Techmeme
January 12, 2020, 10:50 AM

Top News

Financial Times:
How Travelex is trying to recover from Dec. 31 hack, ordering staff to hand over laptops, using WhatsApp to bypass email, as hackers demand $6M for client data  —  Travelex staff have been told to hand over their laptops as a cyber attack on the company affected its internal network …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
1B+ medical images of patients found online, as hospitals and doctors' offices ignore security and upload X-rays, ultrasounds, and CT scans to unsecured servers  —  Every day, millions of new medical images containing the personal health information of patients are spilling out onto the internet.
Wall Street Journal:
A look at Google's healthcare efforts, like Project Nightingale and “Guardian” search tool, which are drawing scrutiny over mass collection of medical records  —  The company has struck deals that grant it access to millions of patient records  —  PALO ALTO, Calif. …
Isobel Cockerell / Coda Story:
Instagram is removing posts and suspending accounts that voice support for slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, says it is complying with US sanctions  —  News agencies, human rights activists and influencers have had their accounts deactivated.  —  After a U.S. drone strike killed …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
CES roundup: flexible screens are coming, battle between Intel and AMD to intensify, sex tech is on the rise, tech companies fetishized AI and 5G a little less  —  iCES is over, and I am quite sure you'll be happy to be done with it.  We still have more to come today and perhaps a little next week.
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Facebook shares closed at an all-time high of $218.30 on Thursday, valuing it at $622B and surpassing the previous high of $217.50 reached in July 2018  —  Facebook's share price has hit an all-time high, surpassing the peak it reached before a series of privacy scandals in 2018 and despite attacks …
Ranjan Roy / Margins:
Jillian D'Onfro / Forbes:
Alphabet's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond is leaving on January 31; company says he will not be receiving an exit package  —  Alphabet's controversial chief legal officer, David Drummond, is leaving the company, effective January 31.  —  Drummond, an employee of nearly 20 years …
Masha Borak / South China Morning Post:
Tencent says users spent ~$115B in 2019, up 160% YoY, through WeChat mini programs, which are miniature apps that work within the chat app  —  WeChat users spent US$115 million through mini programs in 2019WeChat users spent US$115 million through mini programs in 2019This article originally appeared …
Christie Aschwanden / Wired:
AI systems, like Google's system for reading mammograms, have the potential to worsen pre-existing problems like overtesting, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment  —  A new study out from Google seems to show the promise of AI-assisted health care.  Actually, it shows the threat.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram rolls out one of the biggest upgrades to Boomerang, an app for creating short looping videos, with trim feature and three new effects including SloMo  —  TikTok has spawned countless memes formats from its creative effects, challenging Instagram for the filtered video crown.

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The Information:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC: