Top 5 tech stories of 2015

Safe Harbour no more

The battle between Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems and the Irish Data Protection Commissioner over its treatment of his complaint against Facebook continued in 2015.

Schrems had claimed that Facebook’s retention of his data in the US violated his right to privacy, given the revelations from Edward Snowden about mass surveillance and access to the data of large US companies.

Schrems struck a body blow in the European Court of Justice when the court ruled the 15-year-old Safe Harbour agreement – governing the safe transfer of EU citizens’ data to the US – to be invalid.

A subsequent trip to the High Court in October means the DPC will now investigate Schrems’ complaint against Facebook, three years after he started his campaign.

Ashley Madison

There must have been more than a few uncomfortable people in Ireland when news that the Ashley Madison website, which helps find those already attached a little extracurricular activity, had been hacked.

What was worse, the people who had hacked it – the Impact Group – were threatening to release the private data of those who had signed up.

The file eventually showed up on the darknet, and was verified to be genuine. The information leaked included everything from email address and credit card details to home addresses and phone numbers.

Of course, the get-out clause was that Ashley Madison doesn’t require email addresses to be verified – anyone can sign up an address – so those email addresses may not have been genuine users.

Windows 10

PCs may be waning in popularity, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from continuing to develop its operating system. Launched in July, Windows 10 undid some of the changes made in Windows 8, most notably a proper return for the Start menu.

It brought some new functions too, such as biometric logins through Windows Hello and universal apps that will work across all Windows devices, regardless of whether they are using a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone.

Although it’s being blamed for the decline in PC shipments – Windows 10 is free for users of Windows 8 and Windows 7 – the strategy has paid off for Microsoft in the 110 million devices it has been installed on since July 29th. But the firm is thinking bigger: it’s aiming for one billion installations in two to three years.

Google: EU to ABC

2015 was a notable year for Google. In April, it fell foul of the European Union, which claimed it was engaging in monopolistic practices and favouring its own services in search results, an accusation Google has firmly rebutted.

A few months later, Google announced a complete reorganisation of its operations, forming Alphabet. Under the new structure, Google is part of the bigger organisation, with Nest, Life Sciences and Calico for example all moving from Google to Alphabet.

But has much changed? Sergey Brin and Larry Page now head up Alphabet instead of Google. Alphabet shares still trade with the GOOGL ticker. And Google itself still remains the largest revenue driver for the conglomerate.

Dell-EMC deal

It seems only last week Michael Dell was fighting to take the the firm he founded private again; in 2015, he decided it was time for the biggest tech deal ever – a $67 billion merger with EMC.

The plans were announced in October. Complicating matters is VMWare, in which EMC owns an 81 per cent share. After the merger, Dell will be in control of VMWare, but will only hold a 28 per cent interest.

It’s an audacious move and one Irish staff of Dell and EMC will be watching closely. About 3,000 people work for EMC most based in Cork, with some 2,500 employed by Dell.

There’s been a bit of “will they, won’t they?” in the weeks since. Speculation over the fate of VMware. A multibillion dollar tax bill that could be a bump in the road.

Ultimately, it’s expected to get the backing of shareholders and close some time in 2016.