Techmeme
August 6, 2021, 4:45 AM

Top News

Financial Times:
Security experts voice privacy concerns over Apple's new plan to scan users' devices for child abuse images, saying governments will likely increase its scope  —  Security researchers raise alarm over potential surveillance of personal devices  —  Apple intends to install software …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Apple says in the next couple of months it will begin scanning photos on iOS 15 and macOS Monterey devices in the US for known child abuse images  —  The feature lands later this year, but already faces resistance from security and privacy experts  —  Later this year, Apple will roll …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
In addition to scanning for known child abuse photos, Apple will also begin using on-device ML to warn parents and kids of sexually explicit photos in Messages  —  Apple later this year will roll out new tools that will warn children and parents if the child sends or receives sexually explicit photos through the Messages app.
Cristiano Lima / Washington Post:
In a letter to Zuckerberg, the FTC called Facebook's initial claim it cut off NYU researchers' access to comply with an FTC privacy agreement as “inaccurate”  —  The Federal Trade Commission has dismissed as “inaccurate” Facebook's claim that it cut off a group of researchers' access …
Nathalie Maréchal / Tech Policy Press:
Facebook's decision to disable researcher's ability to run the NYU's Ad Observatory Project should be a call to regulate the ad tech industry as a whole  —  Another day, another Facebook accountability scandal.  —  On Wednesday, Facebook shut down the accounts of NYU researchers Laura Edelson …
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Microsoft announces “Super Duper Secure Mode” for its Edge desktop browser, which disables V8's JIT, allowing for security features like Arbitrary Code Guard  —  Microsoft said today it plans to run an experiment in its Edge web browser where it will intentionally disable …
James Rubin / CoinDesk:
Senators Warner and Portman propose an amendment to infrastructure bill that only excludes crypto miners from broker definition; White House shows support  —  The bill excludes only proof-of-work mining, or the selling of hardware or software that gives individuals control of private keys to access digital assets.
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Twitter Spaces launches a co-hosting feature, which will now allow rooms to have one host, up to two co-hosts, and ten additional speakers active at once  —  Twitter Spaces is launching a long-awaited feature for its users: co-hosting a Space.  The Clubhouse competitor has been improving …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Yelp will let businesses list their vaccination policies, including if customers must show proof of vaccination, wear masks, or if all staff are vaccinated  —  Including details on staff and customer vaccinations  —  Yelp will let businesses share their policies on COVID-19 vaccinations, the company announced today.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon delays its return to offices from September 3 to January 3, 2022  —  Amazon told employees Thursday that it will delay its timeline for returning to regular work in the office until early next year.  —  The new date: Jan. 3, 2022.  Previously, Amazon had expected employees …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Scammers are abusing Instagram's protections against self-harm and impersonation to purposefully target and ban Instagram accounts, some charging $60 per ban  —  An underground industry is abusing Instagram's mechanisms for removing self-injury and impersonating content to censor and harass people.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Agricultural manufacturing giant John Deere acquires autonomous tractor startup Bear Flag Robotics for $250M  —  In the world of robotic startups, acquisition is often as good an outcome as any.  And when it comes to robotic tractor startups, you could do worse than being acquired by John Deere.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google refreshes its Nest lineup, including its video doorbell and indoor-only camera, with a unified design language and lower prices  —  A whole new lineup of cameras for Nest smart homes  —  Google has announced a new line of home security cameras and a video doorbell under its Nest brand.
Ben Gilbert / Insider:
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Ofcom study: Netflix's UK customer base is now bigger than the total of all UK pay-TV subs; UK has 31M subscribers to streaming services, up from 20M in 2019  —  Some 52% of U.K. households have a Netflix subscription and 29 of the top 30 shows on subscription services in the first quarter …
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Voi, which aims to use computer vision tech to prevent pavement riding, and solve parking issues, raises $45M led by The Raine Group at a $205M valuation  —  Micromobility startup Voi has raised $45 million, funds it says will be used to research and develop technology that will improve safety …

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Robert McMillan / Wall Street Journal: