Tech Roundup: Virgin Galactic Crewed Spaceflight, WhatsApp Disappearing Messages & More

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

• Death Valley, California, registers a temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius), making it one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on the planet.
• Virgin Galactic successfully completes maiden fully-crewed spaceflight to the edge of outer space as part of a mission dubbed "Unity 22", making it the second time a rocket plane has carried people aboard.
• China's Cyberspace Administration orders mobile app stores to take down 25 more apps operated by the ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, saying that the apps violated local laws regarding the collection and use of personal user data, landing yet another huge blow to the company, which is currently facing a cybersecurity review and has halted registering new users for its platforms amid a swell in the central government's scrutiny of big tech; announces new rules that mandate that any Chinese company with data for more than 1 million users must undergo a security review before listing its shares overseas, with a focus on risks of data being affected, controlled or manipulated by foreign governments after overseas listings.
• China blocks Tencent-led US$ 5.3 billion merger of Huya and DouYu, which together have more than 80% share of the Chinese game live streaming market based on active users, in landmark anti-monopoly case; says the deal would have strengthened the dominant position of Tencent, adding it "may have the effect of excluding or restricting competition, which is not conducive to fair competition and may damage the interests of consumers."
• Facebook's WhatsApp reiterates it would not force users in India to accept its controversial new privacy policy, or limit functionality for those who have opted not to accept those terms, until the government passes the Data Protection Bill; begins testing new feature that allows users on Android and iOS to send disappearing photos and videos.
• Twitter agrees to"fully comply" with India's new IT rules, days after the government said its lack of compliance meant it could be held legally liable for its user's posts; appoints a resident grievance officer in the country for acknowledging and addressing complaints from users.
• Google updates its Meet videoconferencing apps with Duo-style filters, AR masks, and effects as it steadily continues to port features from the consumer-facing video chat app as part of a long term plan to replace Duo with Meet.

• Financial services and digital payments company Square announces plans to build a hardware wallet for bitcoin; notes that "We'll continue to ask and answer questions in the open, [and] this community's [...] about this project has been awesome - encouraging, generous, collaborative, and inspiring."
• Privacy-focused tech companies including DuckDuckGo, Mojeek, Mailfence, Ecosia, Startpage, Vivaldi, and the company that makes Protonmail call for a broad ban on targeted, "surveillance-based" advertising; say "Although we recognize that advertising is an important source of revenue for content creators and publishers online, this does not justify the massive commercial surveillance systems set up in attempts to 'show the right ad to the right people'."
• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reportedly opened an investigation into Amazon's acquisition of MGM studio with a focus on "the larger implications of the deal for Amazon's market power" and over worries that "the deal will illegally boost Amazon's ability to offer a wide array of goods and services, and is not just limited to content production and distribution."
• ByteDance-owned TikTok tests auto-deletion of videos as they are uploaded, for categories like minor safety, adult nudity and sexual activities, violent and graphic content.
• The European Parliament approves a controversial law that would allow digital companies to detect and report child sexual abuse on their platforms for the next three years, as concerns emerge that the bill could undermine the E.U.'s privacy rules and weaken encryption protections.
• Microsoft to acquire cybersecurity company RiskIQ in a deal valued at over US$ 500 million as part of an effort to strengthen cybersecurity of digital transformation and hybrid work; Edge browser (3.4%) surpasses Mozilla Firefox (3.29%) to become the third most popular browser after Google Chrome (65.27%) and Apple Safari (18.34%).
• Malaysia's AirAsia buys Gojek's Thai business in an all-stock deal, giving Gojek a 4.76% stake in AirAsia's "superapp" business that has been valued at US$ 1 billion.
• Samsung quietly launches its TV Plus streaming service on the web and adds to its mobile app the ability to cast videos to devices via Chromecast.
• New York City's new biometrics privacy law takes effect, barring businesses from selling customer data and requiring posted notices at their doors about data collection.
• Payments processor Visa partners with over 50 crypto firms, including FTX and Coinbase, to allow users to convert and spend digital currencies at 70 million merchants worldwide; says more than US$1 billion was spent via crypto-linked Visa cards in the first half of 2021.