10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.

1. The FCC is investigating LocationSmart, a Californian firm under scrutiny for allowing most US cellphones' locations to be tracked. The company can reportedly identify phone locations to the accuracy of a few hundreds yards.

2. The UK will introduce new laws to regulate tech companies, after culture secretary Matt Hancock said self-policing hadn't worked. He said only four tech firms out of 14 had turned up to government talks.

3. Facebook executives including Mark Zuckerberg will be grilled by European lawmakers on Tuesday over Cambridge Analytica and privacy. Zuckerberg's meetings are currently being held in private, but one lawmaker told Business Insider that most attendees are pushing for it to be livestreamed.

4. Streaming music service Tidal is investigating a data breach after a newspaper got hold of a hard drive and claimed the company was inflating its numbers. Dagens Næringsliv said Tidal had exaggerated its streaming numbers and subscriber growth figures.

5. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel reportedly took inspiration from Chinese apps for the Snapchat redesign, and didn't listen to colleagues who were hesitant about the update. Design and product teams were originally given a deadline of just six weeks to finish the redesign.

6. Microsoft has acquired conversation AI startup Semantic Machines. The acquisition will bolster services like its smart assistant Cortana.

7. The Cambridge Analytica scandal did little to impact people's Facebook usage, according to a Goldman Sachs note. The bank found US users' mobile usage rose 7% year on year in April.

8. A German law regulating hate speech over the internet is raising serious questions in the country over what constitutes free speech. The law leaves private firms like Facebook and Twitter to decide what is illegal speech, and what is not, and make quick decisions about content deletion.

9. A small group of developers for iOS have formed a union to demand new App Store policies from Apple. They say that it is currently difficult for app makers to make a living thanks to existing policies.

10. Lyft is reportedly planning an electric scooter service in San Francisco, jumping on a ballooning trend in the city. The company talked to officials about obtaining a licence, according to The Information.

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Contributer : Tech Insider https://ift.tt/2ICrESP

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