Techmeme
June 12, 2019, 9:50 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: as part of its response to FTC inquiries, Facebook unearths emails that appear to show Mark Zuckerberg knew of problematic privacy practices  —  Internal exchanges uncovered in response to FTC probe could cast doubt on founder's commitment to user privacy, people familiar with the matter say
Chris Welch / The Verge:
After leaked images were published, Google tweets a teaser picture of the Pixel 4, expected in October, confirming at least two rear cameras  —  Google responds to leaks by posting an official image  —  Google just tweeted an image of the Pixel 4, a smartphone that the company isn't expected to ship until October.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Epic Games, maker of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, says it has acquired video chat social network Houseparty for an undisclosed sum  —  What does a gaming company do after raising $1.25 billion?  Acquisitions seem like a pretty good place to start.  Epic Games — of Unreal Engine …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Google says it will now let iPhone and iPad owners use its Android security key tech to verify sign-ins for Google accounts  —  Google will now allow iPhone and iPad owners to use their Android security key to verify sign-ins, the company said Wednesday.  —  Last month, the search …
Nandita Bose / Reuters:
Walmart to integrate Jet.com's retail, technology, marketing, analytics, and product teams with its own e-commerce business; Jet.com president to leave in Aug.  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Walmart Inc on Wednesday announced a sweeping overhaul at Jet.com, an e-commerce retailer it acquired …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google says it is raising the maximum filter rules limit to 150K from the current 30K in the new Chrome extensions API, giving ad blocker devs more control  —  Google relaxes control on new Chrome extensions API that would have crippled ad blockers.  —  After being ripped to shreds by angry users …
Kevin Litman-Navarro / New York Times:
Analysis plots 150 privacy policies by reading time and complexity, with Craigslist and DuckDuckGo among the best while Airbnb and Indeed are among the worst  —  In the background here are several privacy policies from major tech and media platforms.  Like most privacy policies …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Helium debuts $495 cryptocurrency-mining Helium Hotspots that offer free p2p networking, promising greater coverage than WiFi, as 100 could cover an entire city  —  Cellphone plans are expensive.  The average person spends about $80 per month on their phone plan, according to price comparison engine Flipsy …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google is moving some production of US-bound Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China to Taiwan and Malaysia, avoiding punitive US tariffs  —  - Trump's tariffs push tech giant to boost Taiwan manufacturing  — Google proved keener than other tech companies about shift
Kate Krader / Bloomberg:
Uber says it plans to start testing fast food deliveries by drone to designated safe landing zones in a trial in San Diego this summer  —  On an overcast Monday in May, I joined a group in a parking lot behind a San Diego McDonald's to witness the future of food delivery.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
In a letter to lawmakers, Facebook says it obtained data on ~187,000 users via its now-defunct Research app, including ~31,000 US users and ~4,300 US teenagers  —  Facebook obtained personal and sensitive device data on about 187,000 users of its now-defunct Research app …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Critics question Alphabet's Jigsaw subsidiary's decision to hire a disinformation vendor to run a campaign during research into state-sponsored disinformation  —  FOR MORE THAN two years, the notion of social media disinformation campaigns has conjured up images of Russia's Internet Research Agency …
Sue Halpern / New Yorker:
A look at proposed US election security legislation, much of it bipartisan, and how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is stalling its progress  —  On May 21st, four commissioners who compose the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (E.A.C.) were asked to attest, in Congress …

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Juro Osawa / The Information: