James Farrell
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Google unveils a smarter kind of home device, the Nest Hub Max
Google LLC today announced an updated home device at its annual I/O conference, which combines the previous Google Home Hub and the Nest Camera into what’s now called the Nest Hub Max. “The smart home of today is frustrating and fragmented,” Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of devices, said onstage today. What the Nest Hub ...
Facebook opens European War Room ahead of elections
As the elections for a European Parliament approach, Facebook Inc. has opened a War Room in Dublin, Ireland, in an effort to combat the spread of disinformation on the platform. Just as with the room by the same name that was set up in the U.S. in 2018, a number of the social network’s employees will ...
Facebook and Instagram ban a number of ‘dangerous individuals’
Facebook Inc. today announced a cull of people the company said are “dangerous individuals” who disseminate extremist content. “We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” Facebook said in a statement. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to ...
Google will soon let users auto-delete their location and activity data
With privacy concerns rising every day, Google LLC announced today that it will soon be rolling out a feature allowing users to auto-delete much of the data the company collects on them. Google product managers Marlo McGriff and David Monsees wrote in a blog post that although users can already manually delete location history, as ...
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, cloud chief Diane Greene are leaving Alphabet’s board
After 18 years as an Alphabet Inc. board member, Eric Schmidt will step down to allow “the next generation of talent to serve.” Schmidt (pictured) first took the seat when he was made chief executive of Google Inc. in 2001, a role he took on to reportedly add more business savvy to what co-founders Larry ...
Facebook opens data to researchers to ascertain election influence
Facebook Inc. is opening its doors to 60 researchers around the world so they can better understand how the platform affects democracy and elections. “We hope this initiative will deepen public understanding of the role social media has on elections and democracy and help Facebook and other companies improve their products and practices,” Facebook said ...
NY attorney general probes Facebook for collecting users’ emails
It must feel like the sky is falling in for the world’s biggest social media platform, with yet another investigation now underway for a privacy breach. A week ago it was revealed that Facebook Inc. had, by its own admission, “unintentionally uploaded” the email contacts of 1.5 million users to its systems. This affected people ...
Alexa team can see where customers live, but Amazon plays it down
Amazon.com Inc. just became the latest company to unsettle consumers over the fact their data might not be as hidden as they thought. According to Bloomberg, which spoke with a number of employees at Amazon on the condition of anonymity, employees on its Alexa auditing team have access to users’ location data and might know ...
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Donald Trump meet to discuss grievances
Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Jack Dorsey sat down with President Donald Trump on Tuesday to talk about the “health” of social media in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. elections, just a day after the president criticized Twitter for bias. According to Motherboard, which had obtained an internal Twitter email about the talk, the discussion ...
Google activists claim harsh treatment after protests
Thousands of Google LLC employees took to the streets last November to protest sexual harassment in the company and forced arbitration. Now, some of those who helped organize the protest say they have been retaliated against. In a letter that was shared with other Google employees on Monday, Claire Stapleton and Meredith Whittaker both said they ...