Tencent is pushing other global technology companies to govern consumers’ personal data more responsibly and avoid "trespassing for commercial" reasons, an executive said.
"The biggest trespassers [online] are not people coming from outside … it is when you as a company trespass your own users," Seng Yee Lau, Tencent's senior executive vice president and chairman of group marketing and global branding, told The National.
“The worst thing is that when you are entrusted by your consumers and you hack their data. Hacking of users’ privacy or data is largely done out for commercial returns,” said Mr Seng, without naming any particular company.
The largest social media company in the world, Facebook, has come under fire for a slew of privacy-related issues recently, including exposing passwords of millions of users to its own employees.
Last year, the social media giant was embroiled in the saga of Cambridge Analytica, the British political consulting firm that obtained for clients the personal data of millions of Facebook profiles without consent, leading to US congressional hearings where Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg testified.
Mr Seng added that trust issues will eventually hurt companies' brand names.
“The trust issue is a becoming a deficit … in the world of marketing and branding, people think that companies are becoming less trustworthy in terms of their product offerings.”
The Shenzhen-based company – a leading investment corporation and an arch-rival of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba - runs WeChat, the messaging and payment platform that constitutes the core of China’s internet, and is China's largest technology company by market capitalisation.
Tencent's net profit for the fourth quarter of last year slid 32 per cent to 14.2 billion yuan (Dh7.74bn), below the analysts’ forecast of 18.3bn yuan, mainly due to one-off expenses related to its portfolio companies and investments in non-gaming segments.
Mr Seng said despite the impact that businesses are seeing today, AI is still in the early stages of development and global stakeholders should come together to ensure ethical standards to govern its future.
“There should be guiding principles for AI, to make sure that common issues such as data protection and privacy are taken care of. We have to define a line and make sure that innovation is not happening at the expense of crossing that line.”
While admiring the UAE’s efforts in AI, Mr Seng said that similar things are happening in the emirates that led to the technology boom in China. He said for AI to reach its full potential, it is necessary to create a full ecosystem rather than focusing on any single industry.
In China, policymakers and government laid down the infrastructure of internet that resulted in explosive growth of entrepreneurs, added Mr Seng.
“So when you have a lot of mini Steve Jobs, mini Bill Gates who are building a lot of smaller companies, then users also get stronger motivation to participate, and digitalisation takes up.
"The same things are happening in the UAE now.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
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Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
