Daily Crunch: Facebook fallout continues

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here:

1. We dismantle Facebook’s memo defending its ‘Research’

The fallout continues following TechCrunch reporting about a Facebook app that was paying people to collect a huge swath of data from their phones. For one thing, a new memo from Facebook’s VP of production engineering and security provides more detail about exactly what data Facebook was trying to collect from teens and adults in the U.S. and India.

We also learned that like Facebook, Google was using Apple enterprise certificates to circulate a consumer-facing data collection app — leading Apple to shut down, then restore access to Google’s internal iOS apps.

2. Amazon and Flipkart pull 100,000s of products to comply with new Indian law

Amazon has been forced to pull an estimated 400,000 products in India after new regulation limiting e-commerce businesses went into force in the country. And Flipkart could pull as many as one-quarter of its products in order to comply with the rule, according to analysis from consulting firm Technopak.

3. Apple fixes FaceTime eavesdrop bug, with software update incoming

“We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week,” the company said.

4. H-1B changes will simplify application process

Danny Crichton does some table-napkin math to conclude that the changes will likely benefit advanced degree holders, while diminishing the chances for regular applicants.

5. Kleiner Perkins gets back to early-stage with its $600M 18th fund

The firm, which was recently rocked by the departure of legendary investor Mary Meeker, says it’s going “back to the future” with a focus on early-stage deals.

6. Amazon reports better than expected Q4, but lowers Q1 guidance

The online retail giant reported $72.4 billion in Q4 revenue, topping last year’s $60.45 billion and besting the analysts’ forecast of $71.92 billion. Amazon Web Services also played a key role, with a massive $2.2 billion operating income.

7. Vice Media will lay off 10 percent of its staff

Vice is the latest digital media company to announce major cuts. The goal is to allow Vice to focus on growth areas like branded content and film and TV production.

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Aibo hangs out with some (real) dogs

I had this fun idea to make a video called “Real dog vs. robot dog,” where Henri (my Maltese Shih Tzu) and Aibo would go head to head performing a dozen tricks like high-five, bark and play dead. Aibo arrived, however, when I was simultaneously battling a cold and dog-sitting for my best friend. Because two days with Aibo didn’t allow for much time to teach him tricks, I decided to give him free rein to explore the apartment while I followed him around with my iPhone in a Theraflu haze.

As expected, Aibo was incredibly cute, does a bunch of tricks and can learn new ones with practice and patience. Brian goes in-depth here.

Pack life

The (real) dogs were curious at first, and would sniff Aibo (his butt rather), but shortly afterwards would ignore him, despite his numerous attempts to engage with them. If this were elementary school, Aibo would be the smelly new kid no one wanted to play with.

Like a real dog

We were told each Aibo was programmed to have a unique personality. The Aibo we received was a defiant little one that would obey orders half the time. He was also needy and would constantly try to get my attention. Unlike a real dog though, I could tell him to go to his charging station or turn him off.

Although his OLED eyes were meant to be expressive and help mimic a puppy’s endearing personality, they can be creepy at times, especially when he does the side-eye or when his pupils dilate.

Room for improvement

Aibo’s impressive for a robot companion dog, but with a $2,899 price tag, I’d like to suggest the following features for the next iteration:

• Fur. Aibo isn’t very cuddly, and it’s a bit more difficult to get emotionally attached to a cold, shiny object rather than, say, a teddy bear.
• Better movement. He would get stuck between rooms or at the edge of the rug and hardwood floors. He’s also quite slow. Watching him performing certain tricks and getting settled into his docking station was like waiting for a .jpg to load on dial-up.
• The ability to read your expressions, so he knows when you’re sad and can act accordingly.
• A fart feature, so you can blame your farts on Aibo.

Sony plans to roll out a security package in Japan that uses Aibo’s on-board sensors to keep your home safe. I’m not quite sure what that entails, but if Aibo’s eyeballs could be used as cameras to stream video footage on your smartphone while you’re not home, and alert you when someone’s there, that alone would justify the price tag.

This U.S. version, however, is available now.

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Daily Crunch: Facebook fallout continues

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here:

1. We dismantle Facebook’s memo defending its ‘Research’

The fallout continues following TechCrunch reporting about a Facebook app that was paying people to collect a huge swath of data from their phones. For one thing, a new memo from Facebook’s VP of production engineering and security provides more detail about exactly what data Facebook was trying to collect from teens and adults in the U.S. and India.

We also learned that like Facebook, Google was using Apple enterprise certificates to circulate a consumer-facing data collection app — leading Apple to shut down, then restore access to Google’s internal iOS apps.

