Editor's Pick: US Lawmakers Eye Apple, Alphabet Data Privacy Practices

US Lawmakers Eye Apple, Alphabet Data Privacy Practices

Richard Adhikari Jul 11, 2018 5:00 AM PT
	The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has written Alphabet CEO Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook demanding information on their companies' practices with regard to third-party access, audio and location data collection. "This is a huge issue," said Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson. "People are becoming aware of how much data about them is being sucked up by their smartphones." [More...]

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Ribbons and Tabs Give OnlyOffice Suite a Fresh Look
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Polar Flow Fitness App Exposes Soldiers, Spies
A popular fitness app provided a convenient map for anyone interested in shadowing government personnel who exercised in secret locations, including intelligence agencies, military bases and airfields, nuclear weapons storage sites, and embassies around the world. The fitness app, Polar Flow, publicized more data about its users in a more accessible way than comparable apps, investigators found. [More...]

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E-Commerce Minute

E-Commerce Minute: Wednesday -- July 11, 2018

The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network

Headline Scan
US Lawmakers Eye Apple, Alphabet Data Privacy Practices
How to Flip Micro E-Commerce Companies
What I Learned at the Conferences
Women-Owned Firms More Active on Social Networks: Survey

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Today's Story Highlights

US Lawmakers Eye Apple, Alphabet Data Privacy Practices

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has written Alphabet CEO
Larry Page and Apple CEO Tim Cook demanding information on their
companies' practices with regard to third-party access, audio and
location data collection. "This is a huge issue," said Consumer
Watchdog's John Simpson. "People are becoming aware of how much data
about them is being sucked up by their smartphones."
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85437.html

How to Flip Micro E-Commerce Companies

Flipping assets is nothing new -- just turn on HGTV to find countless
house-flipping shows. The concept is simple: You buy an underperforming
property, make some upgrades, and sell it for more than what you put in.
Flipping real estate is no easy venture, though, and investors regularly
lose money. The good news is that you can apply the flipping concept to
much simpler fields.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85432.html

What I Learned at the Conferences

The close of Q2 ends the first wave of vendor customer events. Still to
come this fall are Salesforce Dreamforce and Oracle OpenWorld -- and
others -- but mercifully, we have the summer to digest all the
information absorbed this spring and re-sync with our native time
zones.For starters, CRM doesn't appear to be slowing down. As an
industry, it's rated at about $35 billion in revenues.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85431.html

Women-Owned Firms More Active on Social Networks: Survey

Small businesses use social media extensively, suggest the results of a
recent Clutch survey of 351 U.S. firms with fewer than 500 employees.
Overall, 71 percent of the respondents used social media for business
purposes, and those affiliated with firms owned by women reported
heavier use. "By nature, women tend to be more social," observed Rob
Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/85428.html

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The Morning After: Model 3 sales opened up and Facebook's fine

Engadget Email Newsletter

It's Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Remember the old days? When the App Store was new, and Ouya still seemed like it had a chance? Go ahead and reminisce for a bit before jumping into the present, where anyone in North America can put $2,500 down and order one of Elon Musk’s Model 3s.

(View in browser.)

Finding good software used to be a headache.

Ten years later, Apple’s iOS App Store changed the way we think about software

Ten years ago (plus a day), Apple officially launched the iOS App Store and -- for better or worse -- it changed the world. The iPhone debuted about a year prior with only a handful of apps, but that was just the start. Then came the developers, and nothing was the same.

Put your money where Elon’s mouth is.

Tesla Model 3 orders are available to everyone in North America

Tesla has opened its ordering system for the starter EV to everyone in North America, letting anyone walk through the process whether they're ready to buy or just curious. Reservation holders are still first in line, so anyone looking for the $35,000 edition will have to keep waiting, since the lowest-priced configuration currently available starts at $49,000.

But everything went downhill.

This day in Engadget history: Ouya is a Kickstarter smash hit

Six years ago yesterday, we stood on the precipice of an exciting gaming development. The Ouya console smashed through its $950,000 Kickstarter funding goal in under 12 hours. At the time, it was the biggest first day for a project in the crowdfunding site’s history. However, the console failed to make much of an impact once it actually got here. Let us tell the tale.

Choose wisely.

It's easier to change Google Assistant's voice thanks to a colorful interface

Google is rolling out an update that gives US users a new, simple interface for changing Assistant's voice. It's very colorful, to put it mildly: You just tap on a color associated with a given voice (Google told us it chose them at random) and listen to be sure they're the dulcet tones you want to hear.

The FTC, FBI and SEC are all still investigating.

Facebook faces £500k fine for Cambridge Analytica scandal

Several months after the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, it seems like the social network will finally have to pay up. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Zuckerberg and Co. a preliminary amount of $664,000 (or 500,000 pounds) for lacking proper privacy protections and allowing the scandal to take place despite significant warning signs. The amount is the maximum allowed by law.

The ICO essentially puts blame for the scandal in Facebook's hands, saying that the company allowed researcher Aleksandr Kogan to collect data about Facebook users via an app, and when discovered, did not inform its users in a sufficient manner.

Don’t you hate when that happens?

Snake hidden in hard drive fails to board Miami plane

Transport Security Administration (TSA) officials have intercepted a traveler at Miami International Airport who planned to illegally smuggle a snake en route to Barbados.

Bye, Google Pay Send.

Now you can send and receive money through Google Pay

Google finally announced that the company is combining its Pay and Pay Send apps. Also, users can manage payment info on the web now.

City officials will have up-to-the-minute info available for free.

Waze will provide its traffic data to US cities

Waze is widening a partnership with Esri to provide its live alerts for free to American cities and municipalities that are part of its Connected Citizens Program. For example, if many drivers report crashes at an intersection, that could lead to better signs or a change in the roads themselves.

But wait, there's more...

1. Former Google AI chief will lead Apple's new machine-learning team

2. Netflix makes it easier to manage downloaded shows on Android

3. Elon Musk's mini-sub was 'not practical' for Thailand cave rescue

4. HBO's new owner needs to learn that 'more' doesn't mean 'better'

5. HTC's blockchain 'Exodus' phone launches this fall

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't subscribe.

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