Tech Roundup: Apple Privacy Preserving Ads, Google E.U. GDPR Probe & More

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

1. Apple unveils Privacy Preserving Ad Click Attribution, a new web technology aimed at preserving user privacy without reducing effectiveness of ad campaigns. (Read more about it here.)
2. A database consisting of private information of over 49 million Instagram influencers, celebrities and brand accounts (including profile picture, biography, and follower numbers, but also private contact information like phone numbers and email addresses, in addition to the "worth" of each account based on follower count, engagement, reach, likes, and shares), owned by Mumbai-based social media marketing firm Chtrbox (the company has taken it offline since then), which pays influencers to post sponsored content on their accounts, is found exposed online without having secured by a password.
3. Jeremy Lee from Queensland, Australia, wins a landmark case against his employer Superior Wood Pty Ltd after he was fired for refusing to provide his fingerprints to sign in and out of work citing privacy concerns; Fair Work Commission rules that he was entitled to refuse to provide his biometric information to the company and that his dismissal from the firm was unjust.
4. Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead E.U. supervisory authority for Google, announces investigation into Google's online advertising data collection; DPC says its probe will examine whether Google's processing of data in advertising transactions breaches E.U.'s GDPR privacy rules.
5. Facebook reportedly courted mobile network carriers and phone manufacturers — roughly 100 companies across 50 countries — with promise of new data, according to a confidential document obtained by The Intercept; data (collected not just from the company's main iOS and Android apps, but from Instagram and Messenger as well) includes not just technical information about Facebook members' devices and use of Wi-Fi and cellular networks, but also their past locations, interests, and even their social groups.
6. Google says it inadvertently stored some G Suite enterprise customer passwords in plaintext due to an error dating back to 2005, and that it found another set of unhashed passwords in 2019; says it has fixed the issues and warned affected users (number unspecified).
7. Snapchat employees have a special tool called SnapLion that can give them access to users' location, phone numbers, email addresses, even saved Snaps — and that some employees have actually abused it to spy on users, reports Motherboard.
8. Google unveils Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 for US$ 999 with a Snapdragon XR1 chip, an improved 8MP camera, a USB-C port for faster charging, and ~8 hours of battery life; also now runs on Android, with support for Android Enterprise Mobile Device Management.
9. ByteDance, owner of TikTok, is reportedly developing a paid music service via a new app it expects to debut as early as this fall targeting emerging markets like India, Indonesia and others, reports Bloomberg.
10. Microsoft officially previews Chromium-based Edge browser for macOS; brings Extensions support, added privacy controls and new Collections feature that makes it easy for you to drag and drop images, text, and videos into apps like Excel and Word.
11. The first official version of Tor Browser for Android releases on the Google Play Store after a prolonged eight-month period of testing; replaces the currently available Orfox browser app.
12. Apple updates 13" and 15" MacBook Pros with improved keyboards and 9th-generation Intel CPUs with up to 8 cores; models start at US$ 1,799 and US$ 2,399 respectively.
13. Ride hailing service Uber, which acquired bike sharing startup Jump last year, trials a fleet of 350 of the red e-bikes in London; rides to cost £1 (US$ 1.26), with an additional 12 pence being charged on every minute after the first five minutes.
14. Mozilla releases Firefox 67 web browser with performance improvements, new privacy features, cryptomining and fingerprinting protection, and more.
15. Uber to branch into subscription with US$ 9.99 unlimited food delivery Uber Eats Pass, according to reverse engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong. (Postmates Unlimited and DoorDash DashPass are two other similar offerings from rivals, but Uber joining the battle shows that it's more about customer lock-in than about immediate revenue growth.)
16. Google begins rolling out an updated mobile search design that places URLs above page titles, and includes a new black "ad" label and favicons for all organic results; to shut down dedicated YouTube Gaming app on May 30 after migrating all its features to the main YouTube app.
17. Apple sends out invites for its 30th annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC); to kickstart on June 3, with the keynote providing a first look at iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13.
18. Facebook-owned WhatsApp confirms that ads will debut on the messaging service starting next year; to be inserted between WhatsApp Status as users swipe them.
19. Amazon is reportedly working on a wearable voice-activated health and wellness device that works with a mobile app and can recognise human emotions, according to Bloomberg.
20. Facebook takes down a staggering 2.2 billion fake accounts in the first quarter of 2019, up from 1.2 billion accounts removed the previous quarter, as it tries to rid the platform of spammers, propagandists and others working to exploit the social media platform. (Facebook has about 2.4 billion active users on the social network.)
21. Google partners with delivery services including DoorDash and Postmates to let users order food via Google Search, Maps, or Assistant in the U.S. without even having to download their dedicated apps, or even visiting their website.
22. GitHub, one of the largest repositories for hosting open-source software, launches GitHub Sponsors; adds the ability to financially support developers through recurring monthly payments.
23. Facebook said to be planning to launch its cryptocurrency (called GlobalCoin) by the first quarter of next year, reports BBC News; the service is expected to offer people affordable and secure payments without the need for a bank account.
24. Apple releases iOS 12.3.1 update, a week and a half after releasing iOS 12.3 with a revamped TV app; addresses a handful of bugs related to the Messages app and VoLTE calls.