Tech Roundup: Apple Sideloading Warning, Facebook Holdout Tests & More

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

• New revelations shed light on Facebook's "integrity holdout" experiments, where it withholds certain protections from a subset of users to gauge reactions against problematic content like clickbait and untrustworthy news.
• Controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI is ordered by Australia to destroy all images and facial templates belonging to citizens in the country after finding that the firm broke national privacy laws, the Privacy Act of 1988, by covertly collecting Australians' sensitive information without consent and by unfair means, months after Canada ruled the New York-based startup "illegal" and accused it of conducting mass surveillance for having "collected, used and disclosed Canadians' personal information for inappropriate purposes, which cannot be rendered appropriate via consent."
• Apple pushes back at potential regulation that would force the company to allow the sideloading of apps, cautioning that doing so would make users vulnerable to malware, data theft and privacy violations; argues "instead of creating choice, it could open up a Pandora's Box of unreviewed malware and software."

• The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approves Boeing's 2017-filed application to deploy and operate satellites providing broadband internet to consumers and businesses in the country.
• Internet giant Google once again pursues major cloud computing and AI contract with the Pentagon, almost three years after facing backlash for partnering with the U.S. Department of Defense to build AI and facial recognition technology for drone warfare as part of a now abandoned initiative called Project Maven.
• Meta announces new Facebook creator tools, including custom subscription links for creators that allows users to pay using its native payments system to bypass Apple and Google's 30% cut on in-app transactions; Instagram brings back support for Twitter Card previews for Instagram links shared on the social news platform, almost nine years after killing the feature in December 2012.

• Note taking app Notability reverses course on subscription policy after blowback over its new access plan as part of a switch to a recurring revenue model that meant premium features purchased via the app would stop functioning after one year; says "everyone who purchased Notability prior to our switch to subscription on November 1st, 2021 will have lifetime access to all existing features and any content previously purchased in the app."
• Microsoft updates SwiftKey keyboard app to copy and paste content across Android and Windows devices.
• Apple expands its subscription-based fitness service, Apple Fitness+, to 15 new countries, including Austria, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Tinder-owner Match Group unveils plans for a "dating metaverse" and avatar-based virtual experiences backed by a virtual goods-based economy via Tinder Coins that enables users to make in-app purchases of Tinder's à la carte products.

• Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase confirms it is testing Coinbase One, a subscription service that features zero trading fees and prioritised phone support.
• Chinese tech giant Tencent, the operator of WeChat messaging service, announces news cloud operating system called Orca and launches three self-designed chips, including an AI chip called Zixiao that's capable of processing images, video and natural language, a video processing chip known as Canghai and a chip for high-performance networks dubbed Xuanling, in expansion drive aimed at boosting the country's domestic semiconductor development efforts.
• Twitter expands API with support for posting and deleting tweets, Super Follows, post polls, and tag users in images, more than two months after adding developer support for Twitter Spaces.
• Indian ride-hailing company Ola reports its first-ever operating profit since starting operations in 2010, with US$ 12 million for the fiscal year ending in March 2021.
• Google announces plans to bring back Google News to Spain "early next year" after shutting down the service in 2014 following a change to the country's copyright laws that will let Google negotiate fees with individual publishers.