The European Commission will examine whether the big tech companies are preventing developers from steering customers away from controlled app stores, which could be anti-competitive.

The investigation comes under powers introduced in the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which was a landmark piece of legislation aimed at curbing the power of big tech and the commission is accusing companies of non-compliance with the act and a failure to provide a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses.

Should the investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeeper companies could face heavy fines.

Designated as ‘gatekeepers’ by the DMA, Google owner Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft have special responsibilities because of their dominance of key mobile technologies.

These companies are accused of steering developers away from competitor platforms and imposing various restrictions and limitations on their use.

The big tech companies are facing a growing legal backlash and last month Apple was fined over its iOS ecosystem and business practices by the EU.

Whether this case succeeds of not, it’s interesting to note the growing willingness of the authorities to take these tech giants to court.

About time, according to some critics.

Source: New Electronic

The post EU opens new investigations into tech ‘gatekeepers’ appeared first on Policy Print.

China’s government has reportedly started enforcing a new law that it passed in December this week. The law bans the government from purchasing PCs with Intel and AMD chips inside, along with software products from Microsoft, including its Windows operating system.

According to The Financial Times (via PC World), the new rules on purchasing products for China’s government PCs were set in place in December by the country’s Information Technology Security Evaluation Center. They include all governments and agencies above what is considered to be the country’s township level.

China previously ordered its government offices and agencies to no longer use Microsoft’s Windows OS in 2022, in favor of a homegrown Linux-based OS. As a result, these new guidelines are not expected to affect Microsoft. However, the ban on Intel and AMD chips could result in a noticeable hit in the revenue numbers for both companies.

On the other hand, the ban on these products on China’s government PCs does not include their use in private businesses or by regular consumers in that country.

China previously banned the use of Apple’s iPhone products in its government buildings. It has also banned the use of products from Micron Technology for its infrastructure projects, citing security concerns.

These new moves come sometime after the United States government banned China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) from exporting fabrication equipment to make certain chips in that country.

Late in 2023, the US government banned the export of some of Nvidia’s AI GPUs to China. Nvidia has instead developed AI chips, the H20, that were specifically made to conform to the restrictions of the US government’s export rules. The company started taking preorders for the H20 chips in early 2024, and are expected to begin large scale shipments of those China-specific AI GPUs sometime in the second quarter of 2024.

Source: Neowin

The post China’s government will no longer buy Intel or AMD chips, or Microsoft products, for its PCs appeared first on Policy Print.

The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.’s election watchdog and lawmakers in both countries.

Officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about the China threat.

The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers “has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration.”

The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that “hostile actors” had first been able to access its servers since 2021.

At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain.

In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has “served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations.”

It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, “directly endangering U.S. national security.”

Zhao, Ni and five other Chinese nationals were hit with federal charges Monday. An indictment brought by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn alleges that the seven men were Chinese intelligence officers who engaged in a yearslong campaign targeting top White House officials, U.S. senators and the spouses of high-ranking members of the Justice Department, among others. 

The suspects are accused of sending tracking emails purported to be from prominent U.S. journalists, which contained legitimate news articles from publications like CNN and VOX. The emails also contained embedded hyperlinks that, when opened, would transmit information about the recipients to a server controlled by the suspects, the indictment says.

One of the group’s alleged campaigns took place from June to September 2018 when they sent more than 10,000 messages to a wide range of targets including Democratic and Republican senators from more than 10 states and the spouses of various government administrators including a high-ranking Department of Justice official, high-ranking White House officials and multiple United States senators.

“These allegations pull back the curtain on China’s vast illegal hacking operation that targeted sensitive data from U.S. elected and government officials, journalists and academics; valuable information from American companies; and political dissidents in America and abroad,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said her government “firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law.”

“Without valid evidence, the U.S. jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China,” Liu added. “It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts.”

Separately, British cybersecurity officials said that Chinese government-affiliated hackers “conducted reconnaissance activity” against British parliamentarians who are critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.

Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been “subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time.” Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts.

The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing’s growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government.

Ahead of that announcement, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is “behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad” and is “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”

“It’s right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing,” he said, without providing details.

China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat — rather than a “challenge” — to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language.

Responding to the reports, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said countries should base their claims on evidence rather than “smear” others without factual basis.

“Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. “We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace.”

Source: NBC News

The post U.S. and U.K. announce sanctions over China-linked hacks on election watchdog and lawmakers appeared first on Policy Print.

In an interview with news channel CNN, Woz was asked about Apple’s so-called “walled garden” approach to protecting users, and in response he said he was glad for the protection that he gets, and that Apple does a better job in this respect than other companies.

“And tracking you – tracking you is questionable. But my gosh, look at what we’re accusing TikTok of, and then go look at Facebook and Google and that’s how they make their businesses,” he added. “I mean, Facebook was a great idea. But then they make all their money just by tracking you and advertising, and Apple doesn’t really do that so much.”

Earlier this month, the US Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which aims to force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell off its US-based biz or face being banned from operating in the country.

“I don’t understand it, I don’t see why,” commented Woz. “What are we saying? We’re saying ‘Oh, you might be tracked by the Chinese.’ Well, they learned it from us.”

Similar points are made in an article in Nikkei Asia, which states that US social media apps have formed a key part of Washington’s global influence operations for many years, and have provided “unparalleled intelligence collection opportunities” and “helped to project certain American political and cultural values into foreign societies.”

Woz continued by saying that “If you have a principle [that] a person should not be tracked without them knowing it, you apply it the same to every company, or every country. You don’t say, ‘Here’s one case where we’re going to outlaw an app, but we’re not gonna do it in these other cases.’ So I don’t like the hypocrisy, and that’s obviously coming from a political realm.”

The engineering brains behind Apple’s early products such as the Apple I and II personal computers, Woz also became an early member of digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

He revealed in the interview that he largely avoids “the social web,” but gets a lot of fun out of watching TikTok “even if it’s just for rescuing dog videos and stuff.”

The Apple co-founder was also reported to have been hospitalized in Mexico City last November with a suspected stroke following a speech at the World Business Forum, but has apparently made a full recovery.

Source: The Register

The post Woz calls out US lawmakers for TikTok ban: ‘I don’t like the hypocrisy’ appeared first on Policy Print.

The case was jointly filed by the Justice Department, 16 States, and the District of Columbia, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

This isn’t something out of the blue, as we have previously reported, the U.S. Department of Justice has been preparing an antitrust case against the Electronics giant over the past few months. It had held discussions with the company before finalizing the lawsuit.

Apple ran into legal trouble at the end of 2023, when the U.S. International Trade Commission banned the company from importing and selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the U.S. The Commission found Apple guilty of violating patents related to the SpO2 sensor (pulse oximeter), which belonged to Masimo. The ban however was short-lived, as Apple was allowed to sell the wearables once again, with a catch, it had to disable the SpO2 sensor’s functionality, so you couldn’t use it to measure blood oxygen levels, even though the hardware for the feature existed.

The tech mogul’s troubles were just beginning, as it had to open up the iOS ecosystem to third-party app marketplaces in the European Union region. However, the company’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act has come under scrutiny due to several limitations that it has imposed for app developers, and third-party app stores.

US Justice Department sues Apple in antitrust case

Now, the US Govt has claimed that Apple has selectively imposed restrictions that prevent users from switching from its devices. It also says that there are limitations for the functionality of third-party apps, which gives Apple’s own apps an unfair advantage over the competition. The complaint alleges that Apple has undermined messaging across operating systems by excluding its own apps from rival platforms, and that this makes it less secure and less innovative for users.

This is seen as one of the reasons that the company has made it hard for users to leave iPhone, as many iOS apps are not available on Android. The lawsuit alleges that Apple is in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and users its monopoly power to extract high prices from consumers, developers, etc.

The antitrust case also points out that Apple blocks cloud-streaming apps that allow users to stream apps and games. To be fair to Apple, it did open up the market recently to allow cloud-gaming platforms, so services like Xbox’s Game Pass Ultimate and Nvidia’s GeForce Now can be used on iPhone and iPad.

Apple’s failure to provide tap-to-pay (Apple Pay) functionality for third-party digital wallets is also being scrutinized. The lawsuit points out that Apple’s restrictions also affect web browsers, video communication, location services, advertising and other services.

Another argument made by the Justice department targets Apple’s restrictions for third-party smartwatches. Apple does not allow other OEMs to access the APIs required for a watch to read/write fitness data like the Apple Watch can, third-parties have limited access to the data. This is an unfair restriction that stifles the competition.

The company has reportedly claimed that it tried to make the Apple Watch compatible with Android phones, but failed to find a way to do so. I don’t buy this argument. Apple has an Android app for Apple Music, which as you know is a subscription-based service. It shows that the company can, and will provide an app for Android devices, if there is an incentive for it. So, why didn’t Apple create Android apps for Apple Watch and Health? Well, you could argue that if it had done so, Android users would buy the wearable, but they won’t buy an iPhone. By keeping the Watch exclusively compatible with iPhones, it has created an artificial market for the wearable and the iPhone, which is a monopoly.

Source: ghacks

The post US sues Apple in iPhone monopoly lawsuit appeared first on Policy Print.

“Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta’s ‘pay or consent model,’” the European Commission said in a statement.

The first two probes focus on Alphabet and Apple and relate to so-called anti-steering rules. Under the DMA, tech firms are not allowed to block businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for their products or about subscriptions outside of an app store.

“The way that Apple and Alphabet’s implemented the DMA rules on anti-steering seems to be at odds with the letter of the law. Apple and Alphabet will still charge various recurring fees, and still limit steering,” the E.U.’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said Monday at a news conference.

Apple has already fallen foul of the E.U.’s rules. This month, the company was fined 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion) after the European Commission said it found that Apple had applied restrictions on app developers that prevented them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.

In a third inquiry, the commission said it is investigating whether Apple has complied with its DMA obligations to ensure that users can easily uninstall apps on iOS and change default settings. The probe also focuses on whether Apple is actively prompting users with choices to allow them to change default services on iOS, such as for the web browser or search engine.

The commission said that it is “concerned that Apple’s measures, including the design of the web browser choice screen, may be preventing users from truly exercising their choice of services within the Apple ecosystem.”

Apple said it believes it is in compliance with the DMA.

“We’re confident our plan complies with the DMA, and we’ll continue to constructively engage with the European Commission as they conduct their investigations. Teams across Apple have created a wide range of new developer capabilities, features, and tools to comply with the regulation,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.

The fourth probe targets Alphabet, as the European Commission looks into whether the firm’s display of Google search results “may lead to self-preferencing in relation to Google’s,” other services such as Google Shopping, over similar rival offerings.

“To comply with the Digital Markets Act, we have made significant changes to the way our services operate in Europe,” Oliver Bethell, director of competition at Alphabet, said in a statement.

“We have engaged with the European Commission, stakeholders and third parties in dozens of events over the past year to receive and respond to feedback, and to balance conflicting needs within the ecosystem. We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months.”

Alphabet pointed to a blog post from earlier this month, wherein the company outlined some of those changes — including giving Android phone users the option to easily change their default search engine and browser, as well as making it easier for people to see comparison sites in areas like shopping or flights in Google searches.

Meta investigation

The fifth and final investigation focuses on Meta and its so-called pay and consent model. Last year, Meta introduced an ad-free subscription model for Facebook and Instagram in Europe. The commission is looking into whether offering the subscription model without ads or making users consent to terms and conditions for the free service is in violation of the DMA.

“The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers.”

Thierry Breton, the E.U.’s internal market commissioner, said during the news conference that there should be “free alternative options” offered by Meta for its services that are “less personalized.”

“Gatekeepers” is a label for large tech firms that are required to comply with the DMA in the E.U.

“We will continue to use all available tools, should any gatekeeper try to circumvent or undermine the obligations of the DMA,” Vestager said.

Meta said subscriptions are a common business model across various industries.

“Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA. We will continue to engage constructively with the Commission,” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC on Monday.

Tech giants at risk of fines

The commission said it intends to conclude its probes within 12 months, but Vestager and Breton during the Monday briefing stressed that the DMA does not dictate a hard deadline for the timeline of the inquiry. The regulators will inform the companies of their preliminary findings and explain measures they are taking or the gatekeepers should take in order to address the commission’s concerns.

If any company is found to have infringed the DMA, the commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the tech firms’ total worldwide turnover. These penalties can increase to 20% in case of repeated infringement.

The commission said it is also looking for facts and information to clarify whether Amazon may be preferencing its own brand products on its e-commerce platform over rivals. The commission is further studying Apple’s new fee structure and other terms and conditions for alternative app stores.

This month, the tech giant announced that users in the E.U. would be able to download apps from websites rather than through its proprietary App Store — a change that Apple has resisted for years.

The E.U.’s research into Apple and Amazon does not comprise official investigations.

Source: NBC News

The post E.U. launches probes into Meta, Apple and Alphabet under sweeping new tech law appeared first on Policy Print.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) ripped U.S. policy towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Saturday.

“U.S. policy is essentially that Netanyahu has no achievable goals in Gaza and a ground invasion risks regional war, including potential US troops,” Omar said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “And also we should give him $14 billion in weapons with no restrictions, and say there are no red lines as he bombs refugee camps.”

“See how this doesn’t add up?” Omar added. 

Omar has called for a cease-fire in the current conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, alongside other progressive lawmakers.

President Biden called for a “pause” in the fighting Wednesday after the White House had said it would consider a “humanitarian pause” to get aid into Gaza. However, it has pushed back against calls for a cease-fire. 

Netanyahu told Secretary of State Antony Blinken (D) in a meeting Friday that his country “refuses a temporary cease-fire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza and opposes sending money to the Strip,” according to The Times of Israel. 

Omar’s comments come shortly after her House colleague Rep. Rashida (D-Mich) criticized Biden Friday in a video posted to X, saying he “supported the genocide of the Palestinian people” in relation to his administration’s support for Israel amidst its conflict with Hamas. 

The current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began with a Hamas attack on Israel in early October that left more than 1,400 people dead. Israeli air campaigns and a recent ground offensive in response have left more than 9,200 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. 

Source : The Hill

The post Omar Rips US Policy Toward Israeli PM, Saying It ‘doesn’t Add Up’ appeared first on Policy Print.

The Ozark Dale County Library board has strengthened its policies after a month-long controversial battle over books in the library.

This comes after a few meetings of public outcry some voicing their concerns about LGBTQ-themed books and sexually explicit content being in the young adult section for ages 12 to 17 and even threats from the mayor to defund the library if the books were not moved.

The policy changes they have drawn up will now put more responsibility on the parent or legal guardian in order to keep a close eye on what their child is checking out of the library to read.

“We tried to take into consideration everyone’s concerns, the parents, the community just to develop new policy more to clarify our policy it wasn’t really a new thing just to make sure parents have tools they can use to determine what their children are going to read that was the most important to us,” Chairman Liz Delaney said.

As for the books in the young adult section, all books will now have a sticker on the spine of it showing the appropriate age that the author or publisher authorizes.

“It will all still be young adults but it will either say 14-18 or 14 and under and the parent will be able to see that on the sticker and know the content may contain things they may not want their child to see so it will help them pick,” She said.

There are also changes made related to current and new library cards for minors up to 18 years old. A parent or legal guardian must sign an application with a disclaimer about how that parent is responsible for the materials the child is reading.

“The new library card policy will let them decide which ages their children can go to each section if you want just the children, children and young adult, or children, young adult, and adult content,” She added.

If the child is trying to check out a book in a prohibited section, the system will deny the checkout.

If the parent does not sign the disclaimer, the parent will have to check out the book on his or her library card. Minors cannot check out a book using their parent’s card without their presence.

The last change the library board made was to the unattended child policy — if you are 13 and under, you must have a parent or guardian 19 years or older with you in the library.

