companies listed with the bourse face a 25 percent tax while non-listed ones pay 35 percent. Cigarette and bidi manufacturers have to pay a 45 percent income tax.

Finance Secretary Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman, The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam, Daily Samakal owner AK Azad, The Financial Express Editor AHM Moazzem Hossain, bdnews24.com editor-in-chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi and National Board of Revenue Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, among others, attended yesterday’s discussion.

Under the plan, China will train at least 500 teachers and 5,000 students in artificial intelligence at top universities over the next five years.

The program makes use of government, companies, and universities, including the Ministry of Education, Sinovation Ventures, a Chinese technology investment firm, and Peking University.

By inviting esteemed AI experts to train the first 100 teachers and 300 students, the program will not only be able to bolster AI talent in China, but also explore an appropriate framework for AI education.

“There is a wide gap between supply and demand, with over five million AI talents but a severe shortage of AI enterprises and research teams,” said Wang Yonggang, deputy head of the AI Institute of Sinovation Ventures, during the launch ceremony.

Last year, China carried out over half of the total AI projects in the world but accounted for merely five percent of global AI talents.

Xu Tao, director of the International Cooperation and Communication Department at the Ministry of Education, said that the Ministry of Education will polish the AI discipline systems in universities by establishing AI majors and upgrading AI to a first-level subject.

In the future, the Ministry of Education will cooperate with American universities, offer scholarships for students who apply for overseas study and form an alliance to boost China-US educational exchanges in artificial intelligence, according to Xu.

“This year, Peking University took the initiative by providing master’s degrees in AI innovation in order to train a new generation of AI talents,” said Tian Gang, vice principal of Peking University.

“The training program will hopefully integrate education and industry resources from home and abroad to develop a universally recognized education system with Chinese characteristics,” he added.

In prepared remarks released by a congressional panel, Zuckerberg admitted he was too idealistic and failed to grasp how the platform — used by two billion people — could be abused and manipulated.

The 33-year-old is to testify before senators on Tuesday and House lawmakers on Wednesday amid a firestorm over the hijacking of data on millions of Facebook users by the British firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked with Donald Trump’s campaign.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry,” Zuckerberg said in his written testimony released by the House commerce committee.

“I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

In his written remarks, Zuckerberg called Facebook “an idealistic and optimistic company” and said: “We focused on all the good that connecting people can bring.”

But he acknowledged that “it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy.”

– Investigating every app –

Zuckerberg recounted a list of steps announced by Facebook aimed at averting a repeat of the improper use of data by third parties like Cambridge Analytica, and noted that other applications were also being investigated to determine if they did anything wrong.

“We’re in the process of investigating every app that had access to a large amount of information before we locked down our platform in 2014,” said Zuckerberg, who was seen Monday on Capitol Hill, where he had at least one private meeting with a lawmaker.

“If we detect suspicious activity, we’ll do a full forensic audit. And if we find that someone is improperly using data, we’ll ban them and tell everyone affected.”

Facebook has taken a series of proactive steps to make up for massive lapses in protecting personal data, as lawmakers signaled they intend to get tough on privacy.

Last week, the company announced new privacy tools to be in place in user news feeds on Monday, and said it would notify the 87 million users affected by the data hijacking scandal, amid probes underway on both sides of the Atlantic.

Over the weekend, it said it had suspended another data analysis firm, US-based Cubeyou, after reports that it had used private data harvested from psychological testing apps for commercial purposes.

– Backing ‘Honest Ads’ –

On Friday, Facebook sought to quell some concerns over political manipulation of its platform by announcing support for the “Honest Ads Act” that requires election ad buyers to be identified, and to go further with verification of sponsors of ads on key public policy issues.

Zuckerberg said the change will mean “we will hire thousands of more people” to get the new system in place ahead of US midterm elections in November.

“We’re starting this in the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months,” Zuckerberg said.

On Monday, Facebook also agreed to supply proprietary data for a study on its role in elections and democracy, researchers announced.

“In consultation with the foundations funding the initiative, Facebook will invite respected academic experts to form a commission which will then develop a research agenda about the impact of social media on society — starting with elections,” a company statement said.

“The focus will be entirely forward looking. And our goals are to understand Facebook’s impact on upcoming elections — like Brazil, India, Mexico and the US midterms — and to inform our future product and policy decisions.”

Facebook has said it has seen little impact on its business from the privacy scandal despite a #deleteFacebook movement and concerns from advertisers.

But Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research said the entire digital advertising industry, of which Google and Facebook are the leaders, could be impacted by the scandal.

The changes announced by Facebook and Google restricting third-party access “indicate a higher likelihood that both companies will ‘raise their walls’ … Both of these trends will likely harm ad tech companies focused on buying media or otherwise focused on the Facebook and Google ecosystems.”

One prominent tech leader, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, announced meanwhile that he was leaving the social network.

“Users provide every detail of their life to Facebook,” Wozniak told USA Today.

“Facebook makes a lot of advertising money off this. The profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back.”

The California tech giant said its retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries were operating with nonpolluting or renewable energy.

Nine additional manufacturing partners have committed to power all of their Apple production with clean energy, bringing the total number of supplier commitments to 23.

“We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.

“After years of hard work, we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone.

“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”

The news follows a similar announcement from Google, which claimed in December it had attained a goal of 100 percent renewable energy.

Apple said the company and its partners are building renewable energy projects around the world, including solar arrays and wind farms, as well as emerging technologies like biogas fuel cells, micro-hydro generation systems and energy storage technologies.

The company said it has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totaling 626 megawatts of generation capacity.

It also has 15 more projects in construction. Once built, over 1.4 gigawatts of renewable energy generation will be spread across 11 countries.

The organizations said that although YouTube claims that the site is only for users 13 and up, Google generates significant profits from kid-targeted advertising on the video-sharing service.

Twenty-three organizations signed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), arguing that YouTube is among the most popular online platforms for children and offers many programs designed and promoted for children.

According to the complaint, Google collects personal information about minors on YouTube, including location, unique device identifiers and mobile telephone numbers, and uses that to target advertisements to kids across the internet, apparently without their parents’ consent.

It noted that YouTube contains child-oriented channels such as ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs, with millions of subscribers, and that advertisers pay Google a premium to place their ads on a “parenting and family” lineup including channels aimed at children.

“For years, Google has abdicated its responsibility to kids and families by disingenuously claiming YouTube — a site rife with popular cartoons, nursery rhymes and toy ads — is not for children under 13,” said Josh Golin of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, one of the groups filing the complaint.

Golin added: “Google profits immensely by delivering ads to kids and must comply with COPPA,” the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy, another group signing the complaint, said that Google “has acted duplicitously by falsely claiming in its terms of service that YouTube is only for those who are age 13 or older, while it deliberately lured young people into an ad-filled digital playground.”

Contacted by AFP, a Google spokesman said the company had not seen the complaint but that “protecting kids and families has always been a top priority for us.”

The spokesman added in a statement, “Because YouTube is not for children, we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to offer an alternative specifically designed for children.”

Other groups signing the FTC complaint included Common Sense, Consumer Action, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

COPPA, passed by Congress in 1998, restricts websites’ handling of data and advertising for children.

Several website operators have faced fines for violations, including Yelp and a unit of the Walt Disney Co.

Last year, more than 2.9 billion records were reported breached, down from 4 billion disclosed in 2016. While the number of records breached was still significant, ransomware provided the most common threat in 2017 as attacks such as WannaCry, NotPetya, and Bad Rabbit caused chaos across industries without contributing to the total number of compromised records reported.

Other key findings included:

• A historic 424 per cent jump in breaches related to misconfigured cloud infrastructure, largely due to human error;

• For the second year in a row, the financial services industry suffered the most cyberattacks, accounting for 27 per cent of attacks across related industries.

The IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index is comprised of insights and observations from data analysed via hundreds of millions of protected endpoints and servers across nearly 100 countries. IBM X-Force runs thousands of spam traps around the world and monitors tens of millions of spam and phishing attacks daily while analysing billions of web pages and images to detect fraudulent activity and brand abuse.

Cyber crime cost the Asia Pacific region US$171 billion (Bt5.34 trillion) in damages, almost a third of the global total of $544.5 billion, found the study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and online security company McAfee.

Markets in Southeast Asia have already been used as launch pads for attacks, either as vulnerable hotbeds of unsecured infrastructure or as well-connected hubs to initiate attacks, the study found.

Perhaps more worryingly, a study by AT Kearney has revealed that the top 1,000 companies in SEA potentially stand to lose $750 billion in market capitalisation from cyberattacks. This reiterates the importance for businesses to stop ignoring the need for cybersecurity capabilities and include it as one of their top priorities.

In light of the recent findings around the financial implications of poor cybersecurity among businesses, McAfee recent released a new report, Winning the Game, which investigated the technology investment and skills required to win in the fight against cyberthreats. The report has also revealed companies are not doing enough to recruit and retain top talent, leading to an unsatisfied workforce and increased cybersecurity risk, the reported said.

The user-friendly Social Protection Toolbox identifies coverage gaps and advises countries on cross-country learning. It enhances capacity and knowledge building and has in-depth studies, learning modules, videos and a quiz.

The aim is to support help Asia-Pacific nations with social protection as a means to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In easy-to-understand ways, it explains the basic principles of social protection and the impact it can have on poverty reduction, social cohesion, economic growth and the environment.

The Toolbox features two e-learning modules developed with Development Pathways, showing how investing in inclusive social protection can accelerate progress towards the SDGs, why universal schemes are better at reaching the poor than targeted schemes, and what policy options to consider when designing inclusive schemes.

Despite the critical role social protection plays for the region, only three out of 10 mothers with newborns receive maternity benefits, fewer than four out of 10 people have access to healthcare and fewer than half of all countries in the region offer benefits to children and families.

With adequate social protection coverage, the region could reduce stunting, malnutrition and child and maternal mortality, increase life expectancy, see economic growth increase and reduce poverty.

“Social protection has to be affordable” said UN Under-Secretary-General and executive secretary of Escap Dr Shamshad Akhtar.

“It not only contributes to lifting people out of poverty but also helps build their resilience. In a time when inclusive social protection is under threat in the region, Asia-Pacific could use the Toolbox and learn from what other countries are doing to close these gaps.”

Escap research shows that if the region invested only 0.81 per cent of its combined GDP – corresponding to a cash transfer to poor households of less than half US$1 a day – 1.2 billion people would be lifted out of moderate poverty (at US$ 3.10 a day), contributing to feed the 500 million people who go hungry every day.

However, unmanned stores are not quite the novelty they once were. There are an increasingly large amount of them springing up around the country every week – from supermarkets and noodle-shops to bookstores. An unmanned bookstore opened in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in January this year.

How does it work?

IFANX Bookshop, unmanned bookstore, opens in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, January 8, 2018. [Photo/CGTN]

Scan the QR code on the glass door and wait until a mini-program appears. As soon as the door flashes, you are in the bookstore. On the back of each book, you will find a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) circuit, which uses electro-magnetic fields to track the book on your way out. Stand in the payment area and scan the QR code once more and you have successfully made a purchase.

“It can save some labor costs. Also, we collect information, like the customers’ shopping habits and their book preferences. Then, in the future, we know what books we should provide,” said Fang Hao, Chief Operating Officer, IFANX Bookshop.

Concerns about unmanned stores

An unmanned bookstore in Beijing. [Photo/VCG]

The idea of unmanned stores first caught the world’s attention in 2016 when Amazon announced its cashier-less store – called Amazon Go. It is a grocery store operated by the online retailer Amazon, with currently one location in Seattle, Washington.

Shoplifting has been one of the major concerns that people have raised when questioning the sustainability of this new shopping model, since Amazon envisioned its cashier-less store concept.

“Risk control is probably the first word that comes to mind when talking about unmanned stores. But with the support of technology, the rate of stolen or damaged goods in our automatic stores is far lower than in traditional retailers,” said Chen Zilin, founder and CEO of BingoBox, at TechCrunch Shanghai.

Another concern is the safety of personal information. Some industry insiders warned that since there is not going to be just one type of facial recognition technology in the future and each of them collects different information at different times, the issue of information security shouldn’t be ignored.