Techmeme
February 15, 2020, 10:05 PM

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
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.
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 …
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.

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Zoho RPA named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix by Nucleus Research  —  Zoho RPA has been named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix, published by Nucleus Research …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
TBC's Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
BG2 Pod:
The SpaceX IPO, Fable 5, AI Capex Update & Market Check w/ Gavin Baker, Andrew Fox & Clark Tang
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:05 PM ET, February 15, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Matt Drange / Protocol:
Makena Kelly / The Verge: