Techmeme
December 19, 2018, 11:15 PM

Top News

Ime Archibong / Facebook:
Facebook confirms Spotify, Netflix, Dropbox, and RBC had read/write/delete access for messaging integrations, says it was experimental and ended three years ago  —  In the past day, we've been accused of disclosing people's private messages to partners without their knowledge.
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.
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed News:
Report: some apps using Facebook's SDK, like Grindr and Bible+, send user info to Facebook, including location, where users click, and how long the app is used  —  Facebook provided developers with tools to build Facebook-compatible apps like Tinder, Grindr and Pregnancy+.
Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Facebook's stock closed down 7% on Wednesday following a New York Times story and a lawsuit from the District of Columbia's AG  —  Facebook Inc. tumbled on Wednesday, with shares extending their decline throughout the session after the social-media company was sued by the District of Columbia over a privacy breach.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple says some 2018 iPad Pros ship with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis due to their manufacturing process but doesn't consider it to be a defect  —  Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some of its 2018 iPad Pros are shipping with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis.
Washington Post:
The AG for the District of Columbia files lawsuit against Facebook over allowing Cambridge Analytica access to users' information  —  The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook for allowing Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy …
Windows Experience Blog:
Microsoft debuts new test build of Windows 10 with a simplified Start layout, new Office launcher and hub for recent docs, kaomoji support, and more  —  Hello Windows Insiders, today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18305 (19H1) to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft releases out-of-band security update for Internet Explorer that fixes a remote code execution vulnerability allowing attackers to hijack computers  —  Microsoft has released an out-of-band security update that fixes an actively exploited vulnerability in Internet Explorer.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
NASA discovered a data breach in October involving employee info, including Social Security numbers; scope of breach and number of impacted employees unclear  —  Hack took place in October 2018.  Agency still doesn't know the number of impacted employees.  —  The US National Aeronautics …
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 …
Ashley Cullins / Hollywood Reporter:
District court judge rules in BuzzFeed's favor in lawsuit from tech exec Aleksej Gubarev after publication of Steele dossier, citing the fair report privilege  —  A day after ruling the outlet couldn't evade a defamation claim by arguing the tech CEO who sued is a public figure …
New York Times:
Researchers discover years-long breach at the EU's diplomatic communications network, compromising thousands of cables; 100+ other organizations also targeted  —  WASHINGTON — Hackers infiltrated the European Union's diplomatic communications network for years, downloading thousands of cables …
Ian Hamilton / UploadVR:
Facebook open sources its DeepFocus VR research, which aims to create ultra-realistic visuals for eye-tracking headsets  —  Facebook is releasing public code and formally open sourcing its DeepFocus research into ultra-realistic visuals for VR headsets.  —  The DeepFocus approach …
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 …

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