James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Here’s what Mark Zuckerberg will tell Congress today about Facebook’s data mess – and how to watch the grilling
Facebook Inc. founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg will make the first of two appearances before Congress Tuesday, facing questions about controversies such as the harvesting of user data by research firm Cambridge Analytica. Zuckerberg will testify before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees Tuesday, and on Wednesday he’ll be grilled by the House Energy ...
Facebook comes clean on data harvesting. It’s even uglier than you thought
Following the scandal that left pie all over Mark Zuckerberg’s face, the Facebook Inc. chief executive and his closest executives have come clean regarding the extent of data harvesting — and it’s worse than you thought. In short, the company said in the biggest disclosure about its data practices yet, just about all of Facebook’s 2.2 billion ...
Thousands of Google employees don’t want to help Pentagon wage war
As many as 3,100 Google LLC employees have signed a letter asking the company to drop out of a project to help the U.S. Department of Defense. Last month it became known that Google would help the Pentagon analyze drone footage using its artificial intelligence technology, in what is known as “Project Maven.” At the ...
Shootings at YouTube’s HQ leave suspect dead and three injured
Updated: Three people were injured after being shot at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday, by a suspect who died at the scene from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The injured were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Those include a 36-year-old male who is in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in ...
Dating app Grindr shared very personal information with other companies
The gay dating app Grindr, used by about 3.6 million people worldwide, has been sharing the HIV status of its users with other companies, according to a report in Buzzfeed and confirmed by Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF. Users of the app can input details such as when they last were tested for HIV, and also state ...
Facebook will now fact-check photos and videos to reduce fake news
Facebook Inc. announced Thursday that it has started fact-checking photos and videos, a move that the company said will prevent the spread of doctored images that have been circulating on the platform. The social media behemoth said it was partnering with Agence France-Presse to start the fact-checking effort in France, which is all part of ...
The BBC says it’s being ‘squeezed out’ by US streaming services
The British Broadcasting Corp. is on the back foot, saying it fears it’s being overtaken by on-demand streaming services such as Netflix Inc., YouTube and Spotify. In its 2018/2019 charter, the BBC talked about how the number of younger viewers is falling because they are going instead to online services. It’s not just a matter ...
Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress, but he won’t be going to the UK
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before the U.S. Congress following the data harvesting scandal that has tainted the company’s reputation and prompted several investigations. According to reports today, Zuckerberg will face the music “within a matter of weeks” and the company is planning a strategy before Zuckerberg meets with the ...
Wal-Mart patents point to a smarter kind of shopping in the future
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. today filed for a range of patents that indicates the retail giant is looking to use new technologies to change the shopping experience altogether. One of those patents is a sensing device that may work with a shopper’s smartphone and a connected shopping cart, helping the shopper find certain items in the store. ...
Video of Uber autonomous car that killed woman shows it didn’t slow down, driver distracted
Video footage has been released of a crash that took place last weekend when one of Uber Technologies Inc.’s self-driving cars killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, as she was walking her bicycle across the street. And it isn’t pretty. The death of the 49-year-old woman, Elaine Herzberg, has raised questions concerning the safety of ...