James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Twitter’s ‘Hide Replies’ function goes global
After testing in various countries this year, Twitter Inc. is now rolling out its “Hide Replies” feature worldwide. “Everyone should feel safe and comfortable while talking on Twitter,” said Suzanne Xie, director of product management at Twitter. “To make this happen, we need to change how conversations work on our service.” Twitter explained how it works ...
Google will limit political ad targeting and prohibit false claims
Political advertisers will now have a very limited scope for whom they can target, Google LLC announced Wednesday. Scott Spencer, vice president of product management for Google Ads, said in a blog post that given the controversy surrounding political ads and big tech lately, Google felt it had to set down some rules. These rules, said ...
DoorDash sued over deceptive tipping policy
San Francisco-based delivery outfit DoorDash Inc. was sued on Tuesday by Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine for deceptive practices regarding its tipping policy. The complaint, lodged at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, accuses the company of the deceptive practices from July 2017 to September 2019. Earlier this year, DoorDash changed its ...
US senator proposes bill that would restrict flow of data to China
Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley introduced a new bill today aimed at stemming the flow of Americans’ personal data to China and other countries that he said threaten America’s national security. The bill, called the National Security and Personal Data Protection Act, follows a hearing in which experts revealed that the relationship between some companies and ...
US big tech will help foot the bill for universal free internet in the UK
Jeremy Corbyn, the British Labor Party leader and possibly the country’s next prime minister, has said that if he wins the upcoming general election, he will nationalize British Telecom and give all houses in the country free broadband. According to The Guardian, in a speech to be delivered Friday Corbyn (pictured) will announce a plan ...
Instagram joins Facebook’s latest Community Standards Enforcement Report
Facebook Inc. released its Community Standards Enforcement Report Wednesday, revealing that the company is improving at proactively removing disturbing content from both Facebook and Instagram. Among the wide variety of content were child nudity, child sexual exploitation and terrorist propaganda, as well as illicit firearms, drug sales, suicide and self-injury. The issue of misinformation circulating on Instagram ...
Court rules border agents can’t search devices without ‘reasonable suspicion’
A federal judge ruled today that U.S. officials at borders and airports should have “reasonable suspicion” before they search electronic devices, although a warrant is not needed. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston ruled that such searches without good reason violate the Fourth Amendment, and officials should have specific facts before they search people’s ...
Google has been gathering health data on millions of US citizens in hospital partnership
Google LLC has been busily collecting health data on millions of Americans across 21 states, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The initiative, which Google seemed to have kept secret from the public, is codenamed “Project Nightingale.” Documents obtained by the Journal reveal that the heath data has been shared in partnership with St. Louis-based chain ...
Facebook allegedly shut down access to its user data to thwart competitors
Court documents have revealed that in 2012 Facebook Inc. started cutting off access for developers to its user data, only it’s alleged that the company sold this as a way to strengthen privacy when it was in fact a move to stifle competition. According to those documents, obtained by Reuters Wednesday, Facebook called this technological ...
Justice Department charges former Twitter employees with spying on users for Saudi Arabia
Two former employees at Twitter Inc. have been charged for spying on users for the Saudi government, prosecutors revealed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco today. According to the Justice Department, the two are named Ahmad Abouammo, a citizen of the U.S., and Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen. A third man, a Saudi ...