Dan and Phil’s relationship revelation is a reminder of how toxic fandoms can be | Eilish Gilligan

This week, longtime British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester uploaded a new video confirming they have been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years.If you weren’t a deeply online child during the 2010s, you probably have no idea who Dan and Phil are, or why this matters. But to those who formed a robust parasocial bond with the duo – who have more than 13 million collective subscribers on YouTube – this was a revelatory moment. It was also a sobering reminder of the emotional damage that toxic fandoms can wreak on their subjects.Over the course of 45 minutes, Howell and Lester, now in their thirties, share the “apocalyptic constant stress of the Dan and Phil dating conspiracy”, where “fans” subjected them to frenzied speculation for 16 years straight

Banks need stricter controls to prevent romance fraud, says City regulator

The City regulator has called on banks and payment firms to bring in stricter controls protecting customers from romance fraud after a study showed a number of missed “red flags” that led to people losing huge sums of money.The review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted one case where someone lost £428,000, another where a customer made 403 payments totalling £72,000 to a fraudster and a case where someone wanted money to transfer cryptocurrency to their “partner” in Iraq.Romance scams, where criminals try to build emotional connections with victims before defrauding them, have been growing in scale and complexity in recent years.Figures from the City of London police put the loss from romance fraud at £106m last year, although the FCA says the real figure is much higher as many people do not report the crime owing to feelings of shame and stigma.The FCA review of six banks and payment firms looked at how they detect and prevent romance fraud and found large disparities in how victims of fraud were treated

Launch of veteran card will be used to test UK government’s digital ID scheme

Former military personnel will be used to test and refine the government’s divisive digital ID scheme from Friday, when ministers make a smartphone-based veteran card available to 1.8 million people.The proof of service, which in its current physical version gives access to charities, retail discounts and certain public services, will be the first of a series of official credentials the government wants to let people carry in a government app.Digital driving licences will be in development by the end of this year and by the end of 2027, digital versions of every government-issued credential – including disclosure and barring checks – will be offered for voluntary use, officials said. Keir Starmer wants to make carrying a digital ID mandatory for anyone wanting or needing to prove their right to work in the UK by the end of this parliament

Heed warnings from Wolmar on robotaxis | Brief letters

In assessing the merits of driverless taxis (Driverless taxis from Waymo will be on London’s roads next year, US firm announces, 15 October), passengers should consider the cautions presented in Christian Wolmar’s book Driverless Cars: On a Road to Nowhere. Adherence to Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics (“A robot may not injure a human being”) requires the taxi to stop if a person steps in front of it. Highway robbery or worse may be facilitated.Prof Clive CoenKing’s College London Your article (Parliamentary staff of colour earn £2,000 less than white colleagues, study suggests, 12 October) says that disabled employees earn £646 less a year “than able-bodied colleagues”. Disabilities come in many forms, not all physical

Barrister found to have used AI to prepare for hearing after citing ‘fictitious’ cases

An immigration barrister was found by a judge to be using AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing after citing cases that were “entirely fictitious” or “wholly irrelevant”.Chowdhury Rahman was discovered using ChatGPT-like software to prepare his legal research, a tribunal heard. Rahman was found not only to have used AI to prepare his work, but “failed thereafter to undertake any proper checks on the accuracy”.The upper tribunal judge Mark Blundell said Rahman had even tried to hide the fact he had used AI and “wasted” the tribunal’s time. Blundell said he was considering reporting Rahman to the Bar Standards Board

Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews

Italian news publishers are calling for an investigation into Google’s AI Overviews, arguing that the search engine’s AI-generated summaries feature is a “traffic killer” that threatens their survival.FIEG, the Italian federation of newspaper publishers, said it has submitted a formal complaint to Agcom, Italy’s communications watchdog.Similar complaints have been filed in other EU countries. Coordinated by the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, the aim is to push the European Commission to open an investigation against Google under the EU Digital Services Act.The threat posed by AI Overviews, which gives users information without them having to click through to the original source by summarising searches with a block of text at the top of the results page, is among the main concerns of European news outlets