Techmeme
December 19, 2018, 12:35 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Internal docs show Facebook gave ~150 companies access to more user data than disclosed; some could read private DMs; Facebook says it didn't violate FTC decree  —  Internal documents show that the social network gave Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and others far greater access to people's data than it has disclosed.
Konstantinos Papamiltiadis / Facebook:
Facebook says it shared data with integration partners only when users signed in with their Facebook accounts to access features on other platforms and devices  —  Today, we're facing questions about whether Facebook gave large tech companies access to people's information and, if so, why we did this.
Washington Post:
Sources: AG for District of Columbia files lawsuit against Facebook over allowing Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, access to users' information  —  The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook for allowing Cambridge Analytica …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple rolls out iOS 12.1.2 for iPhone with eSIM bug fixes and China-specific changes to address Qualcomm injunction, including a new app closing animation  —  Apple on Monday released iOS 12.1.2 exclusively for iPhones.  The software update fixes bugs related to eSIM activation on the iPhone XR …
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Google repeatedly pushes the web in a proprietary direction to improve its services on Chrome making Microsoft's adoption of Chromium a loss for the open web  —  Analysis: Microsoft adopting Chromium puts the Web in a perilous place.  —  With Microsoft's decision to end development …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
NASA reveals data breach of employee information including Social Security numbers in October; scope of breach and number of impacted employees still unclear  —  Hack took place in October 2018.  Agency still doesn't know the number of impacted employees.  —  The US National Aeronautics …
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
An overview of how deep convolutional neural networks have gotten good at recognizing images, after a landmark 2012 paper called AlexNet transformed the field  —  A landmark 2012 paper transformed how software recognizes images.  —  Right now, I can open up Google Photos, type “beach,” …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft announces Windows Sandbox, a desktop environment for running apps in isolation, for users running Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise build 18301 and later  —  Microsoft's coming ‘Windows Sandbox’ feature is a lightweight virtual machine that allow users to run potentially suspicious software in isolation.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
Blockstream expands its satellite service, which lets users transfer bitcoin through leased satellites, to Asia Pacific and adds support for lightning payments  —  Bitcoin users' ability to send transactions through outer space has just been given a boost.  —  Blockchain technology firm …
Kashmir Hill / Gizmodo:
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Blythe Masters, CEO of blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings and a former JPMorgan executive, will step down as CEO but remain on its board  —  Blythe Masters left her job as a high-flying JPMorgan Chase executive in 2014, and soon after became CEO of Digital Asset, a blockchain startup that caters to banks and startups.
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Anthony Levandowski launches self-driving truck startup Pronto.ai, which plans to ship level 2 automated driving systems in 2019 starting at $4,999  —  Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who was at the center of a trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo …
Mallory Locklear / Engadget:
Facebook posts a six-month update on its civil rights audit: 2018 changes included voting encouragement and banning voting disinformation  —  In May, Facebook agreed to conduct a civil rights audit, and now the company has released an update of its progress.

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Earlier Picks

Emily Dreyfuss / Wired:
Guru Gowrappan / Verizon:
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge: