Techmeme
February 16, 2020, 1:55 AM

Top News

Hunter Walk:
Tech leaders should stop glib comments on media and acting like underdogs, and tech media should stop “Red Teaming” tech, overusing anonymity, and passing blame  —  [with a post like this, i'm not 100% sure i got it right in first publish - i don't draft and i don't circulate for feedback …
Cyrus Farivar / NBC News:
Interviews with 40 police departments in eight states that partnered with Ring for at least three months show there is little evidence that Ring reduces crime  —  Hundreds of police departments have signed agreements with Ring to gain access to footage filmed on home surveillance cameras
Mike Godwin / Slate:
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Target's Shipt delivery app workers describe a culture of retaliation and fear, say its algorithm pushes them to buy gifts for customers to boost their ratings  —  In late October, Ashley Johnson, a single mom and seasoned gig worker in a quiet Seattle suburb, tweeted about the decline …
Greg Bensinger / Washington Post:
Workers on Google's outsourced maps team say they alter maps based not just on history and local laws but also on whims of diplomats and Google executives  —  The Silicon Valley firm alters maps under political pressure and the inscrutable whims of tech executives
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
How AI is being used to detect and fight ransomware attacks, and how criminals could use AI to plot more efficient ransomware attacks  —  Imagine getting to a courthouse and seeing paper signs stuck to the doors with the message “Systems down.”  What about police officers in the field unable …
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Pakistan approves new restrictions for social media companies, requiring local offices, removal of content deemed unlawful, providing decrypted content, more  —  Pakistan's government has approved new rules for regulating social-media content that critics say would give the authorities unflinching powers …
Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Palantir is changing employee compensation, moving from cash bonuses toward restricted stock units by next year, to cut costs and prepare for an IPO  —  Palantir Technologies Inc., a data mining company co-founded by Peter Thiel, is changing its employee compensation in a bid to cut costs …
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Google says it saw a 98% drop in the number of Play Store apps accessing SMS/call log data in 2019 since cracking down on apps abusing permissions in Oct. 2018  —  Google has been clamping down on Android apps that abuse permissions, and that appears to have had a very tangible effect on the Play Store.
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
HQ Trivia, the company behind the once popular live mobile trivia game, is shutting down  —  New York (CNN Business)It's over for HQ Trivia.  —  The company behind the once popular live mobile trivia game is shutting down, CNN Business has learned.  HQ will part ways with 25 full-time employees.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India-based social commerce startup Simsim, which supports local languages like Hindi and Tamil, raises $16M across seed, Series A, and Series B in seven months  —  Simsim, a social commerce startup in India, said on Friday it has raised $16 million in seven months of its existence as it attempts …

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Matt Drange / Protocol:
Makena Kelly / The Verge: