Tech Roundup: Dell/ Dunkin'/ Marriott Data Breaches, Gene Editing Furore & More

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

• Ireland's Data Protection Commission finds that LinkedIn in the U.S. obtained email addresses of 18 million non-users of the platform in order to target them with ads on Facebook, prompting them to sign up for the service; LinkedIn ceases the practice after DPC says it's in violation of GDPR.
• Eight popular Android apps (Clean Master, Security Master, Battery Doctor and more), seven owned by Cheetah Mobile and one by Kika Tech, a Chinese company with significant investment from Cheetah in 2016, and boasting of over 700 million users per month, accused of perpetrating massive online ad fraud; exploits ads that are served by third-parties to boost app installations by injecting "fake ads" (called click injection and click flooding) to get paid for driving the installation.
• Privacy vs security battle heats up over intelligence agencies wanting backdoor access to secure (E2EE) chat apps; U.K. surveillance agency GCHQ outlines a new proposal where a service provider "silently" adds a law enforcement participant to a group chat or call in situations where it's absolutely needed. (Interesting to think of the privacy/legal complications. Even more importantly, will there be adequate transparency?)
• New internet surveillance regulation rules go into effect in China; mandates any online internet service provider (like Tencent, Alibaba etc.) to start capturing activities of users posting in blogs, microblogs, chat rooms, short video platforms and webcasts, including call logs, chat logs, times of activity and network addresses, citing a "need to safeguard national security and social order." 
• World's first gene-edited babies are born in China, with the twin girls' DNA reengineered to disable a gene called CCR5 in an attempt to make them resistant to HIV, smallpox, and cholera; Chinese government orders inquiry into He Jiankui's claims that he has created the world's first genetically edited babies, sparking uproar over ethical concerns of such an experiment, even as Harvard University scientist and IVF doctor Werner Neuhausser announces plans to use CRISPR gene-editing tool to change the DNA code inside sperm cells to check if it is possible to create IVF babies with a greatly reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease later in life.
• Fair Work Commission of Queensland, Australia rules that "businesses using fingerprint scanners to monitor their workforce can legally sack employees who refuse to hand over biometric information on privacy grounds"; ruling follows case filed by rejects case by Jeremy Lee, a sawmill worker, who said scanning system was a breach of his privacy.
• People who buy smart speakers have given up on privacy, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan; find that "people who own smart speakers are aware of the risks, but feel resigned to the idea that the erosion of privacy is now a fact of life."
• Facebook suffers from a bizarre software bug that treats users' old messages as if they were new, unread one (some users are expressing concerns that it could be resurfacing painful memories that they would rather forget); social network says it's working to resolve the issue, but offers no further explanation.
• Amazon, which reported last week that a technical error inadvertently exposed users' email addresses (but refused to comment further), is offering victims gift cards (anywhere between US$ 5 to US$ 100) in a compensatory move. (As long as loss of privacy is associated with monetary rewards, nothing will come out of it!)
• Google search faces its toughest competition yet in the European Union; smaller rivals like Mojeek, Qwant, Unbubble, Swisscows take on the search giant by banking on user privacy as a selling point, capitulating on big tech's practice of collecting data to offer services and marketing their products as privacy-oriented, one that doesn't track user data, filter search results or show targeted ads based on their activities. (E.U. antitrust regulators are also asking Google's rivals if the internet search giant unfairly demotes local search competitors, according to a questionnaire seen by Reuters.)
• Apple's practice of charging 30 percent for each iTunes transaction gathers steam after a class-action lawsuit filed in 2011 accusing the tech titan of violating antitrust laws by mandating apps to be sold only via App Store and therefore inflating prices finds favour with U.S. Supreme Court. (It may be noted that the additional 30 percent fee is mostly passed on to the customers by third-party app developers; Spotify for instance used to charge US$ 12.99 - instead of US$ 9.99 - for its premium monthly subscription plan if users registered to the service using the iOS app, but later removed the option altogether by redirecting them to its website.)
• Microsoft says it will support military projects by offering access to its technology; the company is "going to provide the U.S. military with access to the best technology … all the technology we create. Full stop," Microsoft's president Brad Smith was quoted as saying.
• WhatsApp's Chief Business Officer Neeraj Arora becomes the latest high-profile exit from Facebook; announces that he is leaving the company and that he would be "taking some time off to recharge and spend time with family" as the chat app continues to be a hotbed for misinformation.
• Consumer groups in the E.U. threaten Google with legal action for abusing users' location information to collect data that can reveal a lot more about them, such as their political leanings or sexual orientation, for purposes of targeted advertising; says Google does not have proper legal basis to track users through "Location History" and "Web & App Activity" settings, and which, for users of Android smartphones, is difficult to avoid.
• Uber is fined £385,000 for a November 2016 data breach that affected almost 3 million British riders (including 35 million worldwide in total, in addition to 3.7 million drivers, some of whom had their license numbers accessed) that led to hackers gaining passengers' full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and the location where they had signed up.
• Indian banking regulator RBI accuses Microsoft of sharing customers data in order to comply with U.S. law; finds that banks which have migrated to Microsoft Office 365 services have had their customers' data shared with the U.S. intelligence agencies, an allegation Microsoft denies, saying, "Microsoft never provides customer data unless we receive a legally valid warrant, order or subpoena about specific accounts or individual identifiers."
• Facebook reportedly considered selling access to its Graph API for US$ 250,000 per year to third-party app developers back in 2012 but ultimately decided against it, according to an unredacted court document obtained by The Wall Street Journal; employees also discussed pushing advertisers to spend more in exchange more user information.
• Law enforcement in the U.K. is considering use of A.I. to predict serious violent crimes before they happen (called predictive policing); individuals flagged by the system to be offered interventions, such as counselling, to avert potential criminal behaviour. (As always with these kind of system, questions of bias and racial profiling are bound to be raised, it's therefore very important that all stakeholders arrive at acceptable definitions of fairness, the data thoroughly vetted, and the algorithm opened up for independent audit considering what will be at stake. You wouldn't want the algorithm to unfairly label a wrong individual as suspect and make his life hell.)
• Hospitality giant Marriott International reveals it detected a massive data breach on September 8 after it uncovers an unauthorised access to its Starwood reservations database since 2014; says names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, date of birth, gender, payment information, and arrival and departure details of 500 million guests could be affected; cybersecurity experts say Starwood, which was acquired by Marriott in late 2015, should have conducted a more thorough investigation in the wake of another 2015 data breach that could have led them to uncover the intruders lurking in their systems.
• Fast food chain Dunkin' warns "DD Perks" customers about a data breach involving a third party who might have gained access to their account information in what appears to be a credential stuffing attack (i.e. taking username/password details obtained from other security breaches to gain access in an automated manner.)
• Laptop manufacturer Dell Inc. resets passwords for all users on its dell.com online store on Nov. 14, "five days after it discovered and stopped hackers who were attempting to steal customer data."
• YouTube announces new plans for ad-supported original programming starting next year, rather than making them exclusively available on its YouTube Premium service; says the decision is "to expand its audience and "meet the growing demand of a more global fanbase." (So is the future of YouTube Premium in jeopardy?) 
• Music streaming giant Spotify to arrive in India within the next six months to compete with rivals like Gaana, Saavn, Apple Music, YouTube/Google Play Music and Amazon Music.; said to be talking with major record labels to license their content on the platform.
• Google-owned mobile virtual network operator Google Fi (it runs on T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular networks) is expanded to support iPhones, and other Android smartphones from Samsung, OnePlus, LG and Motorola.
• Former Facebook employee Mark S. Luckie says the company has a "black people problem"; pens a 2,500 word memo alleging that "too many black employees can recount stories of being aggressively accosted by campus security beyond what was necessary."
• U.S. mobile network operator T-Mobile launches its own digital banking service T-Mobile MONEY that allows users to open accounts and use it to deposit checks, pay bills and make it function like a mobile wallet.
• Netflix cancels Daredevil after its third season; follows surprise (or not) cancellations in October of Iron Fist and Luke Cage, as indications pile up that this may be in response to Disney's upcoming streaming alternative Disney+. (Because all the three shows are produced by Marvel, which you know is owned by Disney. On a side note, Netflix is also set to lose Friends next year when Warner's streaming service WarnerMedia launches. Ready for the streaming service bubble?)
• Google begins rolling out new media and messaging features in Android Auto with a refreshed music browsing experience and message previews; brings Stories to YouTube creators with more than 10K subscribers.
• Microsoft redesigns iconography of its entire Office suite for the first time since 2013 with a new brighter, modern look.
• Facebook begins streaming every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly through its video streaming platform Facebook Watch; shutters the "War Room" it built ahead of U.S. midterm and Brazil elections in September to monitor election interference but plans to open new ones for coming elections in other countries.
• Google reportedly planning to shutdown Hangouts messaging service for regular users in 2020, according to 9to5Google; Scott Johnston, who heads the Hangouts team at Google, refutes the rumour, saying no decision has been made with regards to Hangouts shutdown and that existing users will be transitioned to Hangouts Chat and Meet. (Google should have just stuck with Hangouts and never released Allo and Duo. Plus, does it really think RCS will take off the way it thinks it will? But don't launch any more messaging apps, please!)  
• Apple and Amazon partner to bring Apple Music to Alexa-supported devices; lets listeners play songs with the command: "Alexa, play Bebe Rexha on Apple Music." 
• Instagram takes a stab at private sharing with new "close friends" feature a la Facebook; allows users to share Stories with a group of… close friends (up to 24), as opposed to every follower.
• Google Maps reviews adds support for hashtags (Because, why not? On the other hand, it's interesting how Google is slowly morphing Maps into a social experience like what Foursquare once was. It's not that Google didn't want a social network. It tried several times - Wave, Buzz and Google+ - but none of them managed to find a place the way like Gmail, YouTube and other products did. The missteps aside, it's good that Google's focus lies in being a utility and not a social network. Look what's happening to Facebook, a product that has fast become more upsetting than fun and entertaining, couching its users in echo chambers, filter bubbles and exposing them to disinformation. Like The Verge's Casey Newton sums up: Sometimes a company misses the boat on a trend, and regrets it forever. In the case of Google+, I suspect many executives wish the company had simply avoided building a true social network altogether. David Byttow, who worked on the project and is now at Snap, put it this way: "As a tech lead and an original founding member of Google+, my only thought on Google sunsetting it is... FINALLY.")
• Microsoft overtakes Apple to become the world's most valuable company for the first time in eight years, highlighting its transformation as a tech titan. (Impressive, considering how it missed the mobile boat completely.)
• Amazon to shutter its restaurant takeout and delivery service in London on December 3rd after two years of operation. (Deliveroo and Uber Eats are its main rivals in the city, although Uber has had initial talks to acquire Deliveroo.)