Techmeme
August 2, 2019, 1:05 PM

Top News

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple suspends Siri response grading, where contractors reviewed Siri queries without explicit user consent, promises update that will allow users to opt in  —  In response to concerns raised by a Guardian story last week over how recordings of Siri queries are used for quality control, Apple is suspending the program world wide.
Thomas Ricker / The Verge:
Google will let Android users in Europe choose their default search engine starting in 2020; inclusion on the choice screen will be determined via auction  —  Only the top-three bidders will appear alongside Google on the choice screen  —  Starting in early 2020, Google will present …
Karl Bode / VICE:
FTC asks that the 147M people affected by the Equifax breach take free credit monitoring as only $31M of the $575M+ Equifax settlement is allocated to consumers  —  After “overwhelming” public interest, the FTC now urges users to settle for free credit monitoring instead.
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
DoorDash agrees to acquire Caviar, Square's food delivery business, for $410M in cash and preferred DoorDash stock  —  DoorDash has reached an agreement with Square to purchase on-demand food delivery and catering business Caviar .  DoorDash has agreed to pay Square $410 million in cash and preferred DoorDash stock.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google to add an automated text-to-speech feature for emergency calls made via the Pixel Phone app to help relay location information to first responders  —  The new feature will automatically describe the kind of emergency and exact address to first responders
New York Times:
Records show the NYPD has uploaded arrest photos of juveniles into a facial recognition database since 2015, despite higher risk of false matches in young faces  —  With little oversight, the N.Y.P.D. has been using powerful surveillance technology on photos of children and teenagers.
Rae Hodge / CNET:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduces a bill that would give voters five rights, including the right to be notified when campaigns obtain their data  —  Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday introduced a bill prompted by Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook users' private data.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
FTC is looking into the Amazon/Apple deal that kicked many small resellers off Marketplace, has interviewed at least one reseller of refurbished MacBooks  —  Experts say the deal raises serious antitrust concerns  —  Last year, Amazon cut a deal with Apple to bring direct iPhone sales to its platform for the first time.
Dell Cameron / Gizmodo:
Amazon's Ring says that it receives some real-time 911 call data, including addresses, from police, which helps it curate crime news posts for its Neighbors app  —  Amazon-owned home security company Ring is pursuing contracts with police departments that would grant it direct access to real …
Ben Fox Rubin / CNET:
Following its move to stop selling new Dash buttons in February, Amazon says it will turn off the capabilities of all its Dash buttons worldwide on August 31  —  If you're dying to test out the features of Amazon's Dash button, it's now or never.  Amazon said Thursday it will turn off …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the Federal Reserve examined a Virginia Amazon cloud facility in spring, the first of what is expected to be ongoing oversight of big cloud providers  —  Visit was made in April to Amazon facility in Virginia  —  The Federal Reserve conducted a formal examination this spring …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Babylon Health raises $550M Series C at $2B+ valuation from Saudi Arabia's PIF, Kinnevik, and others to expand its AI-based health services to the US and Asia  —  Babylon Health, the UK-based startup that has developed a number of AI-based health services, including a chatbot used …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Facebook says it will open source two algorithms it uses to identify child sexual exploitation, terrorist propaganda, and graphic violence in images and videos  —  Crowdsourcing a better solution to disturbing photos and videos  —  Facebook will open-source two algorithms it uses …
Jacqueline Feldscher / Politico:
Pentagon puts the decision of awarding the $10B JEDI cloud services contract on hold as Defense Secretary Mark Esper reviews accusations of unfair competition  —  The Pentagon is slamming the brakes on its mega-competition to award a $10 billion cloud computing contract after President Donald Trump suggested …
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the biggest name in Fortnite and one of Twitch's most popular stars, says he will move to Microsoft's Mixer full-time  —  Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the biggest name in Fortnite and one of Twitch's most popular stars, is leaving the platform to stream exclusively on Mixer.

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Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Donie O'Sullivan / CNN: