Tom Williams
Tom Williams is a digital journalist with ABC News who usually covers technology, science, climate, consumer issues and pop culture.
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Latest by Tom Williams
These major car companies are accused of harvesting and exploiting customer data
As experts push to strengthen Australia's privacy laws, many car makers are gathering data and potentially selling it to third parties.
Sick of doomscrolling and being 'constantly on call', these Australians switched to a 'dumbphone'
With mobile phone use on the rise, some people are turning to simpler devices to help them cut down on their screen time.
Federal parliament returns for first sitting day of 2024 — as it happened
Parliament is back for its first sitting week of the year.
Travellers and accommodation providers falling victim to major Booking.com scam
Australia's consumer rights watchdog sees a sharp increase in Australians citing the popular accommodation site when reporting they've been scammed.
Failed US Moon lander believed to have burned up after re-entry over Australia
The Australian Space Agency says it monitored the re-entry to make sure it posed "no threat to people or property".
ACU reveals $3.6m underpayment of casual staff, denies wage theft
The Australian Catholic University reveals it underpaid approximately 1,100 casual staff over a seven-year period.
The weirdest new gadgets and biggest trends from the world's largest tech show
The biggest tech expo of the year features some bold new ideas, and showcases some of the new gadgets the industry has its sights on.
How a secret tunnel in a New York synagogue led to a brawl between police and worshippers
Police say 10 people were arrested during a scuffle with officers after a secret passageway was discovered.
The first US Moon landing in more than 50 years has hit a major hurdle after a 'critical' fuel leak
A private company's Peregrine lander appears unlikely to complete its original mission after running into issues on its way to the Moon.
A Boeing's door 'plug' has been found in a backyard after a mid-air blowout. Here's what we know
People in the city of Portland were asked to look out for the door "plug" after the blowout on the Boeing 737 MAX 9. It was found in a teacher's backyard.
This cat video has made history by being sent to Earth through 31 million kilometres of deep space
The owner of an orange tabby cat called Taters is celebrating after a video of the feline was sent to Earth from 31 million kilometres away.
'You didn't just succeed — you Exceled': Sydney man wins Microsoft Excel World Championship for third straight year
An actuary nicknamed The Annihilator claims a cash prize, trophy, champion's belt and esports glory.
A Roo-frontier: Australia announces the name of its first Moon rover
A cheeky moniker for the country's first lunar rover is confirmed by the Australian Space Agency, following almost 20,000 votes.
Westpac announces services restored after thousands of customers were unable to access funds overnight
Westpac apologises for the time taken to resolve the issue, which left some of its customers "experiencing issues" accessing their accounts due to an online outage.
Israel and Gaza agree to extend truce for seventh day – as it happened
The truce is extended on the verge of expiring after the armed wing of Hamas told its militants to "maintain high combat readiness". Look back at updates from the Israel-Gaza war.
Israel and Hamas trade ceasefire accusations as more prisoners and hostages are released — as it happened
For the first time since the truce began, both sides of the war trade accusations of serious ceasefire violations.
Hamas, Israel signal possible expansion of deal to free hostages beyond women, children — as it happened
The Israel-Hamas truce in the Gaza Strip has entered its fifth day as the two sides completed the release of Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians Monday.
Israel-Gaza ceasefire enters final day, as calls grow for truce and hostage deal to be extended — as it happened
As a ceasefire deadline looms, Israel's prime minister vows to free all hostages and "eliminate Hamas".
Urgent meetings, router resets and 400 workers: Behind the scenes of the Optus outage
Submissions to a Senate inquiry outline what happened behind the scenes as Optus rushed to fix its recent outage.
Military warships use sonar for tracking underwater targets. But how dangerous is it to humans?
Australian naval personnel have sustained minor injuries to their ears after being subjected to sonar pulses from a Chinese warship. Here's what you need to know about the technology.
Optus CEO resigns in wake of nationwide outage
Optus chief executive officer Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns in the wake of November 8's major outage, saying it is "in the best interests of Optus going forward".
Australia votes to name its first Moon rover, after four shortlisted names are announced — as it happened
The Australian Space Agency reveals four potential names for the country's first Moon rover, as part of a competition that now heads to a public vote.
Apple announces surprise adoption of 'the new SMS' pushed by Google
Issues between blue and green message bubbles could soon be a thing of the past, as Apple moves to adopt the RCS standard.
Snacks and treats are becoming 'luxury items' as Australians battle rising grocery prices
New data suggests many Australian shoppers are now treating snacks as luxury items, to combat rising grocery prices.
What caused Optus's outage, and how long was it down for? Here's what we know
Services are being restored after millions of Optus customers were left without phone and internet services. Here's what we know about the outage.