Techmeme
October 22, 2020, 8:15 PM

Top News

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Twitter and the White House deny claims that a Dutch researcher logged in to Trump's Twitter account, as experts scrutinize screenshots  —  Researcher claims Trump's password was ‘maga2020!’  —  A security researcher claims he hacked President Donald Trump's Twitter account earlier this month …
Medium:
Bloomberg:
Sources: PayPal is exploring acquisitions of cryptocurrency companies, including holding talks with BitGo, which makes multi-signature cryptocurrency wallets  —  - Goldman-backed startup helps investors store Bitcoin securely  — No deal is finalized and talks could still fall apart
Anna Irrera / Reuters:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it will start charging for WhatsApp Business and add hosting services for businesses' online assets and shopping features  —  Facebook has been making a big play to be a go-to partner for small and medium businesses that use the internet to interface with the wider world …
Mother Jones:
Former Facebook employees describe tests of News Feed algorithm changes and their impact on left- and right-leaning news sites, with tweaks to favor the right  —  For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Intel reports Q3 revenue of $18.3B, down 4% YoY, vs $18.24B est., and Data Center Group revenue of $5.9B, down 7% YoY; stock is down 10%+ after hours  —  - Intel beat estimates overall as work from home continued because of the coronavirus pandemic.  — The company's data center unit derives revenue …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Sean Lyngaas / CyberScoop:
US says Russia-linked group targeted IT systems used by state and local officials, but there was no evidence “integrity of elections data has been compromised”  —  It's no secret that the hacking group often referred to as Energetic Bear or TEMP.Isotope — linked by multiple security firms …
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
How Phantom Secure, which started as a privacy-focused phone company in Canada, became a network for the Sinaloa Cartel before being shut down by the FBI  —  Vince Ramos wanted Phantom Secure to be the Uber of privacy-focused, luxury-branded phones—flood the market with devices, and sort out the law later.
Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters:
Facebook's Oversight Board says it is now accepting cases for review, both from users who have exhausted the company's appeals process and from Facebook itself  —  (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's Oversight Board, which can overrule the company's decisions on whether pieces of content should have been removed …
Manuel Vonau / Android Police:
Google adds price insights for comparisons with typical prices and deal alerts to Google Shopping  —  Last month, Google Shopping added features to make local shopping easier with new information on availability and curbside pickup options.  In light of the upcoming holiday season …
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Activists around the world are building facial recognition tools to identify police officers using off-the-shelf image recognition software  —  “We're now approaching the technological threshold where the little guys can do it to the big guys,” one researcher said.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
TikTok will now specify which content policy a removed video violated, after testing the notification feature and seeing a 14% reduction in user appeals  —  You know what you did.  Or do you?  Until recently, TikTok wouldn't necessarily explain why it removed one of your videos from the platform.
Sebastian Sinclair / CoinDesk:
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has officially launched Sand Dollar, its national digital currency, the first of its kind in the world to be fully deployed  —  The Central Bank of the Bahamas has officially launched its national digital currency.  —  The first of its kind in the world …
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
WHO grants Wikipedia free use of its published data, allowing it to be reposted widely in almost 200 languages and starting with COVID-19 information  —  The health agency will license much of its material to the online encyclopedia, allowing the information to be reposted widely into almost 200 languages.

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More News

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Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Earlier Picks

Steve Lohr / New York Times: