News

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• Apple’s control over the App Store is no longer sustainable

  Last week, Apple caved to the Chinese government and pulled an app called HKmap.live that was being used by Hong Kong protestors to crowdsource the location of police forces. While Apple CEO Tim Cook defended Apple’s stance, the move is a reminder that Apple is the only judge and jury regarding what’s acceptable in the […]
  
  

• Pixel 4 review: Google ups its camera game

  Google’s first-party hardware has always been a drop in the bucket of global smartphone sales. Pixel devices have managed to crack the top five in the U.S. and Western Europe, but otherwise represent less than 1% of the overall market. It’s true, of course, that the company got a late start, largely watching on the […]
  
  

• In latest $10B JEDI contract twist, Defense secretary recuses himself

  The JEDI drama never stops. The $10 billion, decade-long cloud contract has produced a series of twists and turns since the project was announced in 2018. These include everything from court challenges to the president getting involved to accusations of bias and conflict of interest. It has had all this and more. Today, in the […]
  
  

• Facebook commits $1B to tackle affordable housing in California, other locations

  California is in the midst of a serious housing crisis with ramifications that stretch across the state. In the Bay Area, the crisis is often at its most visible due to the presence of tech mega-corps and the influx of highly paid tech workers that have exacerbated the problem. It hasn’t been uncommon for some […]
  
  

• How tech companies measure ‘legal’

  In a working environment obsessed with metrics dashboards, key performance indicators, and objectives and key results, the legal function presents an elusive target. Compared to sales, marketing and product, “legal” in a growing tech company can seem an inaccessible alchemy of risk, contracting and policy.
  
  

• Apple rolls out new Siri audio clip grading opt-in and request history deletion feature in beta

  Apple is rolling out a new opt-in notice for Siri audio sample review with the beta of iOS 13.2. This new opt-in feature was promised back in August after reports that audio from Siri requests were being reviewed by contractors and that the audio could contain sensitive or personal information. Apple had previously halted the […]
  
  

• Foursquare CEO calls on Congress to regulate the location data industry

  The chief executive of Foursquare, one of the largest location data platforms on the internet, is calling on lawmakers to pass legislation to better regulate the wider location data industry amid abuses and misuses of consumers’ personal data. It comes in the aftermath of the recent location sharing scandal, which revealed how bounty hunters were […]
  
  

• In latest $10B JEDI contract twist, Defense secretary recuses himself

  The JEDI drama never stops. The $10 billion, decade-long cloud contract has produced a series of twists and turns since the project was announced in 2018. These include everything from court challenges to the president getting involved to accusations of bias and conflict of interest. It has had all this and more. Today, in the […]
  
  

• Samsung confirms glaring S10 fingerprint reader flaw, promises fix

  Galaxy S10 users should turn on some alternative security features as Samsung works to address a major flaw with the device’s in-screen fingerprint sensor. The consumer electronics giant noted the issue today after a British user reported the ability to unlock her device with unregistered fingerprints. The flaw was discovered after placing a $3.50 screen […]
  
  

• Should we rethink the politics of ‘blocking’?

  Years ago, I wrote a piece criticizing a cover story by a well-known writer and political commentator that I’d met a few times, with whom I’d occasionally sparred on Twitter. The piece wasn’t merely a representation of my own views, but pulled in snarky tweets from other journalists disparaging her work too. It was a pile-on, and not my proudest moment.