Tech Roundup: Equifax Data Breach, Kaspersky Data Dollar Store & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• In a new study, Zika virus infected and killed stem cells that become a glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour, leaving healthy brain cells alone in humans and mice and potentially paving a way to cure malignant cancers.
• Controversy erupts over new AI-driven facial recognition experiment that can infer people's sexual orientation by just analysing their faces. (The research seems to have relied extensively on 130,741 images of 36,630 men and 170,360 images of 38,593 women downloaded from a popular American dating website, which makes its profiles public.)
• About 67 percent of U.S. adults get their news fix from social media, based on latest Pew Research into news platforms.
• Security firm Kaspersky opens a unique pop up Data Dollar Store in London that accepts personal data as currency, where you trade photos and screenshots of your email and SMS conversations to buy a mug and T-shirt.
• Americans opened apps 22 percent less on smartphones and nearly 50 percent less on tablets compared with the beginning of 2016, even as smartphones almost drive the entire of web traffic in the U.S.
• Popular consumer credit reporting agency Equifax suffers a massive data breach that compromises 143 million customers' Social Security Numbers and other personal identifiable information; stock plummets more than 18% after news emerges that three executives sold their stock in the company before the hack was made public.
• U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation begins its probe into Uber's "Hell" program (a software used by the company to track drivers working fro rivals) to determine if it gave Uber an unfair advantage over Lyft and other competitors, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). (It is to be noted that the case filed by Lyft driver Michael Gonzales against Uber over the use of the software was dismissed last month.)
• Google appeals 2.4 billion euro fine handed down by the European Commission for abusing its dominance in search to favour its own services over others. 
• Xiaomi unveils Android One flagship smartphone Mi A1 running stock Android targeting developing markets for 230$; unveils near-bezel-less Mi Mix 2.
• The grand chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that companies must give employees prior warning if they are monitoring their electronic communications in what's a landmark judgement concerning privacy in the workplace.
• Facebook unveils plans to charge businesses that want to conduct customer support in WhatsApp.
• Lenovo settles with U.S. Federal Trade Commission for installing Superfish adware in customer PCs; agrees to get affirmative consent for any future adware programs, as well as audited security checks of their software for the next 20 years.
• Facebook is fined 1.2 million euros (US$ 1.4 million) in Spain for collecting users' gender, religious beliefs, personal tastes and browsing history without explicitly stating the reason for doing so. (One more reason why reading privacy policies are a must before signing up for any 'free' service.)
• Facebook plans cross-posting of Instagram Stories to Facebook. (Because no one is using Facebook Stories, and this is something they should have done right from the start.); also tests instant videos on the social media platform and week long Stories on Instagram.
• Apple's upcoming iOS 11 Gold Master update gets leaked (an inside job, according to BBC); confirms iPhone X Edition name, face recognition, 3GB RAM, wireless charging and several other features.
• Twitter rolls out dark mode to desktop web. (This should be an option for all websites and apps, hopefully iOS 11 will usher that trend.)
• Facebook confirms a Washington Post report that its ad sales team had sold advertising worth US$ 100,000 to a "shadowy Russian company" ahead of the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections; these sponsored posts, in turn, were used to "target" American voters, either by directly naming presidential candidates or by focusing on "politically divisive issues," touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights. (Facebook has repeatedly played fast and loose with users' trust and credibility, and its inconsistent statements about Kremlin involvement in U.S. elections through controversial ad buys on the platform only compounds it.)
• Google redesigns Privacy Dashboard to give users more control over their privacy and security settings.
• Atlassian announces Stride, a new collaborative messaging platform aimed at Slack, as fellow rival Microsoft Teams adds guest access.
• Google reportedly close to buying HTC's phone business years after acquiring Motorola and selling it to Lenovo for a loss (but not before retaining its patents).
• Spotify web player no longer works in Safari browser apparently due to Apple's security concerns with Widevine plug-in.
• Google to shut down Drive apps for Mac and Windows March 12 next year; asks users to switch to Backup and Sync app instead.
• Lyft becomes the latest company to offer rides in self-driving cars in San Francisco.
• Google shows off compelling uses of augmented reality via a brand new ARCore website.