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Netflix’s first engagement report reveals its most popular shows and movies
Netflix published the first of a new twice-a-year engagement report called What We Watched. The first installment, launched Tuesday as a Microsoft Excel file, lists the hours viewed for every title, original and licensed, tallying more than 50,000 viewing hours.
Peloton reportedly owes some of its workers money for unpaid labor
The workers allege that Peloton didn't pay them for overtime.
Oversight Board slams Facebook’s lack of transparency in VIP moderation
Facebook's Oversight Board has issued a strong rebuke to the company in a new report, claiming it was not "fully forthcoming" about its XCheck VIP program.
Ten federal agencies are expanding their use of facial recognition
Recent advancements in facial recognition technology have increased its accuracy and its usage
Study suggests EVs really are cleaner than gas-powered cars over their lifespan
A new study compares the life-cycle of EVs with gas-guzzlers in four of the biggest car markets in the world.
Apple is reportedly developing an iPad Pro with wireless charging
Apple is reportedly working on a new iPad Pro with wireless charging and a new iPad mini.
Methane emissions declined slightly in 2020 amid lower oil and gas production
The IEA says the sector's emissions need to drop by over 70 percent by 2030.
Watchdog accuses Amazon of price gouging during the pandemic
Amazon allegedly jacked the prices of essential items during the pandemic, a consumer watchdog group reports.
Reddit has banned nearly 7,000 hateful subreddits since June 29th
Reddit has banned nearly 7,000 hateful subreddits since its new content policies went into effect.
Twitter ‘super-spreaders’ shared bogus COVID-19 info with 3 million users
A new report by NewsGuard says a handful of COVID-19 misinformation “super-spreaders” have shared bogus information with more than three million Twitter users.
Pentagon probe can’t confirm Trump interfered with the JEDI contract
After a months-long saga over whether President Trump’s “personal vendetta” cost Amazon a $10 billion Pentagon contract, the Pentagon’s inspector general said it found no evidence that the decision to award the cloud-computing contract to Microsoft was the result of interference from President Trump, Bloomberg reports. While this could clear the way for Microsoft to resume work on the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, some will likely find the probe inconclusive.
Driver in fatal Tesla crash had reported problems with Autopilot
The Apple engineer killed in the fatal Tesla crash in Mountain View, California, in March 2018 had reported problems with the Autopilot driver-assistance system, Reuters says. On prior trips, the driver, Walter Huang aka Wei Lun Huang, reported that the car steered away from the highway, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) documents shared Tuesday.
Senate: Obama Admin. wasn't prepared to handle Russian interference
Today, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a report (PDF) detailing the Obama administration's response to Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. The report says the Obama administration was not well-prepared to handle the unprecedented election interference and that the administration suffered from "paralysis of analysis."
Twitter will let you report posts aimed at suppressing voters
Twitter is rolling out another tool meant to protect the 2020 US election. Today, it announced that during "key moments" of the election users will be able to report misleading information about how to participate in an election or other civic event. Users will be able to specify whether the misinformation contains false info about how or where to vote or register, if it intends to suppress or intimidate people from voting or if someone is misrepresenting their affiliation with a candidate, party, etc.
Congresswoman calls on YouTube to stop promoting climate misinformation
Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-Florida) is calling on YouTube to stop including climate change misinformation in its recommendation algorithm and to demonetize videos that deny climate change. In a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Castor references a report by Avaaz, which claims that YouTube is sending millions of users to climate change misinformation videos every day.
Facebook pledges $130 million for its content oversight board
Over the past year, Facebook has been working to put together a content oversight board. We've heard Mark Zuckerberg's vision, and Facebook shared a charter outlining its rules. Now, Facebook is committing $130 million to the effort.
Google adds spam detection and verified business SMS to Messages
Businesses often send one-time passwords, account alerts and appointment confirmations via text. But if you've ever received one of those, you know they tend to come from a random number, and bad actors can take advantage of that by disguising phishing scams as one of those messages. To protect users, Google will soon verify SMS messages from registered businesses.
Amnesty International: Facebook and Google are a threat to human rights
Amnesty International, the premiere human rights organization, says Facebook and Google pose an unprecedented systematic threat to human rights. Specifically, Amnesty is concerned with the companies' "pervasive surveillance." In a new report, the organization warns against what it calls "omnipresent surveillance of billions of people" and calls for a "radical transformation of the tech giants' core business model."
‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ gathered location data while users slept
It's no secret that games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Pokémon Go track their users' locations. But it can be alarming to see just how much data companies like Niantic have. As part of an extensive report on how tech companies are mapping the world, Kotaku revealed that Niantic's Wizards Unite, in particular, gathered a surprising amount of data.
The UK may ban all watches during exams to prevent cheating
The UK will consider banning all watches from school exams in an attempt to prevent cheating. An independent commission hired to investigate exam malpractice says it's too difficult to distinguish between regular and smartwatches, and it's impractical to ask proctors (or invigilators) to check every student's watch. A sweeping ban, the commission says, would be more appropriate.
