Enterprise

Data breach affects almost 9,000 Globe prepaid subscribers

All because of free tickets

Published

January 29, 2019

Daniel Morial

Exactly 8,851 prepaid users of Globe Telecom responded to a text promo registration, and now their personal info is available for strangers to see. It appears to be a case of “wrong-send,” but this is something that users shouldn’t ignore.

Globe sent a text blast among its prepaid subscriber base for registration to an “exclusive community of Globe Prepaid customers.” To encourage people to join, the telco is raffling off free tickets to a Blackpink concert, a popular K-pop group, in Manila.

Everything seems to be just another promotional offer. But, once the confirmation email was sent to those who registered, there has been mismatching and users received personal details of another user. The emails contained someone else’s name, full address, and email address.

Globe has already acknowledged the issue with a posted statement via its GlobeICON Facebook page:

Globe Telecom has rectified the issue with affected customers on sending wrong confirmation receipt to another individual and reported the incident to the National Privacy Commission in compliance with regulatory requirements. It was just a case of sending the data registration confirmation receipt to the wrong individual and was not sent en masse or as a group of data. It only affected prepaid customers who have registered to the On The List program to avail of concert tickets and other music venues of Globe events. About 8,851 customers were affected out of 60 million prepaid customers.

Globe Chief Information Security Officer Anton Bonifacio said: “The On The List registration site was taken down immediately to remove access to potential registrants at the time and we have notified all affected prepaid customers of the issue.”

In response, the National Privacy Commission confirmed that Globe has formally notified the concerned government agency regarding the data breach.

The NPC is now “evaluating the incident and verifying the information given to us, following our standard procedure.” They also suggest that affected subscribers monitor their online and offline accounts for any unusual activity while they are looking into the issue.

Enterprise

realme is reportedly going back to being an OPPO sub-brand

All scheduled phones will still launch on time, though.

Published

January 9, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

A popular story among Chinese smartphone brands is whenever a sub-brand spinning off into its own independent entity. A less common one is when an independent entity suddenly merges back into the main entity. And yet, that’s the story we have today. realme is reportedly going back to being a sub-brand of OPPO.

If you don’t remember realme’s time as a sub-brand, then it’s hardly your fault. It’s been a long while since realme was considered a sub-brand. In 2018, the brand spun off on its own to form one of the most popular names in the Chinese smartphone space.

Today, via Leiphone, realme will return to OPPO as a sub-brand. Current realme CEO Sky Li will still retain his responsibilities heading the brand. Plus, all products on the current release schedule will still come out as planned.

However, starting this year, realme will start reintegrating back into OPPO, particularly through the latter’s after-sales programs. OnePlus will also follow the same structure going forward.

Currently, realme has not officially announced the move. That said, we also don’t know how the brand will address the reported change. It’s possible that the shift is just internal and has no effect on how the brand faces the public. For now, only time will tell.

Enterprise

Samsung warns that tech prices might increase this year

And it’s all because of AI.

Published

January 8, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The big story late last year was the skyrocketing prices of chips. Analysts are predicting that the demand for RAM will cause the entire industry to experience hikes this year. Some users, especially in the PC building scene, are already feeling the burn. PCs won’t be the only victims, though. Xiaomi is already expecting hikes across the board. Now, Samsung is adding its voice to the growing list of warnings about price increases.

During CES 2026, Wonjiun Lee, Samsung’s global marketing chief, confirmed that the memory shortages are, in fact, real (via Bloomberg). Moreover, the company is now evaluating whether more price hikes are needed this year for its products. Though Lee expressed regret over pushing the prices to consumers, the state of the industry might force the company’s hand.

Samsung’s opinion has a lot of weight. While other brands have also voiced out their opinions lately, Samsung itself is a producer of chips. If a chip supplier is already warning users of prices affecting them, the effect will likely cascade even more when it comes to device manufacturers.

The ongoing shortage of chips is a result of the overwhelming demand from companies looking to build and bolster AI-based servers. The business-to-business demand is notably different from how regular consumers, who will soon find it hard to buy their own devices, see it.

At the very least, Samsung has not confirmed any price increases yet. However, all eyes are on the next Galaxy Unpacked, when Samsung will launch its newest Galaxy products. Will prices increase or stay the same?

Enterprise

TikTok finally gets a buyer in the United States

The deal targets a closing date in late January.

Published

December 19, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

The year started with a ban. A day before Donald Trump started his second term, TikTok went dark, in anticipation of an impending ban. The platform quickly went back online, leading to an ultimatum that saw TikTok hunt for an American buyer to full stave off a definitive ban in the United States. Now, as the year ends, a buyer is finally here.

Via CNBC, TikTok has reportedly inked a deal to finalize a deal in the United States, as stated in an internal memo from CEO Shou Zi Chew. The memo, which was sent just this week, details a plan that will see the deal close by January 26, 2026.

Fifty percent of TikTok’s newly restructured U.S. arm will be held by a collection of American investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. Meanwhile, already existing investors of TikTok will hold 30.1 percent. Finally, ByteDance will retain 19.9 percent.

Additionally, TikTok’s algorithm in the United States will be retrained with American data. The American arm will also handle the country’s “data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance.” Oracle will be the “trusted security partner” in charge of making sure the company keeps within regulations in the country.

With a deal pushing through, the long-running TikTok saga in the United States might finally come to a close.