Delaney said if the parent or child comes across a problem with the book after reading it in its entirety, their reconsideration forms are still available to be filled out, so the book can be reviewed by a randomly qualified three-person committee for further action.

“It was just filled out for the first time in library history, so it’s all new to us too,” Delaney said.

Citizens at the meeting praised the board for their changes and compromising with the community.

“I hope that those who forced this issue will stop now and let the library function as it should without letting this controversy keep cropping up,” Jubal Mathis said.

The library will be closed for some time on Thursday as staff will be working on the new implementations.

Source : WDHN

The post Ozark-Dale County Library Board Strengthens Policy After Month Long Controversial Book Battle appeared first on Policy Print.

The consequences of this inertia are now evident in abundance. Scotland’s GDP growth rate has lagged significantly behind the rest of the UK over the last decade – a not inconsiderable achievement given recent circumstances – while productivity remains stubbornly low, below the national average. Meanwhile, Scotland also faces significant structural challenges, not least its rapidly ageing population. In short, without significant and sustained economic growth, Scotland and its public services are on course to fall into an ever darker, ever deeper, black hole.  

Across Scotland, there is a cohort of frustrated taxpayers and bemused business leaders who are growing increasingly tired of paying more and more and getting less and less.

Despite increasingly urgent and apocalyptic warnings from business and industry about this looming crisis, Scotland’s politicians remain reluctant to act (if you are kind) – or incapable of acting (if you are not). Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s ailing First Minister, is likely to announce plans to increase Scotland’s already significant income tax rates further, but in this instance at least he is not the only culpable party. 

For years it has been perfectly common – indeed, almost accepted – that party political manifestos for Scottish parliament elections need not be costed. This not only betrays the lack of seriousness among the Scottish political class when it comes to economic policy, but also its distinct lack of vision. After all, if you are not going to bother to cost your manifesto, there is no reason why you should not promise to, quite literally, pave the streets with gold. Instead, an absence of ambition and imagination leaves Scotland with bizarre policy pledges about the banning of the use of wild animals in travelling circuses or the creation of a fleet of mobile abattoirs – unrelated proposals, I should add.

In fairness to the Scottish Conservative party, they are now trying to right this considerable collective wrong. In a speech in Edinburgh on Tuesday, opposition leader Douglas Ross outlined his plan to ‘grasp the thistle’ and get economic growth back on the agenda in Scotland. 

This makes good political sense for the Scottish Tory leader given his party’s diminished popularity among voters. A poll by Survation this week showed a majority of people in Scotland believe they do not get value for money from public services, despite the highest tax burden in the UK. A similar number, logically if unsurprisingly, agreed that the SNP-Green government’s policies are actively making Scotland less competitive and, by implication, a less attractive place to do business.  

With the threat of Scottish independence receding in voters’ minds – at least for now – it is shrewd of Ross to fill a void that has emerged not just in the last few years, but since the dawn of devolution itself. Across Scotland, there is a cohort of frustrated taxpayers and bemused business leaders who are growing increasingly tired of paying more and more and getting less and less.  

This is obviously natural territory for the Tories to occupy, but it is also an issue that seemingly transcends the often deeply entrenched party-political loyalties found in Scotland. One of the reasons why Kate Forbes’ eye-catching but ultimately ill-fated campaign to become SNP leader garnered so much attention was her evident desire to refocus the Scottish parliament on economic rather than social policy. The necessity of her argument, and the forcefulness with which it was articulated, won her a considerable number of admirers in Unionist parties as well as the SNP.  

Of course, while he talks a good game, Ross’ plans as they stand are light on detail while he also – understandably if absurdly – ignores the issues in Scotland’s economy created by Brexit. But we can live in hope that the detail and delivery will come later. For now, at least, Ross deserves credit for talking about a vital subject that has otherwise been ignored for far too long in Scottish politics.  

Source: The Spectator

The post Scottish politicians have neglected serious economic policy for too long appeared first on Policy Print.

Hurricane Idalia is quickly approaching Florida’s Gulf Coast and many residents are preparing for strong winds and plenty of rain. 

On Aug. 29, TODAY’s Al Roker shared the latest updates on the storm, which has officially strengthened into a hurricane. Idalia is currently 85 miles north of the western tip of Cuba with 75 mph winds.

Al said Idalia is expected to become a Category 3 hurricane by the time it makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as early as Wednesday morning. 13 million Floridians are currently under hurricane warning from Tallahassee to Sarasota, and hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings and watches are also in effect.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4 hurricane, is heading toward Bermuda. While Franklin is expected to pass the northwest of Bermuda, a tropical storm watch is in still in effect, according to a public advisory by the National Hurricane Center Aug. 29. The notice also states that “life-threatening surf and rip currents” are already affecting Bermuda and the East Coast of the United States.

The National Hurricane Center described Idalia as a “life-threatening storm surge” in an advisory on Aug. 29. 

Many businesses throughout Florida are also preparing for the storm, including Walt Disney World Resort.

Walt Disney World Resort released a statement Monday night on its weather updates page, which includes the latest resort information in the event of a tropical storm, hurricane or other severe weather. 

“Walt Disney World Resort is currently operating under normal conditions,” the statement reads. “We are closely monitoring the path of the projected weather as we continue to prioritize the safety of our Guests and Cast Members.”

The amusement park has not announced plans to close its gates, but the resort does have a hurricane policy in place that will protect its local residents.

In another update, Walt Disney World Communications said that the resort is prepared to “serve as a staging area for storm-related recovery efforts for the state of Florida.”

Read on to learn how Walt Disney World Resort handles refunds, rescheduling and fees in the event of a hurricane.  

Does Disney World issue refunds in the event of a hurricane?

Typically, Disney World Resort makes exceptions to its standard policy and issues refunds for hurricanes. 

If the National Hurricane Center issues a warning for the Orlando area or a visitor’s place of residence within seven days of their “scheduled arrival date,” then they can cancel or reschedule their trip with no penalty.

“At this time, change and cancellation fees imposed by Disney will be waived for check-in dates of August 28, 2023 through September 4, 2023,” WDW Communications says. “Guests currently staying at our Disney Resort hotels whose travel plans have been impacted by the storm may receive a discounted rate to extend their stay through the evening of August 31, if needed, by visiting the front desk.”

“Florida residents evacuating from the storm and first responders assisting in storm-related recovery efforts may also receive 50% off Disney Resort hotel stays on the evenings of August 29-31, 2023,” the company adds. “For evacuees, please call 407-W-DISNEY for details. For first responders, please call 407-828-3200 (Option 3).”

WDW Communications noted that this only applies to new bookings and is based on availability.

How to reschedule a trip?

If visitors want to reschedule an upcoming trip within seven days of a hurricane warning, they can call or go online to change their travel dates. Disneys says it cannot guarantee that the customers will be able to secure similar accommodations for the new trip. 

Everything paid for, including rooms, theme park tickets and other services, will be credited toward the new reservations. 

“Any discounts or special offers applicable to your original confirmed vacation will not apply to the rescheduled vacation travel dates,” the policy says. “You are responsible for applicable package pricing for the new vacation dates.”

The company notes that this policy does not apply to some special events and dining experiences. 

Will customers be responsible for cancellation fees? 

If customers are canceling or rescheduling a trip within seven days of a hurricane warning, then they can do so without paying for any fees. However, this policy only applies to visitors who booked their reservations through Disney.

Any customer who made plans using a third-party will have to follow that supplier’s refund policies. 

Does Disney World close for hurricanes?

It is very rare for Disney World to entirely close for a storm. Typically, the park stays open while certain rides or attractions will close as the weather requires.

The most recent time the park entirely closed was for Hurricane Irma in September 2019.

Hurricane Irma was only the fifth time the park has been closed since it opened in 1971. It is typically open every day of the year.

NBC News has previously reported that each previous time Disney World was closed was also for an impeding hurricane — Floyd in 1999, Frances in 2004, and Jeanne in 2004.

Source: Today

The post What to know about Disney World’s hurricane policy as Hurricane Idalia approaches Florida appeared first on Policy Print.