Techmeme
March 28, 2019, 8:10 PM

Top News

Russell Brandom / The Verge:
US Department of Housing and Urban Development files charges against Facebook, saying the company's ad targeting tools enable violations of Fair Housing Act  —  'Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live,' says HUD secretary
Tracy Jan / Washington Post:
Sources: HUD alerted Twitter and Google last year that it is scrutinizing their ad targeting practices for possible housing discrimination  —  The Department of Housing and Urban Development alerted Twitter and Google last year that it is scrutinizing their practices for possible housing discrimination …
CNBC:
Lyft prices IPO at $72 per share, which would value the company at over $20B and hit the top of its expected range  —  - Ride-hailing platform Lyft was funded early on by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Mayfield, K9 Ventures, Floodgate and others.  — Lyft is one of several aging start-ups expected …
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Twitter expands dark mode options for iOS users with a pure black Lights Out mode and an Automatic Dark Mode  —  Twitter has announced today that it is expanding its dark mode options for iOS users.  Adding to the blue/gray dark mode theme that the platform has offered for a while …
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
UK's review of Huawei's telecommunications equipment finds “significant” security problems but does not call for an outright ban  —  LONDON — A British review of Huawei found “significant” security problems with the Chinese company's telecommunications equipment …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Verizon rolls out a free version of Call Filter, its $3/month spam and robocall protection service  —  Now you don't have to pay extra money to battle against spam and robocalls  —  Verizon is taking new steps to combat the unrelenting nuisance of spam calls.
Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal:
FTC has secured $1.5B worth of fines from robocallers through court judgments since 2004 and has collected $121M or 8% of that amount  —  America's telecommunications watchdogs have levied hefty financial penalties against illegal robocallers and demanded that bad actors repay millions to their victims.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Spotify is testing Premium Duo, a discounted subscription for two for €12.49 a month, that includes a playlist based on both users' listening habits  —  Includes a new playlist based on both your listening habits  —  Spotify is testing a new subscription called Premium Duo that offers …
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
More Apple Card details, including that a user can generate virtual card numbers for online non-Apple Pay purchases at any time by tapping a button  —  One of the most buzzy announcements on Apple's stage this week was Apple Card, its in-house credit card powered by Goldman Sachs and Mastercard.
Richard Allan / Facebook:
Facebook says EU advertisers will need authorization to run ads for EU's May elections and ads related to politics and issues must have a “Paid for by” label  —  In the run up to the European Parliamentary Elections in May, we are making big changes to the way ads with political content work on Facebook.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Jake Kanter / Business Insider:
Leaked Facebook emails reveal intense discussion over an anti-Semitic Instagram post by Alex Jones before it was taken down  —  - Business Insider has seen a lengthy Facebook email chain in which executives discuss Alex Jones' future on Instagram and removing an inflammatory post.
Aditi Shrivastava / The Economic Times:
Indian ride-hailing company Ola to launch a car rental service in the coming weeks; sources: Ola will invest more than $500M in the service  —  Homegrown ride-hailing platform Ola will invest over $500 million to launch a ‘self-drive’ service aimed at broadening its portfolio of transportation solutions …
More: Entrackr
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft expands its Azure IP Advantage program to include IoT companies and donates 500 patents to the LOT Network, to protect against patent trolls  —  Microsoft today announced a major expansion of its Azure IP Advantage program, which provides its Azure users with protection against patent trolls.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sensor Tower: worldwide App Store spending will reach $96B by 2023, up 104% from $47B in 2018; Google Play will reach $60B, up 140% from $27B in 2018  —  Consumer spending in mobile apps across both Apple's App Store and Google Play will grow by 120 percent to reach $156 billion worldwide by 2023 …
Zoë Bernard / The Information:
Source: Carta, formerly eShares, is close to completing a $300M funding round led by a16z at a ~$1.8B valuation; Carta raised $80M in December  —  Carta, a startup that helps investors manage their equity stakes in private companies, is close to having a new set of investors of its own.
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