Natasha Lomas
TechCrunch
Philippines
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Recent articles by Natasha:
Brave is launching its own search engine with the help of ex-Cliqz devs and tech –
Brave, the privacy-focused browser co-founded by ex-Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, is getting ready to launch an own-brand search engine for desktop and mobile. Today it’s announced the acquisition of an open source search engine developed by the team behind the (now defunct) Cliqz anti-tracking search-browser combo. The tech will underpin the forthcoming Brave Search engine […] → Read More
Facebook’s Oversight Board already ‘a bit frustrated’ — and it hasn’t made a call on Trump ban yet –
The Facebook Oversight Board (FOB) is already feeling frustrated by the binary choices it’s expected to make as it reviews Facebook’s content moderation decisions, according to one of its members who was giving evidence to a UK House of Lords committee today which is running an enquiry into freedom of expression online. The FOB is […] → Read More
TikTok calls in outside help with content moderation in Europe –
TikTok is bringing in external experts in Europe in fields such as child safety, young people’s mental health and extremism to form a Safety Advisory Council to help it with content moderation in the region. The move, announced today, follows an emergency intervention by Italy’s data protection authority in January — which ordered TikTok to […] → Read More
EU to propose a ‘digital pass’ for COVID-19 vaccination/test status to help safer travel –
The European Commission has said it will present a legislative plan later this month for what it’s calling a “digital green pass” — aka a digital certificate — which it says will be aimed at facilitating cross-border travel in the age of coronavirus. President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the planned digital tool will […] → Read More
Clue gets FDA clearance to launch a digital contraceptive –
Clue, an early pioneer in the femtech category with a well-regarded period-tracking app that’s used by around 13 million people, is getting ready to launch a digital contraceptive which will offer users a statistical prediction of ovulation as a birth control tool. A US launch of Clue Birth Control is slated for “this year”. The […] → Read More
MyHeritage now lets you animate old family photos using deepfakery –
AI-enabled synthetic media is being used as a tool for manipulating real emotions and capturing user data by genealogy service, MyHeritage, which has just launched a new feature — called ‘deep nostalgia‘ — that lets users upload a photo of a person (or several people) to see individual faces animated by algorithm. The Black Mirror-style […] → Read More
After Facebook’s news flex, Australia passes bargaining code for platforms and publishers –
A week after Facebook grabbed eyeballs globally by blocking news publishers and turning off news-sharing on its platform in Australia, the country’s parliament has approved legislation that makes it mandatory for platform giants like Facebook and Google to negotiate to remunerate local news publishers for their content, to take account of how journalism is shared […] → Read More
Europe kicks off bid to find a route to ‘better’ gig work –
The European Union has kicked off the first stage of a consultation process involving gig platforms and workers. Regional lawmakers have said they want to improve working conditions for people who provide labor via platforms which EU digital policy chief, Margrethe Vestager, accepted in a speech today can be “poor” and “precarious”. Yet she also […] → Read More
Mozilla beefs up anti-cross-site tracking in Firefox, as Chrome still lags on privacy –
Mozilla has further beefed up anti-tracking measures in its Firefox browser. In a blog post yesterday it announced that Firefox 86 has an extra layer of anti-cookie tracking built into the enhanced tracking protection (ETP) strict mode — which it’s calling ‘Total Cookie Protection’. This “major privacy advance”, as it bills it, prevents cross-site tracking […] → Read More
Spain’s ten-year plan to put startups in the economic driving seat –
Spain is preparing to push forward with pro-startup legislation, having recently unveiled a big and bold transformation plan with the headline goal, by 2030, of turning the country into ‘Spain Entrepreneurial Nation’, as the slightly clumsy English translation has it. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez took a turn on Web Summit’s stage in December to announce […] → Read More
Uber loses gig workers rights challenge in UK Supreme Court –
Uber has lost a long running employment tribunal challenge in the UK’s Supreme Court — with the court dismissing the ride-hailing giant’s appeal and reaffirming earlier rulings that drivers who brought the case are workers, not independent contractors. The case, which dates back to 2016, has major ramifications for Uber’s business model in the UK […] → Read More
Facebook applies overly broad content block in flex against Australia’s planned news reuse law –
Outrage fast-followed Facebook’s announcement yesterday that it was making good on its threat to block Australian users’ ability to share news on its platform. The tech giant’s intentionally broad-brush — call it antisocial — implementation of content restrictions took down a swathe of non-news publishers’ Facebook pages, as well as silencing news outlets’, illustrating its planned […] → Read More
Facebook knew for years ad reach estimates were based on ‘wrong data’ but blocked fixes over revenue impact, per court filing –
Some more internal emails Facebook really doesn’t want you to see: Turns out in 2017 COO Sheryl Sandberg had already known for years there were problems with a free ad planning tool the company offers to marketeers to display estimates of how many people campaigns running on its platform may reach, per newly unsealed court […] → Read More
Uber could give gig workers a better deal but it’s lobbying EU to lower standards, says Fairwork –
Uber has been accused of downplaying its influence over working conditions in the gig economy after the ride-hailing giant published a white paper earlier this week in which it lobbied for a ‘Prop 22’ style deregulation of Europe’s labor laws. Fairwork, an academic research project that benchmarks gig platforms against a set of fairness principles […] → Read More
Facebook fined again in Italy for misleading users over what it does with their data –
Facebook has been fined again by Italy’s competition authority — this time the penalty is €7 million (~$8.4M) — for failing to comply with an earlier order related to how it informs users about the commercial uses it makes of their data. The AGCM began investigating certain commercial practices by Facebook back in 2018, including […] → Read More
Epic Games takes its Apple App Store fight to Europe –
Epic Games has taken its fight against Apple’s App Store rules to the European Union where it’s lodged a complaint with the bloc’s antitrust regulators. In a blog post today the maker of the popular online game Fortnite said it’s extending its battle for what it dubbed “fairer digital platform practices for developers and consumers” […] → Read More
TikTok hit with consumer, child safety and privacy complaints in Europe –
TikTok is facing a fresh round of regulatory complaints in Europe where consumer protection groups have filed a series of coordinated complaints alleging multiple breaches of EU law. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has lodged a complaint against the video sharing site with the European Commission and the bloc’s network of consumer protection authorities, while […] → Read More
Jigsaw scores $3.7M to slow down your dating swipes –
Chalk one up for Jigsaw, an ‘anti-superficial’ dating app, which has scored £2.7 million ($3.7M) in seed funding to put towards US expansion. The round is led by a lead generation company for online dating companies, called The Relationship Corp, with backing by angel investors in the US and UK “primarily” in the tech sector. […] → Read More
Google slapped in France over misleading hotel star ratings –
Google has agreed to pay a €1.1 million fine over misleading star ratings for hotels in France. The tech giant had been applying its own (algorithmic) system of ratings for hotels applied via its search engine and on Google Maps. But back in 2019, following a number of complaints by hoteliers, the French national competition […] → Read More
Uber lobbies for ‘Prop 22’-style gig work standards in the EU –
Uber is shooting its shot at EU lawmakers as they dial up scrutiny of working conditions on gig platforms to decide whether new rules are needed to improve the lot of gig workers. The ride-hailing and on-demand food delivery giant has published a white paper today in which it lobbies European policymakers for what it […] → Read More