Tech Roundup: Facebook FTC Fines, Google Shoelace & More

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

• Facebook reportedly reaches a US$ 5 billion settlement with U.S. Federal Trade Commission for its privacy violations; settlement includes more comprehensive oversight of how Facebook handles user data, but offers no restrictions on how it collects and shares that data. (The fine is a mere slap on the wrist — or a month's worth of revenue for a company that made US$ 15 billion in the previous quarter — while it's handsomely rewarded by the market. No surprise, then, Facebook share prices were up 1.8 percent.)
• Facebook reportedly tracked and fought hoaxes about itself using a tool called Stormchaser, reveals Bloomberg; says it included an internal tool called Night's Watch (named after HBO's Game of Thrones) that let staff monitor how news coverage of Facebook spread on the social network and apps such as WhatsApp, but company says it stopped using the tool in mid-2018.
• Google's antitrust probe in India was sparked by two junior Indian antitrust research associates and a law school student, according to a new report by Reuters, adding "researchers acted in personal capacity."
• Marriott International (US$ 123 million) and British Airways (US$ 230 million) face millions of dollars in GDPR fines in the European Union for failing to protect users' personal information.
• Microsoft caught sneaking in ads disguised as suggestions to install its Office and OneDrive apps in Android share and open menus; behaviour found to be restricted to Android Q.
• Employees at Amazon's Shakopee warehouse in Minnesota plan a strike coinciding the retail giant’s annual Prime Day (July 15-16), a holiday invented by the company to boost sales and increase Prime subscriptions.
• Instagram begins rolling out warnings to users about to post an offensive comment, starts testing Restrict, an option to block abusive users without notifying them.
• Music streaming service Spotify releases Lite version of its app for Android in 36 markets across Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
• Google and Amazon make up; YouTube officially returns to Fire TV and Amazon's Prime Video relaunches with support for Chromecast and other Android TV devices.
• GitHub removes reimplementations of DeepNude, a now-shuttered app that digitally removes clothing from images of women, citing violations of policy.
• AT&T-owned WarnerMedia confirms its Netflix-like video subscription service will be called HBO Max; says it will launch in spring 2020 with a lineup that includes Friends (which will leave Netflix at the end of the year), Pretty Little Liars, content from Warner Bros., CNN, Cartoon Network, and a slate of original programming.
• Google continues its acquisition spree; says it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Elastifile, a Santa Clara, California-based provider of enterprise cloud file storage solutions, for an undisclosed price.
• Ride hailing service Uber begins rolling out Uber Comfort that offers riders“comfort” features, such as extra leg room and quiet time, but is expected to cost 20 to 40 percent more than a typical Uber X trip.
• YouTube brings changes to its copyright infringement system; says anyone filing a copyright claim will have to enter exact timestamps of the alleged violation, which is intended to prevent copyright holders from flagging entire videos.

• YouTube says it's working to update its abuse policy in the coming weeks to curb "creator-on-creator harassment" in wake of homophobic incidents against LGBT creators; introduces Learning Playlists that will offer dedicated landing pages for educational videos on a variety of topics but hides recommendations from the Watch page — a first for YouTube — and unveils new ways for creators to make money, including Super Stickers for chats in livestreams and premieres and paid levels for Channel Memberships.
• Google rolls redesigned News results for Search on desktop with a Material Design 2.0 look, making publishers' names more prominent, and adding a "People also search for" carousel.
• Google gives yet another stab at social networking months after shutting down Google+; the company's experimental Area 120 unveils an invite-only, mobile-only (NYC only, for now) hyperlocal social network called Shoelace to interact with others that share similar interests.
• Microsoft's enterprise chat app Teams is now officially bigger than Slack; now has 13 million daily active users and 19 million weekly active users across 500,000 organisations, in contrast to Slack's 10 million daily active users (as of April 2019).
• Apple's Wistron contractor in India has begins exporting 70-80 percent of iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 units assembled to European markets; Foxconn India to start assembling iPhone XR and XS devices, which are expected to hit the market by August.
• Facebook, after reeling from several data controversies, begins to show users which marketing and data companies have their data, how an ad was targeted, and how to opt-out; marks the first time Facebook is actually showing users which marketing companies and data brokers have their personal data.
• France passes a 3 percent digital services tax on sales in France for large internet companies with over €25M in French revenues; the law affects about 30 companies — including Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.
• New kind of mobile malware called Agent Smith uncovered by Check Point Research found to replace legitimate Android apps with copycat versions that pushed adware on 25 million Android devices (mostly running versions 5 and 6).
• Google invites scrutiny after a report from Dutch publication VRT NWS reveals that Google Home and Google Assistant records user audio, even when no wake-up word is used; the search giant acknowledges that it hires independent contractors around the world to listen to and transcribe audio recordings in order to improve the technology and make Google Assistant smarter in understanding commands from people who speak in different languages and accents. (This is exactly same as what Amazon does, as Bloomberg reported earlier this April, once again highlighting how our interactions with AI assistants are not as private as we may like to believe.)
• Facebook confirms it has no plans to launch Calibra or Libra cryptocurrency in India citing "local restrictions" as India's central bank proposes new law to curb illegal use of cryptocurrencies with stringent penalties, including prison sentences of up to 10 years (Facebook is already trialling a payments service on WhatsApp for over a year restricted to one million of its users); leaders of US congress draft a new bill that would prevent big tech companies like Facebook from offering financial products and services like cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
• Google discontinues Field Trip (developed by Niantic in 2012, then part of Google) and India-exclusive Blog Compass apps for Android, as the tech behemoth continues to ramp up its product shutdowns.
• Microsoft Word for Android hits 1 billion installs; Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and OneDrive each have 500 million installs on Android, and Outlook has 100 million.