Rob Dunwood (2:10)
These are the daily tech headlines for Thursday, October 9, 2025. I'm Rob Dunwood. Discord reported that roughly 70,000 users globally had their government ID photos, names, usernames, emails, the last four digits of credit cards and IP addresses potentially exposed due to a data breach at a third party customer service provide. Discord is refuting higher numbers circulated online, calling them an extortion attempt. The company has notified affected users, secured compromised systems, ended its relationship with the vendor and is working with law enforcement and security experts. Verizon is acquiring Starry, an ISP specializing in home Internet delivered via antennas and millimeter wave technology, a move that will enhance Verizon's capability to provide high speed Internet in multi dwelling units such as apartments and condominiums. Starry, which launched in Boston in 2016, offers gigabit speed through its unique approach of beaming Internet service from larger antenna to homes using high speed short range millimeter wave broadcast, bypassing the need for extensive wired infrastructure, though this method typically requires an uninterrupted line of sight. OpenAI is expanding its affordable ChatGPT Go plan priced under $5 to 16 new Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, nep, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam. In some of these countries, specifically Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Pakistan, users can pay in their local currencies, while in the remaining Countries the approximate $5 USD price will vary based on local taxation. Netflix is expanding its gaming strategy by introducing video games playable on TVs using phones as controllers for social games like Boogie Party and Pictionary. This initiative aims to move beyond mobile only gaming and leverage TV as a primary entertainment screen. Led by Greg Peters and Elaine Taskin, Netflix will offer free TV compatible party games, kids games, mainstream hits and games based on Netflix properties, supported by a significant investment in cloud server capacity. Starting January 1, 2026, Texas will require companies like Apple and Google to verify the ages of App Store users, mandating that the new Apple account users confirm that they are over 18 or join a family sharing group with parental consent for downloads and in app purch. This will necessitate changes for developers, with Apple updating its declared age range API and launching new APIs for reotaining parental consent. Similar laws are coming to Utah and Louisiana, despite Apple's concerns about user privacy due to collection of sensitive personal information, which CEO Tim Cook voiced to Texas governor Greg Abbott. New York City has sued Facebook, Google, Snapchat and TikTok, claiming their platforms cause a mental health crisis in children through social media addiction. The city, along with school and healthcare, is seeking damages from Meta, Alphabet, Snap and bytedance, accusing them of gross negligence and creating a public nuisance. This lawsuit in Manhattan federal court aligns New York city with about 2,050 other plaintiffs and similar nationwide litigation. Synology has reversed its policy, requiring the use of its own branded hard drives and some of its 2025 Disk Station NAS devices, now allowing the use of third party drives with the latest Disk Station Manager update. This change, announced in an October 8 press release, applies the plus value and J series Disk Station NAS models. The move is a significant departure from Synology's previous stance, which had aggressively expanded the Verified Drive policy and maintained that internal testing supported the requirement as a way to enhance reliability and prevent drive failure and compatibility issues. Square Block's merchant payments platform has launched a new set of features for merchants. These include an AI powered voice ordering system for restaurants, especially beneficial for cloud kitchens and delivery services, which can manage complex orders and inquiries. Additionally, they've introduced enhanced AI assistance for local insights and integrated Bitcoin solution for accepting and holding the cryptocurrency. Square highlights its voice ordering system's unique, seamless integration with its existing payment and kiosk ecosystem. And finally, California governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new law requiring web browsers to offer a one click opt out for users to prevent third parties from selling their data. Building on a 2018 California Consumer Privacy act, this marks a significant victory for privacy advocates, eliminating the need to opt out of individual websites. Other new data privacy bills include mandates for social media companies to offer easy account cancellation with full data deletion and increased transparency from data brokers. For more analysis of the tech news of the day, subscribe to DailyTechNewsShow.com, and if you enjoy the show, remember to tell a friend to check us out. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you next time.
