Facebook Emails Users Over Sponsored Stories

Facebook may have to pay up to $10 to each of its users whose personal details were used without permission to sell advertising.

The social media giant has sent out legal notices about a class action brought against it in California after profile photos and names were used without consent in its Sponsored Stories feature.

Victims of the unauthorised use of material included children, adults, law institutes and charities.

If they had clicked 'Like' on a product the users' Facebook friends were likely to see adverts related to it on their own pages, along with a photo of the user.

Facebook didn't offer an opt-out to the service, and in April 2011 a group of Facebook users launched legal action against the company over the tactic.

The case has been designated Fraley vs. Facebook.

Last year Facebook sought a settlement by changing its usage terms to clarify the facility and it also said it would put $20m (£12.8m) into a settlement fund.

On the weekend Facebook sent an email to affected US users with the subject line "Re: LEGAL NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION".

Those who did not delete the message as suspected spam now have until May 2 to file a claim, which may give them up to $10 (£6.40) each from the pool.

However if too many claims are made and the settlement per person drops below $5, the money will be shared between charities to educate children and adults on social media safety.

Legal fees and costs might take up to 40% of the settlement fund, leaving around $12m (£7.6m) to be shared by recipients.

There are an estimated 150 million Facebook accounts in the US, and the final approval hearing for the settlement is on June 28.

On Wednesday, Facebook is due to release its 2012 fourth quarter results, which are expected to show how the company has progressed in monetising the service since flotation.

The company went public last May and the stock price plunged by 53% from the IPO price of $38 (£24.20), but has since recovered slowly and on Monday closed at $32.46 (£20.66).

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Martin Clunes Slams Insurer That Sacked Him

Television star Martin Clunes has called car insurance company Churchill "rude" for dropping him from its adverts after he was banned for driving.

Clunes featured in the lucrative television campaign alongside the company's trademark nodding dog for almost a year.

But Churchill Insurance axed him in November after he accrued 12 points on his licence for speeding offences and magistrates banned him from driving.

The star of Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin said he did not expect to be dropped.

"I was very surprised by their reaction. It was neurotic and very heavy-handed," said Clunes.

"Quite rude, actually. They never said goodbye. They never said thanks. They washed their hands of me completely."

The ad featured Clunes and an animatronic version of the Churchill dog travelling together on a motorbike and sidecar through the English countryside.

Speaking to the Radio Times magazine, Clunes also described his life with his family in a 135-acre Dorset farm with horses, dogs, cats, sheep, chickens and cows.

"I imagine there'll come a time when television withdraws itself from me.

"I do love my job. But I'd really like the farm to wash its face. That's still a way off, because there's been a lot of investment in infrastructure," he said, adding it would take a while to get it back.

Clunes has made an ITV documentary called Heavy Horse Power to look at how the traditional uses for working horses have been changing. He said he would like to see the working horse make a comeback in British farming.

Clunes is not the first Churchill frontman to fall foul of driving laws.

In 2005, comedian Vic Reeves was dropped as the voice questioning the dog in the campaign after he was caught drink driving.

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WhatsApp Criticised Over Phone Number Privacy

One of the world's most popular smartphone apps has been accused of violating "internationally accepted privacy principles".

A joint report by Canadian and Dutch data protection authorities criticised the way WhatsApp users have to provide access to their entire address book - including phone numbers of contacts who don't use the app.

Investigators say this lack of choice is against national laws.

They also say the storage of the numbers contravenes the principle that "information may only be retained for so long as it is required for the fulfilment of an identified purpose".

WhatsApp, which provides an alternative to text message for many, has hundreds of millions of users worldwide, sending more than a billion messages each day.

However the California-based company says phone numbers of non-users are "hashed" to encrypt the information and are only stored in case they later sign up to the service.

WhatsApp also told investigators it did not store names or email addresses associated with the numbers.

Currently, the only users able to manually select which contacts to upload are those with an iPhone running on the iOS6 operating system.

People signing up on Android devices, for example, have to provide access to their entire address book.

Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority, said: "Both users and non-users should have control over their personal data and users must be able to freely decide what contact details they wish to share with WhatsApp."

The investigation also raised concerns over messages being intercepted, as well as over third parties sending and receiving messages in the names of others.

In response, WhatsApp has now introduced message encryption and strengthened the way it authenticates the identity of users.

"Our investigation has led to WhatsApp making and committing to make further changes in order to better protect users' personal information," said Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

However, the report says there are still some "outstanding issues" and that Canadian and Dutch authorities would be monitoring the situation.

