Today’s Tech Sightings:
Motorists ride past an ad for an Amazon product in Bangalore, India, Jan. 12, 2017.
Amazon Has an India Problem
Amazon, looking to expand in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, has run into trouble with Indian officials on ‘sensitivity’ issues, for lack of a better word. First, it angered a lot of people a couple of weeks ago with a doormat bearing the Indian flag, for which it apologized, then it had esteemed independence icon Mahatma Ghandi featured on flip-flops. After that, the Indian government warned the company that it proceeds at its own peril if it continues its disregard for Indian symbols and icons.
Americans ‘Divided’ on Giving Feds Access to Encrypted Messages
A new report from Pew Research found that 46 percent of Americans would give the government access to their encrypted communications for criminal investigations. But 44 percent prefer unbreakable encryption for apps and messaging. Those in favor of strong encryption were predominantly Democrats and young adults. But the study notes that the numbers have evened out since last year’s Apple-FBI row over unlocking an encrypted iPhone for a terrorism investigation.
The Chinese News App With 600 Million Users That You’ve Never Heard of
It’s called Toutiao, which means headlines, and it has more than 60 million active daily users. The app uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to aggregate news, based on users’ interests. When it’s accessed, the app keeps track of users’ clicks to determine what they like or dislike and tailors its offerings accordingly. U.S. social media networks already use this approach, but Toutiao hopes to compete with giants like Facebook and Twitter in their own backyards as it hopes to go international in the next few years.
More:
- Saudi Arabia Again Hit With Disk-wiping Malware Shamoon 2
- The Risks of a Tweeting President
- Survey: IT Workers Worried About US Net Neutrality Repeal
- Apple Set to Join Amazon, Google, Facebook in AI Research Group
- Password-free Security Relies on Voice, User Behavior to Verify Identity
- Facebook Now Lets You Lock Down Logins With a Key
- Facebook Tweaks ‘Trending’ Feature to Root Out Fake News
- Google Translate Now Offers Japanese to English in Hover-phone-over Text Feature
- How to Stop Those Irritating Automatic Windows Updates
