INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Facebook spying on teens, Twitter accounts hijacked by terrorists, and sexual abuse imagery found on Bing and Giphy were amongst the ugly
The tech industry needs more watchdogs than ever as its size enlargens the impact of safety failures and the abuse of power
Whether through malice, naivety, or greed, there was plenty of wrongdoing to sniff out.Led by our security expert Zack Whittaker, A
Technology News Room undertook more long-form investigations this year to tackle these growing issues
Our coverage of fundraises, product launches, and glamorous exits only tell half the story
these companies honest and pushing for a more ethical and transparent approach to technology.If you have a tip potentially worthy of an
landmark investigation discovered that Facebook was paying teens and adults $20 in gift cards per month to install a VPN that sent Facebook
all their sensitive mobile data for market research purposes
The laundry list of problems with Facebook Research included not informing 187,000 users the data would go to Facebook until they signed up
avoid the App Store review process.The fallout was enormous
Lawmakers wrote angry letters to Facebook
A Technology News Room soon discovered a similar market research program from Google called Screenwise Meter that the company promptly shut
Apple punished both Google and Facebook by shutting down all their employee-only apps for a day, causing office disruptions since
Facebook tried to claim the program was above board, but finally succumbed to the backlash and shut down Facebook Research and all paid data
collection programs for users under 18
Most importantly, the investigation led Facebook to shut down its Onavo app, which offered a VPN but in reality sucked in tons of mobile
usage data to figure out which competitors to copy
investigations into the company
helped save the internet from the fast-spreading WannaCry ransomware reveals the precarious nature of cybersecurity
decision to sentence him to just one year of supervised release instead of 10 years in prison for an unrelated charge of creating malware as
Consulting fire safety and tunnel engineering experts, Harris build a strong case for why state and local governments should be suspicious
surface this illegal material
A tip led Constine to commission a report by anti-abuse startup AntiToxin (now L1ght), forcing Microsoft to commit to UK regulators that it
would make significant changes to stop this from happening
The article casts significant doubt on the accusations, and that could help the student get a fair shot at future academic or professional
device malfunction that injured a United States student
Reliability issues swelled and layoffs ensued
The report highlights how startups operating in the physical world, especially around sensitive populations like students, must make safety
a top priority.Giphy fails to block child abuse imagerySarah Perez and Zack Whittaker teamed up with child protection startup L1ght to
The report revealed how criminals used the site to share illegal imagery, which was then accidentally indexed by search engines
pushed it to suspend them for a month
The investigation reveals the lengths Airbnb goes to in order to protect its money-generating hosts, and how policy problems could mar its
IPO.Expired emails let terrorists tweet propagandaZack Whittaker discovered that Islamic State propaganda was being spread through hijacked
His investigation revealed that if the email address associated with a Twitter account expired, attackers could re-register it to gain
access and then receive password resets sent from Twitter
identified a dangerous loophole for all sites to close.Porn - gambling apps slip past AppleJosh Constine found dozens of pornography and
The report revealed the weak and easily defrauded requirements to receive an enterprise certificate
Seven months later, Apple revealed a spike in porn and gambling app takedown requests from China
The investigation could push Apple to tighten its enterprise certificate policies, and proved the company has plenty of its own problems to
CEOThis Game Of Thrones-worthy tale was too intriguing to leave out, even if the impact was more of a warning to all startup executives
Employees who organized a petition to the board to remove the CEO were fired, leading to further talent departures and stagnation
The investigation served to remind startup executives that they are responsible to their employees, who can exert power through collective
action or their exodus.If you have a tip for Josh Constine, you can reach him via encrypted Signal or text at (585)750-5674, joshc at A
Technology News Room dot com, or through Twitter DMs
