Techmeme: Tech companies took up 22% of new office space in Singapore between 2015-2020, up from 8% between 2004-2014, led by Amazon, as financial firms reduced workspace (Faris Mokhtar/Bloomberg)

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May 29, 2021, 11:40 PM

Top News

Tyler Sonnemaker / Insider:

Court docs detail Google's user location data collection, efforts to hide an off toggle deep in Android settings, pressure on partners like LG to do the same — - Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private, according to newly unredacted court documents.

More: The Verge, CNET, Engadget, and Pixel Envy

Tweets: @jason_kint, @alistairmbarr, @aagha, and @davewiner

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

How online criminals are turning to unlicensed crypto exchanges and over-the-counter crypto brokers to cash out profits and how crypto forensic firms track them — Criminals are locked in battle with Forensics firms tracking how Treasure Men, privacy wallets and gift cards are used to turn virtual hauls into hard cash

Tweets: @mshannahmurphy, @dimartinobooth, and @paulkrugman

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

In an email to podcasters, Apple says it is delaying the launch of its Podcasts Subscriptions and channels until June and plans improvements to its Podcasts app — Apple has announced in an email to podcasters today that it is delaying the launch of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.

More: Engadget, MacRumors, Gizmodo, iThinkDifferent, iPhone in Canada Blog, mobilesyrup.com, MUO, AppleInsider, iDownloadBlog.com, iClarified, iMore, CNET, phonearena.com, Macworld, The Verge, Reuters, GSMArena.com, and TechRadar

Tweets: @ismh, @mlstotts, @hillitech, @mattcassinelli, @appleosophy, and @chancehmiller

See also Mediagazer

New York Times:

Microsoft: hackers behind SolarWinds recently breached State Dept. aid agency to send emails with malicious code to 150 orgs, including NGOs critical of Putin — Microsoft reported that it had detected the intrusion and that the same hackers behind the earlier SolarWinds attack were responsible.

More: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Microsoft Security, Microsoft On the Issues, Thurrott, SANS Internet Storm Center …, BleepingComputer, us-cert.cisa.gov, Microsoft Security, Livemint, BBC, CyberScoop, Windows Central, Nextgov, Ars Technica, Channel Futures, Wired, us-cert.cisa.gov, PCMag, SC Media, CSO, Financial Times, HackRead, Mashable, NPR, TechRepublic, New York Post, Federal Computer Week, CyberPeace Institute, HotHardware.com News, Dark Reading, CRN, The Record, infosecurity-magazine.com, The Verge, Malwarebytes Labs, HealthITSecurity, PYMNTS.com, Security Boulevard, The Hacker News, Threatpost, FedScoop, SecurityWeek, Bloomberg, USA Today, The Hill, International Business Times, MUO, Engadget, CNBC, Insider, NBC News, CyberNews, Volexity, and iTnews

Jay Peters / The Verge:

WhatsApp reverses course and says it won't limit functionality for users who don't accept its new privacy policy — The new policy went into effect on May 15th — Earlier this month, Facebook-owned WhatsApp said that users would lose functionality over time if they didn't accept its new privacy policy by May 15th.

More: TNW, Gizmodo, Slashdot, Engadget, Insider, AppleInsider, MUO, Mashable, phonearena.com, Livemint, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, mobilesyrup.com, MSPoweruser, and The Hindu. Tweets: @gizmodo

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:

Anthropic, a new startup from former GPT-3 researchers that aims to build large-scale, general AI systems, raises $124M Series A led by Skype's Jaan Tallinn — As AI has grown from a menagerie of research projects to include a handful of titanic, industry-powering models like GPT-3 …

More: Financial Times. Tweets: @danielaamodei, @mark_riedl, @marietjeschaake, @enricocoiera, @paulnemitz, @xamat, @danielaamodei, @timfinin, @martijnrasser, and @rao2z

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:

Google researchers detail “Half-Double”, a new Rowhammer attack technique they say will be difficult to mitigate as future generations of DRAM chips get smaller — A full fix for the “Half-Double” technique will require rethinking how memory semiconductors are designed.

More: Security Boulevard and Tom's Hardware

Tweets: @ucsdjacobs, @gadgetlab, and @wired

BuzzFeed News:

Venmo will now let users control the visibility of their friends list, following a report in which Biden's Venmo account and connections were easily found — Venmo, the mobile payments app owned by PayPal, is changing its privacy settings after a BuzzFeed News story uncovered President Joe Biden's account earlier this month.

More: Insider, Gizmodo, MUO, Newser, Engadget, The Verge, CNET, and MSPoweruser

Tweets: @wongmjane, @eff, @lamarrwilson, @wongmjane, @laszlobock, @rmac18, @johnwilson, @antumbral, @katienotopoulos, @bascule, @authoridad, @rmac18, @rmac18, and @carnage4life

Aislinn Keely / The Block:

SEC charges five people with promoting BitConnect, which it alleges was an unregistered digital securities offering that raised $2B+ from retail investors — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a civil lawsuit against five people accused of promoting BitConnect, a now-defunct crypto Ponzi scheme.

More: U.S. Securities …, Wall Street Journal, BitcoinExchangeGuide, PYMNTS.com, Crowdfund Insider, NewsBTC, Associated Press, Crypto Briefing, Cointelegraph, Finbold, Decrypt, and Reuters

Tweets: @bradmichelson, @toluogunlesi, @cryptonator1337, @sec_news, and @ppgosavi

Nora Caplan-Bricker / New Yorker:

Despite a wave of complaints, pushback from top universities, lawsuits, and accusations of bias, Proctorio's client list grew over 500% from 2019 to 2021 — Despite students' complaints and the coming return to in-person learning, Proctorio and its rivals are betting on a lucrative future.

Tweets: @ncaplanbricker, @jessifer, @newyorker, @jessifer, @hypervisible, @bonstewart, @benwolfevision, @cayneletizia, @jofrhwld, @krystafauria, @autumm, @newyorker, @fennelaurora, @shorterpearson, and @hypervisible

Doc Searls Weblog:

Apple's claims about respecting privacy aren't fully serious, as the iPhone default doesn't disallow apps from tracking users, instead expecting users to do so — If you haven't seen it yet, watch Apple's Privacy on iPhone | tracked ad. In it a guy named Felix (that's him, above) …

Tweets: @dsearls

Faris Mokhtar / Bloomberg:

Tech companies took up 22% of new office space in Singapore between 2015-2020, up from 8% between 2004-2014, led by Amazon, as financial firms reduced workspace — In the financial mecca of Singapore, a new crowd is flocking to its offices: technology companies.

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From Mediagazer

Washington Post:

More than 500 Voice of America contractors are expected to lose their jobs by June 30; Kari Lake says 584 total employees were terminated across USAGM

Wall Street Journal:

The US DHS says it is considering taking part in a reality show where immigrants compete for US citizenship, an idea that was pitched by producer Rob Worsoff

Mike Scarcella / Reuters:

Filing: advertisers ask a US judge to dismiss X's lawsuit accusing them of boycotting the company, arguing X failed to show that they acted with any common plan

More News

Reuters:

Indian conglomerate Tata Group buys a majority stake in e-grocer Bigbasket; previous reports suggest that the deal is worth $1.31B for a stake of up to 64.2%

More: The Week, The Hindu, Livemint, Moneycontrol, The Economic Times, PYMNTS.com, and Tech in Asia. Tweets: @docolumide

Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:

US's campaign against Huawei has opened the $35B/year cellular equipment market, giving rise to new players and helping US's bid to counter China's 5G dominance

Tweets: @wsjtech, @wsj, @brendancarrfcc, and @ajitpai

Reuters:

Sprinklr, a provider of customer service software, files for an IPO and reports revenue of $386.9M and net loss of $41.2M in the year ended January 31

Kate Kaye / Digiday:

Google says it won't build itself Privacy Sandbox backdoors, but whether it will allow itself to use individual-level data from Chrome users remains unclear

Tweets: @kyotonio

Earlier Picks

Carrie DeCell / Knight First Amendment Institute:

In a court filing, the Biden administration indicates it will defend a Trump-era rule that requires US visa applicants to register their social media handles

Tweets: @cmd_dc, @cmd_dc, @evelyndouek, @jimbovard, @jameeljaffer, @krhawkins5, and @idaorg