The investigation comes at a time of increased criticism of internet companies, such as Facebook and Google, over the storing and sharing of personal information.

WhatsApp has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded.

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Demand For High Street Shops Is Falling

Demand for retail space continues to drop, according to new research, fuelling fears about the future of the UK's high streets.

Rental values are also predicted to fall further as the amount of unoccupied floor space rises, a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed.

During the last three months of the year, fewer businesses looked to rent retail premises resulting in a steady increase in empty sites across the country, it said.

This fall does not take into account the collapse of three high street stalwarts in recent weeks.

HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster have all called in administrators since the start of 2013, and electrical retailer Comet collapsed in November last year.

London surveyors reported the largest falls in demand since the middle of 2009, although Wales and the Midlands fared better - with the amount of interest from potential occupants staying the same.

Shopping centre owner British Land said demand for its premises had risen

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS' chief economist, said the end of last year was an "incredibly tough period" for the UK's high streets.

"Sadly, this downbeat picture doesn't look like changing any time soon with demand for retail space continuing to drop and more empty premises set to blight the country's town centres," he said.

However there was an increase in demand for office space and industrial units in the last quarter of 2012 - albeit from low levels. 

"Only time will tell as to whether this is a genuine sign of recovery, it is encouraging that appetite is gradually growing in these areas as businesses look to expand," Mr Rubinsohn added.

But not all types of retail spaces have experienced the same fall in demand. 

British Land - which owns premium retail parks, shopping centres and department stores - said it had experienced a rise in lettings and leases.

In a management statement the company reported "encouraging levels of demand across the business both from existing and new occupiers".

"So despite subdued economic growth, weak consumer spending and an increased level of retailer administrations, occupancy across our UK estate remained high with administrations low," it said.

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Yahoo! Reveals Search Focus As Revenue Rises

Yahoo! has reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter as it outlined plans to boost its search engine.

Strong search advertising sales helped revenues at the internet company grow for the first time in four years - by 2% year-on-year to $1.3bn (£830m).

Shares in the company rose following the results, despite an 8% fall in profit from a year earlier to $272m (£173m).

But chief executive Marissa Mayer, who took the helm in July, said the company still had a long way to go.

"While the road to growth is certain, it will not be immediate," the former Google engineer and executive said.

Looking ahead, the company expects revenues of between $4.5bn (£2.87bn) and $4.6bn (£2.93bn) this year - which would mean an annual growth rate of 0.7% to 3%.

Marissa Mayer became Yahoo!'s third boss since September 2011

Ms Mayer unveiled plans to focus on improving Yahoo! search.

"There is a big push we want to make on search - we have lost some share and want to regain that share," she said.

In 2009, Yahoo! signed a 10-year deal with Microsoft which sees Bing power its search functions, but leaves Yahoo! free to personalise query results.

The company also outlined plans to overhaul many of its other online services to boost the amount of time users spend on its websites.

As a result, it warned investors to expect "an investment phase" in the first half of 2013, which would hit profit.

Ms Mayer said she was proud of Yahoo!'s results - the first full-quarter results she has overseen at the company.

"During the quarter we made progress by growing our executive team, signing key partnerships including those with NBC Sports and CBS Television, and launching terrific mobile experiences for Yahoo! Mail and Flickr," she said.

"At the same time, we achieved tremendous internal transformation in the culture, energy and execution of the company."

These changes include the introduction of free smartphones and food by Ms Mayer.

She became Yahoo!'s third boss since September 2011 when she took the helm, following a rocky period at the company.

Former chief executive Scott Thompson resigned after less than six months following questions about his academic credentials, while co-founder Jerry Yang cut ties with the company.

Shares in Yahoo! have risen by around 30% since Ms Mayer took over, reaching their highest levels since 2008.

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Barclays Courts Investors Over Jenkins Bonus

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Barclays is sounding out leading shareholders about a seven-figure bonus for its new chief executive despite the bank being forced to allocate almost £2bn last year to cover a series of mis-selling and rate-rigging scandals.

I have learnt that Antony Jenkins, who took over as Barclays' boss five months ago, is being lined up for a payout worth well over £1m, which would be deferred and paid in shares.

Mr Jenkins' bonus would form part of a total pot likely to be worth somewhere between £1.5bn and £2bn, according to people close to the bank. Directors who sit on the Barclays remuneration committee are proposing to cut the aggregate sum it pays out in employee bonuses from roughly £2.2bn last year, they said.

Leading investors in the bank are understood to have been briefed about the outline of Barclays' plans at a meeting in recent days.

Shareholders' reaction is said to have been cautiously optimistic that Barclays is heeding their anger over pay following a string of rows which culminated in a huge protest vote at last year's annual meeting.

The remuneration committee is in the advanced stages of deliberations about the size and structure of its bonus awards for last year, and people close to the bank said that the reduced bonus pot also bore the fingerprints of both Sir David Walker, Barclays' new chairman, and Mr Jenkins.

According to people familiar with last week's meeting, Sir John Sunderland, the non-executive director who chairs Barclays' remuneration committee, told major shareholders that the bank would like to pay Antony Jenkins, who took over as chief executive in August, a "significant" bonus for his work in 2012.

A precise figure was not disclosed by Sir John because the proposals are not yet finalised, and are still subject to modification when the Barclays board meets ahead of its annual results on February 12.

However, people close to the bank said that Mr Jenkins would be awarded a bonus of "north of £1m". It was unclear, they said, whether he would accept any award.

"The numbers will be contentious but they are undoubtedly heading in the right direction. There has been a clear signal that this is not the end-point [for cuts in bonuses]," said a person briefed on the talks between Barclays and its shareholders.

The new chief executive's entitlement is complicated by the fact that he became chief executive midway through the year, following the resignation of Bob Diamond in June.

According to a statement announcing his appointment in August, Mr Jenkins – who previously ran Barclays' retail and business banking operations – is now paid a base salary of £1.1m, with a potential annual bonus of £2.75m.

"For 2012, any incentive award made to Mr Jenkins will reflect his performance as group chief executive following appointment and his performance as Chief Executive of Retail and Business Banking prior to appointment."

Mr Jenkins' pay arrangements prior to his appointment as the group's chief executive were not identified by the bank because he did not sit on its main board.

When Barclays announced its Libor-rigging settlement with authorities in the UK and US last June, it announced that Bob Diamond and three senior colleagues – not including Mr Jenkins – would waive their entitlement to annual bonuses because of the scandal.

In addition to the £290m Libor fine, Barclays also set aside well over £1bn during 2012 to compensate customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance, as well as £450m for the mis-selling of interest rate swaps to business customers. Further such provisions are likely.

Investors will be watching for details of the relative distributions of bonuses and dividends, which last year saw Barclays' employees rewarded with a payout three times larger than the dividend pot.

That imbalance will be partly redressed this year, although Sir John signalled during last week's meeting that it would have further to go next year.

Last week, Mr Jenkins told Barclays' 140,000 staff that those who did not adhere to an ethical way of doing business would not be welcome at the bank.

Barclays declined to comment.

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Ford Loses £5m A Day Across Europe In Q4

Ford has reported a quarterly loss on its European operations of $732m (£465m).

The company, which is the second largest US carmaker, said it now expects to lose $2bn (£1.25bn) in Europe, up 25% from a loss predicted a few months ago.

The loss comes as the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit in the US of $1.6bn (£1bn), for a full-year US pre-tax profit of $8.3bn (£5.3bn).

Ford is closing the Transit van factory in Southampton

The company now plans to give out record profit-sharing bonuses of $8,300 (£5,300) to 45,800 workers based on its North American results.

It predicted a 2013 operating profit about equal to its performance last year, but the improving position of the company in the US comes as losses continue to deepen in Europe.

The European sales outlook has continued to deteriorate and Ford said it expected its 2013 loss in the region to be equal to last year's levels.

But chief financial officer Bob Shanks predicted Ford's losses in Europe will bottom out later this year.

He said the company is on track with a plan to close plants and introduce new vehicles in the region - where its sales fell by 15.5% last year.

The car company said it expected to improve its position in both the US and China.

Ford's Dagenham plant was once the jewel in its local production

Worldwide, Ford's sales rose 7.5% to 1.5 million in 2012 and some of its biggest gains were in Asia, where it is building seven new plants.

Sales in Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region were up 41% over 2011.

Fourth-quarter global revenue totalled $36.5 billion (£23bn), with the lion's share coming from its North American operations, its most profitable business unit.

During what is typically its weakest quarter of the year, Ford reported an operating margin of 8.4% in North America.

Ford said the European business environment remains uncertain and the company would take further action as necessary.

The company has consolidated its operations in Britain and mainland Europe, as European car registrations fell by over 8% in 2012.

The shutters will come down on Southampton in the summer

Last October Ford confirmed it would make 1,400 employees redundant in the UK following the closure of two British factories.

Its Southampton plant in Swaythling, which has made Transit vans since 1972, is scheduled to close this summer with a loss of more than 500 jobs.

Meanwhile its stamping plant in Dagenham, which presses sheets of metal used to make the vans in Southampton, will be shut down at the same time.

It marks the end of more than a century of vehicle production in the UK by Ford, which will make only engines and other car parts in Britain from mid-2013.

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ArcelorMittal Steelworkers Protest In Belgium

ArcelorMittal workers in Belgium have clashed with police during a protest at plans to close steel plants in the province of Liege.

Six officers were injured in the demonstration of around 2,000 steel workers, who gathered outside regional government offices in Namur.

The demonstrators threw stones and other small items at police, who fired tear gas and a water cannon in return.

Police said two officers were sent to hospital and four others sustained minor injuries.

The protesters are calling for the regional government to intervene and halt plans to close a coke plant and six production lines in the country, resulting in 1,300 job losses.

The leading steel and mining company blamed collapsing demand for steel and overcapacity in the sector for the planned closures in the area, which has a 200-year old steel industry.

Bernard Dehut, the chief executive of ArcelorMittal Liege, said the economic conditions made it "increasingly apparent that further action is required" to stem the company's losses.

The company said it would continue to operate five steel production lines which employ 800 people

The protest followed earlier demonstrations against the planned closures in Brussels.

Meanwhile in neighbouring France, Renault employees demonstrated against the company's new labour deal on the access road to the firm's factory in Flins, near Paris.

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French City Sells Off Its Wine Cellar For Aid

A French city has sold off thousands of bottles of treasured wine from its cellar to help pay for local social services.

Dijon auctioned 3,500 bottles of Burgundy and raised 151,620 euros (£130,000) for its emergency aid for social action.

The sale was authorised by the socialist mayor of the city, Francois Rebsamen, as a way of filling funding shortfalls.

The city was renowned for the wines offered at formal banquets and as three-bottle mementoes given to visiting VIPs.

Charity wine auctions are common in Burgundy, like this one in Beaune

"The tradition was for the mayor to offer its prestigious guests - ambassadors, foreign delegations, and ministers - a set of three bottles when they are received at the town hall," Mr Rebsamen said.

The mayor said that the stock was so large that it may not have been able to give them all to guests.

"There were many old wines and I'm not sure I would have found the opportunity to offer them," Mr Rebsamen said.

While 80% of the raised funds will go to social care the remainder will be spend on repairs to the cellar, the mayor said.

The city has retained nearly 300 cases of fine wine in its cellar.

Sunday's four-hour auction at the former palace of the Duke of Burgundy attracted hundreds of bidders and watchers, with one bottle going for 4,800 euros (£4,100) - nearly five times the estimate.

Mayor Francois Rebsamen and President Francois Hollande

The bottle of 1999 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Cros Parantoux Henri Jayer, was bought by a "mysterious Chinese" man named as Wang Dongming, according to website Infos-Dijon.

President Francois Hollande's government has warned regional authorities that they must be prepared to burden share as budget cuts take effect.

"We did not need the funds for the city budget but I thought it was a beautiful idea for social help," Mr Rebsamen said.

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Time Out Tycoon Enters Race For Bust IT Group

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The entrepreneur behind the Time Out listings magazine is among a pack of predators circling the IT services group 2e2 less than two years after it received a takeover bid valuing it at more than £350m.

I understand that Daisy Group, the telecoms services company whose backers include Peter Dubens, one of Britain's most successful businessmen, has expressed an interest in acquiring the divisions of 2e2 which yesterday fell into administration.

A number of private equity groups and specialists in buying distressed companies have also registered an interest in taking control of 2e2, which offers a broad range of IT services.

The company, which is part-owned by Duke Street Capital, the private equity firm, was founded only 11 years ago but grew through a string of acquisitions, including the £70m takeover of Morse, a listed rival, in 2010.

Mr Dubens made his name partly as a shrewd builder of technology-related businesses and has brought a number of companies to the public markets, including 365 Media Group, which was eventually bought by BSkyB, the owner of Sky News.

He is now the executive chairman of Daisy, which has a market value of more than £250m and as the boss of Oakley Capital, a private equity firm, he also owns the Time Out listings magazine.

The professional services firm FTI Consulting has been appointed to oversee the administration of the UK subsidiaries of 2e2, while its operations in other markets including the Netherlands will continue to trade normally.

2e2 is based in Berkshire and employs about 2,000 people, roughly three-quarters of whom work in the UK.

Neither 2e2 nor Daisy could not be reached for comment.

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