Techmeme: How data-driven tech used for tracking and predicting the movement of refugees and migrants across Europe is being repurposed to track the spread of COVID-19 (Crofton Black/The Bureau of Investigative …)

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April 29, 2020, 4:50 AM

Top News

Alphabet:

Alphabet reports revenue of $41.2B, up 13% YoY, net income of $6.8B, up from $6.7B YoY, Other Bets operating loss grew to $1.1B; headcount grew to 123K, up ~20K — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - April 28, 2020 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

More: VentureBeat, The Verge, Associated Press, Forbes, CNBC, Search Engine Land, Thurrott, Android Police, Android Central, Adweek, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, Silicon Valley Business …, Engadget, Reuters, ZDNet, MSPoweruser, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @lamonicabuzz, @mhbergen, @dadaben_, @ryan_browne_, @cnbcnow, @srussolillo, @dee_bosa, @jenn_elias, @megancgraham, and @jaypeters

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Google's teleconferencing service, Meet, is adding 3M new users per day, up from 2M earlier this month, with 100M DAUs compared to Zoom's 300M — That's up from two million per day earlier this month — Google's Meet teleconferencing service is now adding about 3 million users per day …

More: Pocketnow and Forbes

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Google Cloud revenue increased 52% to $2.78B in Q1, driven by “significant growth” in Google Cloud Platform and “ongoing strong growth” in G Suite

More: AdExchanger, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, and SiliconANGLE. Thanks:@mnickelsburg

Jennifer Elias / CNBC:

In an email to staff, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company will allow employees to return to offices no earlier than June 1 and take a “staggered” approach

More: Business Insider, KnowTechie, and CNET

Tweets: @caseynewton, @alcardenasfl_dc, @dangraziano, @dannypage, and @ivanthek

Jon Swartz / MarketWatch:

Alphabet Q1 earnings show the pandemic is responsible for “a significant slowdown in ad revenues”, with $33.8B revenue from ads; stock up ~9% after hours

More: 9to5Google, Associated Press, and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @glenngabe, @jamesvgrimaldi, @aishaalmuslim, @carnage4life, @wsj, and @mdudas

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Source: Uber executives discuss cutting ~20% of its 27,000 headcount in the coming weeks; company veteran CTO Thuan Pham has resigned — Executives at Uber are discussing plans to cut around 20% of the company's employees, as it copes with a sharp decline in its ride-hailing business due …

More: SEC.gov, TechCrunch, Axios, Bloomberg, Fox Business, The Verge, Business Insider, USA Today, South China Morning Post, Forbes, PYMNTS.com, Business Insider, Telegraph, Gizmodo, New York Post, and Reuters

Tweets: @edbott, @amir, @amir, @carnage4life, @veenadubal, @yoda, @rolandlisf, @bizcarson, @nixcraft, @econ_marshall, @triketora, @work_matters, and @kateclarktweets

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Zuckerberg more actively in charge of Facebook after five departures from board of directors since 2019, as he attempts to consolidate decision-making — The 35-year-old tycoon has recast the company's board of directors and sought a high-profile role for the social-media giant in the Covid-19 pandemic

More: Business Insider, Seeking Alpha, and CNET

Tweets: @profgalloway, @dseetharaman, @ron_miller, @shelbyholliday, @mattzeitlin, @evale72, @karissabe, @jeffbercovici, @michaelzimmer, @pierce, @wadhwa, @davidmwessel, @kantrowitz, @jason_kint, @joannastern, @nilofer, @dseetharaman, and @wsj

New York Times:

Sources: Facebook restructured its security teams last week, in a move affecting detection-engineering and alert-response teams and more than two dozen staff

Tweets: @nytmedia, @donie, @ngleicher, @jason_kint, @bruno_j_navarro, @guyro, @ericgeller, @sheeraf, @jeremy_kirk, @nytimesbusiness, @mikeisaac, @nytimestech, and @campuscodi

Casey Newton / The Verge:

YouTube adds fact-check info boxes to some searches, above the search results, in the US, after launching in Brazil and India last year — The program launched in Brazil and India last year — YouTube will begin adding informational panels containing information from its network …

Matt Stroud / OneZero:

The CEO of Banjo, a SoftBank-backed surveillance firm that's raised nearly $223M, was once a neo-Nazi and was involved in the drive-by shooting of a synagogue — magazine profiles and on conference stages, Damien Patton, the 47-year-old co-founder and CEO of the surveillance startup Banjo, often recounts a colorful autobiography.

More: Deseret News, Input, and OneZero

Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah AG suspends Banjo's state contract after report about its founder's KKK past, suspends use of the surveillance tech while auditing it on data privacy, bias

More: Engadget. Tweets: @isaackrasny, @shammaboyarin, @andrewgutin, @moorehn, @yoda, and @sltribpolitics

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Apple adds COVID-19 testing site information to Apple Maps across the US and makes improvements to its Mobility Trends site — Apple has now added COVID-19 testing sites to its Apple Maps app across the U.S., covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The update provides testing locations …

More: Engadget, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Pocketnow, MacRumors, Streetsblog USA, SlashGear, MacDailyNews, AppleInsider, Appleosophy, and iDownloadBlog.com. Tweets: @frontier_anon

Hyunjoo Jin / Reuters:

Samsung reports Q1 earnings with total revenue ~$45.4B, up 5.6% YoY, and operating profit of ~$5.2B, up 3% YoY, as chip demand was solid amid COVID-19 crisis — SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) said its operating profit rose 3% in the January to March period …

More: Samsung Global Newsroom, CNET, TechCrunch, PhoneArena, Android Central, CNBC, Bloomberg, SiliconANGLE, and ZDNet. Tweets: @rover829

Christina Farr / CNBC:

How a handful of employees at Apple quickly pushed forward the development of a contract tracing API and collaboration with Google in less than a month — - Apple and Google announced a partnership to bring contact tracing to smartphones on April 10th. Their software toolkit will be released on Friday.

More: USA Today, The Overspill, iMore, iPhone Hacks, Cult of Mac, AppleInsider, MacRumors, iDownloadBlog.com, Naked Security, and Input

Tweets: @chrissyfarr, @ohunt, @mikesimonsen, @mettevd, @jimprosser, @martinvetterli, @mattrosoff, and @fabiochiusi

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Flexera State of the Cloud 2020 report: multicloud is becoming primary architecture choice; 65% of organizations are using Docker, 58% are using Kubernetes — Flexera's State of the Cloud 2020 report highlights how multicloud is becoming a default strategy for many enterprises …

More: Flexera, The New Stack, and TechRepublic

Ryan Kovatch / 9to5Google:

Google is shutting down Shoelace, a hyper-local social networking app it had launched in New York City in July 2019 — In July 2019, Google's experimental project incubator Area 120 launched a new local meetup app that would connect users in New York City.

More: The Next Web, Android Police, and Engadget

Andy Baio / Waxy.org:

Roc Nation files copyright claim over deepfake YouTube videos which use AI to impersonate Jay-Z's voice, raising new copyright and fair use questions — On Friday, I linked to several videos by Vocal Synthesis, a new YouTube channel dedicated to audio deepfakes — AI-generated speech …

More: The Verge, Reclaim The Net, and Input

Tweets: @waxpancake, @gregghoush, and @henryajder

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Kaspersky researchers detail a targeted espionage campaign via Play Store spyware apps, aimed at a few hundred users in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India — Malicious Android apps from the so-called PhantomLance campaign targeted hundreds of users, and at least two slipped past Google's defenses.

More: Securelist, Dark Reading, CyberScoop, Security Affairs, SecurityWeek, and BleepingComputer

Tweets: @lorenzofb, @a_greenberg, @efremov_andrew_, @k_sec, and @ericgeller

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:

Ford says it is delaying the commercial launch of its self-driving vehicle services being developed with Argo AI to 2022, to reassess its strategy amid COVID-19 — Ford said Tuesday it will delay plans to launch an autonomous vehicle service to 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted …

More: VentureBeat, The Verge, The Verge, Engadget, and Ubergizmo. Tweets: @epro

Crofton Black / The Bureau of Investigative Journalism:

How data-driven tech used for tracking and predicting the movement of refugees and migrants across Europe is being repurposed to track the spread of COVID-19 — The pandemic has given a boost to controversial data-driven initiatives to track population movements

Tweets: @tbij, @raineri_lu, @isaacriveraj, @guengl, @nowviskie, @iang_fc, @hypervisible, and @nattyray11

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Instagram launches a way for users to fundraise for nonprofits while livestreaming, showing streamers a breakdown of donors, so they can give them a shout-out — Instagram is today launching a new way for users to fundraise for nonprofits via Instagram Live, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

More: Engadget, Instagram, Firstpost Tech, Mashable, The NonProfit Times, Neowin, Later Blog, Newsweek, Tubefilter, The Verge, Social Media Today, and Android Central

Tweets: @karissabe and @danprimack

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

Instagram has been overrun with cash giveaways, which are often framed as charity, but are part of growth schemes run by social media marketing firms

Tweets: @rebexxxxa, @randfish, @spencerpratt, @devinkofsky, @brandyzadrozny, @chrismartin17, @caitlindewey, @corriedavidson, @yashar, @justinbrookman, @shannonintx, @profcarroll, @justinbrookman, @taylorlorenz, @jamesrbuk, @greg_jenner, @kalhanr, and @taylorlorenz

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 is acquiring DivvyCloud, a cloud security and governance startup, for $145M in cash and stock — Rapid7 announced today after the closing bell that it will be acquiring DivvyCloud, a cloud security and governance startup for $145 million in cash and stock.

More: SiliconANGLE, FinSMEs, Security Boulevard, VentureBeat, Database Trends …, and ZDNet. Tweets: @brianshin

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:50 AM ET, April 29, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Agence France-Presse:

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty head Stephen Capus says the US government turned off satellite services that transmit its Russian-language program into Russia

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Memo: Vanity Fair Editor Radhika Jones tells staff that she will step down this spring after seven years of leading the Condé Nast-owned magazine

Ethan Shanfeld / Variety:

Director Carl Rinsch pleads not guilty to fraud and money laundering after allegedly taking $11M from Netflix for an unfinished series; trial is set for Sept. 8

More News

Reuters:

Hungarian competition watchdog GVH fines Booking.com £6.1M for unfair business practices, including misleading ads and psychological pressure on consumers

More: Agence France-Presse

Bloomberg:

Sources: e-commerce giant JD.com has filed confidentially for a second listing in Hong Kong, which could raise at least $2B

More: Tech in Asia and RFI. Tweets: @jane_li911

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:

Microsoft is pushing privacy bills, modeled on the Washington Privacy Act it failed to get passed twice, in Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, and Minnesota

Tweets: @aclu_wa and @issielapowsky

Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:

AMD reports Q1 revenues of $1.79B, up 40% YoY, non-GAAP net income of $222M, compared to $62M in the year prior; stock down ~5% in after-hours

More: AMD and The Verge

David Gelles / New York Times:

A look at efforts by the tech industry to procure PPE for frontline workers, including one led by Salesforce's Marc Benioff to secure 50M pieces of PPE for $25M

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @ntaychak, @kedar_doshi, @nytimes, @sbuscemi, @ryanaytay, @donal888, @benioff, and @btaylor

Matt Day / Bloomberg:

As Amazon's no-questions-asked paid leave policy ends on May 1, warehouses are safer but interviews show many workers are not turning up and remain scared

Tweets: @blaw

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify's Anchor launches a tool that turns video chats into podcast-ready audio; works with a range of videochat products including FaceTime and Instagram Live

More: Nieman Lab, Anchor blog, SlashGear, MobileSyrup, Input, Marketing Land, Engadget, The Verge, and Los Angeles Times

Tweets: @mignano, @leimer, and @mdudas

Earlier Picks

Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:

Oracle announces Zoom has picked it as the meeting service's core cloud infrastructure provider and is already moving seven petabytes through its cloud daily

More: Oracle, CNBC, Oracle, TechSpot, SiliconANGLE, IT Management, OnMSFT.com, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @s_v_g, @shadowcat_mst, @rkrishnakumar, @cnbc, @brunoborges, @givenscj, and @realgenekim

James Cook / Telegraph:

Deliveroo, which employs over 2,500 people, is laying off 367 and furloughing 50 employees as it struggles amid low demand

More: Sifted. Thanks:@matthfield

Bloomberg:

TripAdvisor says it will cut 600 US positions and 300 others globally, shut San Francisco and downtown Boston offices; most remaining employees to take 20% cut

More: TripAdvisor Blog, Skift, CNBC, Boston.com, PYMNTS.com, The Boston Globe, TechCrunch, TheStreet, and Axios. Tweets: @carlquintanilla

Nikkei Asian Review:

Sources: Huawei has partnered with French-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics to co-design mobile and automotive chips as it seeks a shield from US sanctions

More: Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Gizchina, U.S. Department of Commerce, Light Reading, SlashGear, and Huawei Central. Tweets: @amexken

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Tecton.ai, which makes a service to build ML models by reusing data from similar use cases, leaves stealth with a $20M Series A led by a16z and Sequoia Capital

More: Tecton

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

Sen. Josh Hawley pushes DOJ for an antitrust probe into Amazon over its reported practices of using independent sellers' data to develop private label products

More: Senator Josh Hawley, Fox News, and Engadget

Tweets: @reckless, @karlbode, @johnwilson, and @techlawdecoded

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Shopify launches Shop, a consumer shopping app that allows users to browse recommended and local products and buy using the one-click Shop Pay checkout process

More: Fast Company, The Logic, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @tobi, @thatguybg, @hugoamsellem, @tylertringas, @turnernovak, @kajdro, @printful, @benbajarin, @croneill, @okassim, @ricburton, @saranormous, @joshelman, @bwertz, @arainert, and @benjaminsehl

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

British payments firm Checkout.com joins the Libra Association, the first payments processor to do so since Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe pulled out in October

More: Checkout.com, Cointelegraph, The Block, CoinDesk, and CoinDesk

Tweets: @libra_, @checkout, @messaricrypto, @cnbc, and @ryan_browne_