China is taking its social credit system a step further by naming and shaming “deadbeat” debtors on one of the most popular apps in the country, WeChat. The Higher People’s Court of Hebei launched a new mini program on WeChat last week that lets users see if a debtor listed on the country’s credit blacklist …

Privacy concerns are far from over even as we move into the new year. Google is removing apps that collect users’ SMS and call log information from its Play store in the coming weeks, it said in a blog post Monday. The post serves as a reminder to developers of the search giant’s new policy to restrict access to SMS …

Trouble is brewing for Facebook in Vietnam. The social network has infringed on a new cybersecurity law in the country by letting users post content it deemed illegal on its platform, state media reported Wednesday. Such posts include those containing “slanderous content,” “anti-government sentiment” and the defamation of individuals and organisations, it added, citing the Ministry of Information and Communications. …

More Chinese tech firms are erring on the side of caution when it comes to policing content on their platforms. iFlytek, a voice recognition technology provider in China, has begun censoring politically sensitive terms from its translation app, South China Morning Post reported citing a tweet by Jane Manchun Wong. Wong is a software engineer who tweets frequently about hidden …

Google may face more fines as the year comes to an end. Russia has accused Google of breaching local regulations by failing to remove banned websites from its search results, according to Roskomnadzor, the country’s watchdog, in a post on local Facebook-equivalent VK on Monday. In the post, the Russian communications regulator said it has opened a civil case against …

Dolce & Gabbana is in hot soup. The Italian fashion house “postponed” its Shanghai runway show to an unspecified date and found itself delisted from Chinese shopping platforms following controversies this week, Bloomberg reported. D&G published three promotional clips Chinese internet users found racist to its social media accounts including China’s Twitter-like service Weibo this week to help promote the Great …

There have been complaints about the rising costs of iPhones, but a report in China suggests that Apple users typically earn less and are less educated than people who use other phones.  iPhone users typically bring home less than 3,000 yuan (about $433) every month, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday, citing a new study by Shanghai-based research agency MobData. …

Scientists in Australia have devised a new fitness tracker for cows. CSIRO is working with agricultural startup Ceres Tag to make a smart ear tag for cows, the Australian science agency said Tuesday. The tag was successfully trialled on 100 cattle at its research station in Queensland, it added. The device is compared to fitness trackers because it provides similar …

Black Friday — and Cyber Monday — is a great invention because we get to go crazy buying stuff at lower prices. But you know what’s even better? Alibaba’s Singles Day shopping bonanza. Called the 11/11 Global Shopping Festival, it’s an annual 24-hour online shopping spree of sorts by the Chinese internet giant which falls on Nov. 11, otherwise known …

Announced in Beijing Thursday at the Forbidden City, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is the latest addition to Xiaomi’s line of all-screen flagship phones. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, it has a 6.39-inch display like the Mi Mix with a 2,340×1,080-pixel resolution, meaning 93.4 percent of its body is screen. (The Mi Mix 2 is just 5.99 inches, by comparison.) If you’ve been keeping up …