Techmeme
December 19, 2019, 5:50 AM

Top News

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Lawmakers balk after Facebook explains how it collects and monetizes location data of users who have denied location services in their smartphone OS for its app  —  - In response to a letter from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Facebook explained why it tracks users' locations …
First Round:
State of startups survey: 33%+ of founders worry about the end of a tech bubble, 65% say 2020 fundraising will be hard, and diversity and mental health are key  —  Welcome to the fifth edition of State of Startups.  What started as an experiment in 2015 has since become a treasured tradition here at First Round.
Los Angeles Times:
MyShake, an app that uses data from the USGS alert system that senses earthquakes, sent out its first public alert for a 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday  —  In a milestone, California's new statewide earthquake early warning cellphone app sent out its first public alert for a magnitude 4.3 earthquake …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Spotify is prototyping Tastebuds, a social feature that allows users to interact with and discover music by searching the people they follow  —  Spotify is prototyping a new way to see what friends have been listening to, called “Tastebuds.”  Despite how discovering music is inherently social …
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Facebook says it will ban any branded content, including influencers' posts, promoting tobacco products, vaping, or weapons on Facebook and Instagram  —  - For the first time, Facebook and Instagram are putting restrictions around the types of items that brands can promote using “branded content.”
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:
US government says Uber will pay $4.4M to victims of alleged gender discrimination and strengthen sexual harassment defenses, following an EEOC investigation  —  An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation found “reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture …
New York Times:
An examination of poorly secured police and private databases reveals how China is ramping up its ability to spy on its citizens to new and disturbing levels  —  The authorities can scan your phones, track your face and find out when you leave your home.  One of the world's biggest spying networks …
Todd Haselton / CNBC:
Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance announce a partnership to create a universal smart home standard, called the “Project Connected Home over IP”  —  - Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance announced a new partnership.  — It's called Project Connected Home over IP …
Bloomberg:
Current and ex-employees of SoftBank's Vision Fund describe an environment of sycophancy towards Son, harassment, rivalries, and a culture of recklessness  —  Masayoshi Son's venture capital firm is famous for making outsize bets on tech startups.  It has also been described as an environment of sycophancy and harassment.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:50 AM ET, December 19, 2019.

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More News

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
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Earlier Picks

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
CNN:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Chris Prentice / Reuters:
Sara Fischer / Axios: