Techmeme: Commsor, which gives companies insights about employees using data from tools like Slack and GitHub, raises $16M Series A at a valuation “well north of $100M” (Paul Sawers/VentureBeat)

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February 7, 2021, 6:40 PM

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Julian Chokkattu / Wired:

A look at Metalenz, which aims to replace multiple lens elements in smartphone cameras with a single lens system that utilizes optical metasurfaces technology — The optics in your smartphone have been pretty much the same for more than a decade. That's about to change.

More: IEEE Spectrum and Forbes

Tweets: @dez_blanchfield, @vscpr, @mattk, @ohmdee, and @crunchbasenews. Thanks:@ericrandall

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Commsor, which gives companies insights about employees using data from tools like Slack and GitHub, raises $16M Series A at a valuation “well north of $100M” — Community is at the heart of many businesses, whether we're talking about customers, coders, or brand superfans.

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.

More: Slashdot, The Verge, and OneZero

Reuters:

China issues new anti-monopoly rules putting more pressure on its local tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com — BEIJING (Reuters) - China's market regulator released new anti-monopoly guidelines on Sunday that target internet platforms, tightening existing restrictions faced by the country's tech giants.

Will Oremus / OneZero :

Unlike established social media platforms, Clubhouse is built to replicate real world social structures, norms, and status hierarchies rather than collapse them — The hot new social app has found success by replicating real-world social structures rather than exploding them

More: The Startup and Nikkei Asia

Tweets: @willoremus, @jordosh, @jeanyvesgonin, @willoremus, and @mattyglesias

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

More: Forbes. Tweets: @lunamoth, @robmay, @davechensky, @carnage4life, @chadwittman, @carnage4life, @zerobeta, @joonian, @rafat, @martinfehrensen, @niviachanta, @terrygtnguyen, @sabrinamaddeaux, and @simonowens

Thomas Brewster / Forbes:

Review: in 200+ charging docs filed in relation to the Capitol siege, 73 reference Facebook, 24 reference YouTube, 20 mention Instagram, and 8 mention Parler — Just after the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operating officer admitted the company's ability to enforce its own rules was “never perfect.”

Tweets: @kazweida, @maxabrahms, and @bostonjoan

Financial Times:

Analysis: Vision Fund, which posted a record annual loss last March, returned ~$18B to investors by the end of 2020, up from $13.4B it reported in Q3 2020 — After posting a record loss last year, fortunes have changed for the Saudi-backed tech investment fund

Tweets: @arashmassoudi

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:

Study of 130+ facial recognition data sets compiled over 43 years: driven by ML's data needs, researchers gradually abandoned asking for people's consent — The largest ever study of facial-recognition data shows how much the rise of deep learning has fueled a loss of privacy. — hide

More: Mashable. Tweets: @_karenhao, @bohyunkim, @phoebemoore, @cristiancanton, @frankpasquale, @rajiinio, @proftomcrick, @dorotheabaur, @hypervisible, @_katiesaurus_, @forteller, @histoftech, @ultrasaurus, @techreview, @fabiochiusi, @iethics, and @iethics

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.

More: The Guardian, BBC, and New York Post

Tweets: @netblocks, @betterpakistan, @kharym1, @bbcworld, @em_thuthu, @htet21059606, @mgurri, and @shaylugh

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

More: The Verge, CNN, Gizmodo, NPR, CNBC, news.com.au, Bloomberg, and Slashdot

Tweets: @tostevinm, @waiwainu, @houseforeign, @kathleenreen, @hanna_hindstrom, @kevin_m_woods, and @alexstamos

Carolina Milanesi / Fast Company:

Interview with Samsung VP Jaeyeon Jung on the new Galaxy SmartTag and how it fits into the SmartThings ecosystem, which as of December had 66M active users — While the Apple world waits patiently for an “AirTags” announcement, Samsung is already shipping its remote location device, the Galaxy SmartTag.

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 …

More: Microsoft On the Issues, OnMSFT.com, MUO, Neowin, The Verge, and CNBC

Tweets: @fxshaw, @hueypnewton13, @madukes529, @profsunnysingh, @juddlegum, @burgessct, @spmaloney, @steveschmidtses, @will_mi77, @levibroderick, @rolandixor, @neednewshorts, @baxiabhishek, @hill_charlotte, and @pinboard

Washington Post:

Jody Williams, the owner of TheDonald's domain name, explains why he pulled the plug on the pro-Trump forum that became a staging ground for the Capitol attack — The Army veteran, a site moderator who owned its domain, watched with growing alarm as racism, threats and QAnon references flourished on the pro-Trump site.

Tweets: @tracyjan, @marissa_jae, @brianstelter, @nuclearfootie, and @washpostpr

Adam Ciralsky / Vanity Fair:

Profile of BitMEX cofounder Arthur Hayes, who remains at large after the CFTC filed a suit against BitMEX for allegedly running an unregistered trading platform — The BitMEX cofounder created a cryptocurrency exchange that has traded trillions. Now he's wanted by U.S. authorities …

More: HODINKEE. Tweets: @chrischameleon, @oluyomiojo, @solidusmax, @vanityfair, and @btcschellingpt

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day

Upcoming Tech Events

Jan 4

Samsung "The First Look" media event

Game Developers Conference

More News

Frank Bajak / Associated Press:

Some experts raise concerns about the US Election Assistance Commission's proposed security standards that would allow voting machines with wireless hardware

Tweets: @rad_atl

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Andy Jassy is said to be “warmer and fuzzier” than Bezos, but as Amazon's next CEO, he faces many hurdles if he wants its tech to manage workers more humanely

More: Insider, BBC, and Associated Press

Tweets: @wsj, @shashib, @jensmithwsj, @profgalloway, @mims, @smulpuru, @mims, @mims, and @mims

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

More: theblockcrypto.com. Tweets: @onelinders, @jason, @joshuatopolsky, @morganhousel, @rudegeair, @davidboboy, @greatquarter, @elerianm, @alex, @compound248, @samanthaladuc, @fintechfrank, @mims, and @hkanji

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

Tweets: @cradvocacy, @jbrowder1, @pennywriter, @mxmahoney5, @cradvocacy, and @stephtngu

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

More: arXiv and Ars Technica

Tweets: @lizstantonmbe, @legalnomads, @frankcatalano, @idramalab, @wendynather, and @a_greenberg

Earlier Picks

Theodore Schleifer / Vox:

Hawkfish, the Mike Bloomberg-funded tech company that first helped his and later Joe Biden's 2020 election campaigns, is shutting down in May

Tweets: @teddyschleifer

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Google says it paid $6.7M in 2020, up from $6.5M in 2019, to 662 researchers from 62 countries as part of its bug bounty program

Source: Google Online Security Blog. More: Chrome Unboxed and SecurityWeek

Tweets: @bgurley, @nixcraft, and @googlevrp

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

More: 117th Congress, Gizmodo, Mashable, Reuters, TechCrunch, U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner, Washington Post, Techdirt, PCMag, Engadget, CNET, CNBC, The Verge, and Top Stories in Tech