Sources and documents reveal how Cambridge Analytica used harvested personal information from 50M Facebook profiles to build psychological profiles of US voters
LONDON — As the upstart voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica prepared to wade into the 2014 American midterm elections, it had a problem.
Facebook suspends Trump- and Brexit-affiliated data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica after reports it and affiliated psychologist lied about data retention
Paul Grewal / Facebook :
Amazon is rolling out a new “Brief Mode” for Alexa that replaces verbal confirmations with chimes
Amazon confirmed it's rolling out an optional “Brief Mode” that lets Alexa users configure their Echo devices to use chimes and sounds for confirmations, instead of having Alexa respond with her voice...
Profile of Christopher Wylie, the former Cambridge Analytica employee who is now blowing the whistle on his ex-employer's data harvesting practices
Now, 28-year-old Christopher Wylie goes on the record to discuss his role in hijacking the profiles of millions of Facebook users in order to target the US electorate
Google Maps adds “plus codes”, a simple digital addressing system, to help with navigating to places without clear addresses in countries like India
Mapping a city like New York, where streets and avenues are neatly arranged in a grid, is a piece of cake. But a city in India is a different animal.
YouTube Kids app suggested conspiracy theory videos in search results and related videos sections
- The YouTube Kids app is meant to filter out unsuitable content, but we found that it suggested that children watch conspiracy theory videos. — The app suggested several videos …
How Facebook's old terms of service allowed Cambridge Analytica to get data on 50M people from just 270K users of an app that used Facebook Login
Facebook says it isn't at fault. — Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics firm that helped Donald Trump get elected president …
Utah-based Fortem Technologies, which makes a miniaturized detect-and-avoid radar system for drones, raises $15M Series A from Data Collective, Boeing, others
Boeing's HorizonX venture capital arm signaled that it's doubling down on autonomous flight technologies by participating …
Sources: Twitter will ban ads for ICOs, token sales, and cryptocurrency wallets in the next two weeks
Twitter is preparing to prohibit a range of cryptocurrency advertisements amid looming regulatory intervention in the sector. — The microblogging platform is following similar moves …
Apple's projected 2018 R&D costs of ~$14B, up nearly 2x in 4 years and at a 14-year high as a percentage of revenue, hint at Apple's growing product ambitions
After a brief lull, Apple's R&D expenditures are once again exploding higher. Apple's 2Q18 financial guidance implies … Tweets: @tim , @artasbartas , and @neilcybart Tweets: Tim Bradshaw / @tim : “It...
Fitbit will add period tracking to its app and Versa and Ionic smartwatches this Spring
Lauren Goode / The Verge :
Microsoft says it is testing a change to Windows 10 that will open links clicked within Windows Mail in Edge, even if Edge is not the default browser
Tom Warren / The Verge :
A guide to American music copyright laws, which have enabled Wixen Publishing to sue Spotify for $1.6B and which have failed to respond to technological change
The hidden costs of streaming music — Spotify is finally gearing up to go public, and the company's February 28th filing … Tweets: @robertblevine_ , @evacide , and @reckless See also Mediagazer Twee...
Sources say mixed reality company Avegant has laid off more than half its staff in recent weeks and replaced CEO Joerg Tewes with founder Ed Tang in February
Unfortunate Reality — Light-field display and “mixed reality” startup Avegant laid off a significant portion of its staff in recent weeks …
Wikipedia survey across 14 languages with 215K+ responses shows about 35% seek a specific fact, 33% want a topic overview, and 32% want to read a topic in-depth
Wikimedia Blog :
An analysis of legal arguments on who or what is criminally liable when an AI-controlled machine kills someone shows that the future of AI litigation is murky
Here's a curious question: Imagine it is the year 2023 and self-driving cars are finally navigating our city streets.
Oslo-based quiz app Kahoot! announces $17M in funding, sources say at a $100M valuation, to further its premium subscription services following a change in CEO
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Sources: hacks of Saudi petro firms in 2017 intended to trigger an explosion via compromised Schneider Electric controllers deployed in ~18k plants worldwide
New York Times :
Tinder owner Match sues Bumble for allegedly infringing on its patents, including the swipe-to-connect feature; source says Match still wants to acquire Bumble
Kurt Wagner / Recode :
Streetbees raises $12M Series A led by Atomico for its conversational market research app that pays users to complete surveys
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat :
China to apply its social credit system to flights and trains, barring access for infractions like spreading false info and not paying fines, starting May 1
FireEye reports suspected Chinese hacker group TEMP.Periscope has been increasing attacks at US engineering and defense companies linked to the South China Seas
David Tweed / Bloomberg :
F-Secure researcher discovers Twitter botnet advertising adult dating sites with over 22K linked accounts, some more than eight years old
Andy Patel / News from the Lab :
AI-powered 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!
Zoho CRM Plus in 2025: A year of thoughtful CX improvements
2025 marked 11 years of building a customer experience platform designed to support organizations as customer expectations, channels …
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.