Techmeme
February 6, 2021, 5:55 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Leaked cellphone data from the siege at the Capitol demonstrates how advertising IDs can be used to identify and track the movement of specific individuals  —  Times Opinion was able to identify individuals from a trove of leaked smartphone location data.  —  Mr. Warzel and Mr. Thompson are writers in Opinion.
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
As protests grow in Myanmar, NetBlocks says the country's internet connectivity fell to 16% of ordinary levels, indicating a near-total internet shutdown  —  Myanmar's military leaders are extending their  —  internet restrictions in a bid to limit protests against their coup.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Myanmar's new military government orders local telecom operators and ISPs to block Twitter and Instagram, days after imposing a similar blackout on Facebook  —  Updated at 1.46AM PT February 6: Telenor says Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) has directed all mobile operators …
BuzzFeed News:
Sources: while Trump was in office, the Trump Org negotiated a 40% stake in Parler in exchange for making it his main social network; the deal never finalized  —  Documents seen by BuzzFeed News show that Parler offered Trump 40% of the company if he posted exclusively to the platform.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CEO of Robinhood, which had 20M users in 2020 and recently raised $3.4B, told investors that he still plans to take the company public in H1 2021  —  The firm that set out to bring investing to the masses has run into the reality of Wall Street regulations
Mark Stenberg / Medialyte:
A skeptical look at Clubhouse, where most conversations are boring and whose audio-centric, synchronous content may be far less compelling after the pandemic  —  I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! … Share Medialyte  —  Clubhouse in the dog house  —  On Sunday night …
Ashley Gold / Axios:
Microsoft suspends contributions for the rest of the 2022 election cycle to all members of Congress who voted to object to the presidential election results  —  Microsoft announced Friday it will suspend contributions for the rest of the 2022 election cycle to all members of Congress who voted …
Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:
Democratic senators' SAFE TECH Act will strip Section 230 immunity for any ads or posts violating civil rights, antitrust, cyberstalking, human rights laws  —  Three top Democratic senators added to the stack of proposed Section 230 reforms Friday, introducing their own bill …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Associated Press:
Draft bill in Nevada to establish “Innovation Zones” would let tech companies with large areas of land form governments with the same authority as counties  —  CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies …
Kaveh Waddell / Consumer Reports:
Study finds that the CCPA needs stronger enforcement but “authorized agents” like DoNotPay can make it much easier for consumers to opt out of data collection  —  A CR study reveals progress, along with problems, when Calif. consumers use “authorized agents” to stop their data from being sold
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Research finds most Zoom-bombing incidents, especially in high schools and colleges, originate with participants who post the link publicly to invite trolls in  —  Researchers have found that most calls to disrupt videoconferences originate with the participants, especially in high schools and colleges.

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Featured Podcasts

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Hard Fork:
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The Upstarts Podcast:
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OpenClaw for normies is here
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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Earlier Picks

Arthur Holland Michel / Wired:
Ben Gilbert / Insider: