‘War’ on Food Waste Can Save Money and Boost Profits, Tech Firm Says

Wasteless, an Israeli firm seeking to reduce food waste and save consumers money, won $2 million in funding Tuesday, as more businesses seek to cut food losses amid rising global hunger. The two-year-old firm sells software to supermarkets so that they can manage their stocks and reduce food prices as shelf life dwindles, reducing waste …

Facebook Seeing Growth in Business Network Workplace

Facebook on Tuesday hosted its first global summit spotlighting a growing Workplace platform launched two years ago as a private social network for businesses. While Facebook would not disclose exact figures, it said Workplace – a rival to collaboration services like Slack, Salesforce, and Microsoft – has been a hit and that ranks of users …

Popularity of Electric Scooters Creates Jobs for ‘Juicers’

You see them everywhere in U.S. cities — young and old riding rented electric-powered scooters. When they are done, they can leave the scooters anywhere.  Someone has to find and charge the scooters, then return them to designated hot spots where customers can use them the next day. And that has given rise to a …

WSJ: Google Hid Protracted Data Leak to Avoid Consequences

Google exposed the personal data of about 500,000 Google+ users to potential misuse by outside developers for years through a bug, then concealed the error to avoid consequences, according to an investigation published by The Wall Street Journal Monday. Parent company Alphabet Inc responded by announcing it would shut down Google+, a largely defunct social …

Twitter Says it Will Crack Down on Abusers in Letter to Advisers

Twitter will strengthen rules rules to prevent sexual harassment and abuse on its platform, the social media company said Monday in an email to the collection of safety advocates, researchers and academics it uses help set its policies. There will also be harsher penalties for misconduct. The new guidelines include immediately and permanently suspending the …

Facebook Wants People to Invite Its Cameras into Their Homes

Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. But it’s unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a shoddy track record on protecting user privacy. Facebook is marketing the …

DHS: No Reason to Doubt Firms’ Denials of China Hack

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Saturday it currently had no reason to doubt statements from companies that have denied a Bloomberg report that their supply chains were compromised by malicious computer chips inserted by Chinese intelligence services. “The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the media reports of a technology supply chain …

US Plans to Rewrite Rules that Impede Self-driving Cars

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to revise safety rules that bar fully self-driving cars from the roads without equipment such as steering wheels, pedals and mirrors, according to a document made public on Thursday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) “intends to reconsider the necessity and appropriateness of its current safety …

US Warns of New Hacking From China-Linked Group

The U.S. government warned Wednesday that a hacking group widely known as cloudhopper, which Western cybersecurity firms have linked to the Chinese government, has launched attacks on technology service providers in a campaign to steal data from their clients. The Department of Homeland issued a technical alert for cloudhopper, which it said was engaged in …

North Korea Said to Have Stolen a Fortune in Online Bank Heists

North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests have stopped, but its hacking operations to gather intelligence and raise funds for the sanction-strapped government in Pyongyang may be gathering steam. U.S. security firm FireEye raised the alarm Wednesday over a North Korean group that it says has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars by infiltrating the computer …

Trump to Meet With Google CEO, Other Tech Heads in October

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other tech executives this month at a social media summit. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that the administration hoped Facebook and Twitter would send representatives to the meeting. Kudlow added the event would most likely happen in mid-October, though …

Google’s First Urban Development Raises Data Concerns

Heated streets will melt ice and snow on contact. Sensors will monitor traffic and protect pedestrians. Driverless shuttles will carry people to their doors. A unit of Google’s parent company Alphabet is proposing to turn a rundown part of Toronto’s waterfront into what may be the most wired community in history — to “fundamentally refine what …

EU Warns Facebook Not to Lose Control of Data Security

The EU’s top data privacy enforcer expressed worry Tuesday that Facebook had lost control of data security after a vast privacy breach that she said affected five million Europeans. “It is a question for the management, if they have things under control,”  EU Justice and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Vera Jourova told AFP in Luxembourg. “The …

3D Map of Singapore Helps City Planner Prepare for Future

Imagine seeing an incredibly detailed map of your home city in three dimensions, with every citizen carrying a cell phone showing up as a dot on that map. Well, you can’t because there are security issues galore when it comes to tracking people online. But you should know it’s possible, at least in Singapore, where …

Instagram Names Adam Mosseri as New CEO

Adam Mosseri, a veteran 10-year Facebook executive, will become the new head of Instagram, outgoing co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced Monday. “We are thrilled to hand over the reins to a product leader with a strong design background and a focus on craft and simplicity,” Systrom and Krieger said in a press release.The …

Can Wireless Challenge Cable for Home Internet Service?

Cellular companies such as Verizon are looking to challenge traditional cable companies with residential internet service that promises to be ultra-fast, affordable and wireless. Using an emerging wireless technology known as 5G, Verizon’s 5G Home service provides an alternative to cable for connecting laptops, phones, TVs and other devices over Wi-Fi. It launches in four …

New California Internet Neutrality Law Triggers US Lawsuit

California Gov. Jerry Brown has approved the nation’s strongest net neutrality law, prompting an immediate lawsuit by the Trump administration and opening the next phase in the battle over regulating the internet. Advocates of net neutrality hope California’s law, which Brown signed Sunday to stop internet providers from favoring certain content or websites, will push …

A Pakistani American Startup Fighting Media Censorship

According to the latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists in Pakistan, fatal violence against journalists has declined, but fear and self-censorship have grown. In this era, five Pakistani American students at Harvard University have created a startup that challenges censorship using the latest block-chain technology. Their mission is “making journalism truly free.” Saqib …

Google CEO to Testify Before US House on Bias Accusations

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has agreed to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee later this year over Republican concerns that the company is biased against conservatives, a senior Republican said Friday. Republicans want to question Google, the search engine of Alphabet Inc, about whether its search algorithms are influenced by human bias. They …

Facebook Tightens Security After Announcing Breach

The security breach Facebook announced Friday that affected 50 million users was a setback for the social media giant, which has been working for months to regain customers’ trust over how it handles their data. In addition to the 50 million users whose log-on information could have been accessed by hackers, the company required as …