Techmeme
January 13, 2021, 7:15 AM

Top News

Nick Statt / The Verge:
WhatsApp clarifies its new data sharing policy with Facebook, which mostly concerns businesses, after recent backlash and surge in Telegram and Signal downloads  —  The company is trying to contain fallout over a privacy policy update  —  WhatsApp has published a new FAQ page …
Gizmodo:
GPS metadata from videos posted to Parler on Jan. 6 shows several users deep inside the Capitol; source: FBI has expressed interest in examining the data  —  At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the hoard of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
After reports of all of Parler's data being downloaded by third parties, analysis shows Parler lacked basic security measures to prevent such a data breach  —  The “free speech” social network also allowed unlimited access to every public post, image, and video.
Axios:
YouTube says it has taken down newly posted video content from Trump for violating its policies against inciting violence, bans new uploads for a week  —  YouTube said Tuesday that it has taken down newly posted video content from President Trump for violating its policies against inciting violence.
Sean O'Kane / The Verge:
Sources: Apple held talks with EV startup Canoo in 2020; Apple was largely interested in Canoo's unique scalable electric vehicle platform  —  As part of the Silicon Valley giant's secretive push into the automotive space  —  Apple held meetings with California EV startup Canoo in the first half …
Wall Street Journal:
Visa is abandoning its $5.3B planned acquisition of fintech firm Plaid after the DOJ sued over antitrust concerns in November  —  Justice Department sued in November to challenge $5.3 billion deal  —  Visa Inc. is abandoning its $5.3 billion planned acquisition of Plaid Inc. …
Jeff Stone / CyberScoop:
Europol says it has shut down DarkMarket, the largest online marketplace for illicit goods with 2,400+ vendors, and apprehended a suspect, an Australian man  —  German law enforcement has shut down an internet market where users bought and sold narcotics, stolen data and hacking tools, authorities said Tuesday.
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
A look at those unlucky enough to forget the password to access their bitcoin; Chainalysis says 20% of all bitcoin, or ~$140B, appears to be lost or stranded  —  Bitcoin owners are getting rich because the cryptocurrency has soared.  But what happens when you can't tap that wealth …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Report: GitHub fired an employee who used the term “Nazis” in an internal Slack during the US Capitol riot; ~200 staff signed a letter questioning the firing  —  Roughly 200 employees have signed an open letter asking for answers  —  GitHub reportedly fired a Jewish employee …
Dave Nyczepir / FedScoop:
White House launches the National AI Initiative Office, which will implement national AI strategy and coordinate research across gov., industry, and academia  —  The White House on Tuesday fulfilled its requirement to establish an office responsible for coordinating artificial intelligence research …
Billy Steele / Engadget:
Outdoor grill company Weber has acquired smart oven startup June for undisclosed sum; June worked previously to help develop Weber's smart grilling system  —  Weber enlisted June, the company behind the June smart ovens, to help it build Weber Connect.  That platform powers …
Jeff Grubb / VentureBeat:
Nvidia unveils RTX 3060, 3070, and 3080 GPUs, suited for mobile gaming, and says laptops with the RTX 3070 and 3080 will start rolling out this month  —  Nvidia's Ampere architecture is going mobile.  The company revealed its plans and partnerships to bring GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs to more than 70 laptops throughout 2021.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook expands its Access Your Information tool, adding six new categories of data, a search tool, and more, available now on its Android and iOS apps  —  Facebook today is rolling out an update to its Access Your Information tool with the goal of making the tool easier to both use and navigate …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at Spotify's push into podcasting as it seeks profitability: ~2M podcasts are available, up from 2,500 in 2017, and 20% of its users listen to podcasts  —  When Spotify went public in April 2018, Daniel Ek had been struggling with this question for more than a decade: How would the company make money?
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:
Gig workers and unions sue in CA Supreme Court to have Prop 22 overturned, alleging it violates the state constitution and limits the power of legislators  —  The lawsuit alleges Prop 22 violated the state constitution, and limited the powers of legislators to provide labor protections they are authorized to grant.

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