2. Amazon and Flipkart pull 100,000s of products to comply with new Indian law

Amazon has been forced to pull an estimated 400,000 products in India after new regulation limiting e-commerce businesses went into force in the country. And Flipkart could pull as many as one-quarter of its products in order to comply with the rule, according to analysis from consulting firm Technopak.

3. Apple fixes FaceTime eavesdrop bug, with software update incoming

“We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple’s servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week,” the company said.

4. H-1B changes will simplify application process

Danny Crichton does some table-napkin math to conclude that the changes will likely benefit advanced degree holders, while diminishing the chances for regular applicants.

5. Kleiner Perkins gets back to early-stage with its $600M 18th fund

The firm, which was recently rocked by the departure of legendary investor Mary Meeker, says it’s going “back to the future” with a focus on early-stage deals.

6. Amazon reports better than expected Q4, but lowers Q1 guidance

The online retail giant reported $72.4 billion in Q4 revenue, topping last year’s $60.45 billion and besting the analysts’ forecast of $71.92 billion. Amazon Web Services also played a key role, with a massive $2.2 billion operating income.

7. Vice Media will lay off 10 percent of its staff

Vice is the latest digital media company to announce major cuts. The goal is to allow Vice to focus on growth areas like branded content and film and TV production.

Read Full Article

Facebook removes hundreds of accounts linked to fake news group in Indonesia

Facebook said today it has removed hundreds of Facebook and Instagram accounts with links to an organization that peddled fake news.

The world’s fourth largest country with a population of more than 260 million, Indonesia is in an election year alongside Southeast Asia neighbors Thailand and the Philippines. Facebook said this week it has set up an “election integrity” team in Singapore, its APAC HQ, as it tries to prevent its social network being misused in the lead-up to voting as happened in the U.S.

This Indonesia bust is the first move announced since that task force was put in place, and it sees 207 Facebook Pages, 800 Facebook accounts, 546 Facebook Groups and 208 Instagram accounts removed for “engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior.”

“About 170,000 people followed at least one of these Facebook Pages, and more than 65,000 followed at least one of these Instagram accounts,” Facebook said of the reach of the removed accounts.

The groups and accounts are linked to Saracen Group, a digital media group that saw three of its members arrested by police in 2016 for spreading “incendiary material,” as Reuters reports.

Facebook isn’t saying too much about the removals other than: “we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people.”

In January, the social network banned a fake news group in the Philippines in similar circumstances.

Despite the recent action, the U.S. company has struggled to manage the flow of false information that flows across its services in Asia. The most extreme examples come from Myanmar, where the UN has concluded that Facebook played a key role in escalating religious hatred and fueling violence. Facebook has also been criticized for allowing manipulation in Sri Lanka and the Philippines, among other places.

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Juul Labs hires former Apple employee to lead the fight against counterfeits

Juul Labs, the e-cig company under fire for its product’s popularity with young people, has brought on a new VP of Intellectual Property Protection with Adrian Punderson, formerly of PwC and Apple.

Punderson’s job is all about working alongside government agencies, as well as Juul Labs Intellectual Property VP Wayne Sobon, to combat the sale of counterfeit and infringing products. These can range from copycat vapes and pods that are actually marketed as Juul products all the way to products that are designed specifically to be Juul compatible without using the trademark.

These counterfeit and infringing products pose a serious threat to the company. Of course, no business wants its products infringed or its marketshare stolen.

With Juul, however, it’s far more complicated. Juul Labs is currently under heavy FDA scrutiny over the popularity of its products with minors.

“As you start to enforce generally on the sale of these types of products to youth, oftentimes they are going to look for another seller or distribution point of this product,” said Punderson. “The challenge is that oftentimes they’re going to platforms or places for this and you have no idea what the origin of the product is. A lot of it is counterfeit. So they get something they believe is Juul only to find out they have a counterfeit device or pod.”

He went on to say that, for Juul, a top priority is identifying counterfeit sellers and quickly putting that information into the hands of law enforcement. To the extent that they can’t take action, said Punderson, Juul will take civil action.

Part of the concern is that there is zero transparency into what ingredients are being used in infringing products, whereas Juul’s recipe at least meets the legal requirements for disclosure as it seeks full FDA approval.

Juul doesn’t currently have data around the scale of infringing products on the market, but counterfeit Juul products may inaccurately increase sales figures, intensifying scrutiny from the FDA.

Juul has already taken legal action against many infringing manufacturers and distributors, but Punderson aims to take Juul’s efforts against infringing products to a new level.

He sees the issue as threefold: Juul Labs must work to stop these products from being manufactured in the first place, ensure they aren’t allowed across borders into the country, and take action against retailers who sell infringing products and remove them from the market.

“This isn’t a problem where there is only a production problem but there isn’t really a distribution or consumption problem,” said Punderson. “We don’t have the luxury of looking at the problem singly-faceted. From a global perspective, we want to stop the production and distribution of infringing products around the world, and we’ll work closely with government agencies attempting to stop illicit distribution of goods.”

Punderson previously served as Managing Director of IP Protection at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, VP of Global Anti-Counterfeiting/Anti-Diversion at Oakley, and worked at Apple on the Intellectual Property Enforcement team.

Juul is currently viewed by many as a Facebook-ified, 2018 version of Marlboro. Notably, Juul Labs recently closed a $12.8 billion investment from Altria Group, the makers of Marlboro cigarettes. When asked why he chose to work for Juul, Punderson said his initial reaction was no. But that after he did some research around the mission of the company, and thought of his own personal experience losing his father to emphysema, he came around quickly.

“I would do anything to get two or three more years with my dad, who was a lifelong smoker,” said Punderson. “[…] We’re trying to do good things here, move people away from tobacco and give them an alternative. To me, it’s a valuable, noble cause that’s worth being involved in and I’m proud to be here.”

It remains to be seen just how big of an issue infringing products are for Juul and other above-board e-cig makers, but Juul is ramping up its efforts to combat copycats from getting into the hands of consumers.

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How to recover quickly if you get locked out of Google

I know first-hand how frustrating it is to get locked out of your Google account and to lose access to much of your online life. I’m hoping this simple work-around will help get you get through the account recovery process much faster than the manual method, which takes a minimum of 3-5 days (and in my case ended up taking weeks).

This week, a colleague who remembered my article on my lock-out experience, asked me for advice after she was locked out of her account. And a solution occurred to me, one that I had actually discovered last year, but had never put to use myself. It worked for her, and I hope it works for you too. It’s actually pretty simple.

If you have paid storage on Google, follow these steps:

1. Go to Google One.
2. Click the Call button at the top of the screen.
3. Tell the person who answers that you’re locked out. They should be able to you.

Click the Call button at the top of the screen.

If you don’t have a Google One account, follow these steps:

1. Go to Google One.
2. Choose a monthly storage option. You can get started with a 100 gigs of storage for just $1.99 a month.
3. After you set up your storage, click the Call button and tell them you’re locked out.

While I can’t absolutely guarantee this will help you get your Google account back in short order, I can tell you it worked flawlessly for my colleague and she got back into hers shortly after opening a Google One account. While some may object to paying, if you can afford to spend $23.88 a year for 100 gigs of storage and access to human tech support (for this or any problem you have), it could be well worth it if it solves your issue quickly and gives you overall peace of mind.

That time I got locked out of my Google account for a month

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5 Nifty YouTube Channels for Learning a New Skill or Strength

Even if you aren’t in school anymore that doesn’t mean you should stop learning. On the contrary: today’s always-connected world makes it easier than ever to learn about any topic you can imagine.

Whether you want to learn a new language, a physical skill, or anything else, the internet can help. And due to the added visual element, YouTube is one of the best places to learn something new.

Here are five awesome YouTube channels to help you get started on learning something new.

1. ChrisFix: Learn to Fix Your Car

Most people who own a car aren’t expert mechanics. They might know how to check the fluids or change a tire, but can’t do most standard maintenance or specific work. This channel wants to help change that.

On ChrisFix, you’ll find plenty of videos on various types of car maintenance. This includes specific part replacements, tips for better cleaning, how to diagnose certain issues, and more. Chris has a straightforward style, meaning his videos are approachable even if you know nothing about cars.

Working on your own car can help you save money, and you’ll feel great knowing you can do it yourself. You’ll probably still have to visit a professional for advanced work, but you’d be surprised how much you can achieve by yourself.

2. JustinGuitar: Learn to Play Guitar

Learning an instrument is a great way to add a new facet to yourself. The guitar is a popular choice, and if you want to build a strong foundation, you should absolutely know about JustinGuitar.

This longtime favorite is perfect for the newcomer. The beginners’ course starts with the absolute basics, including questions like what guitar you should buy and how to hold a guitar. You’ll learn how to play basic chords and move onto scales and simple songs before you know it.

If you enjoy the videos, you’ll find even more content on the JustinGuitar website. It’s a great companion to using Rocksmith to learn guitar.

3. FreeCodeCamp.org: Learn to Start Programming

We’ve written much about how learning to program is beneficial. If you’re considering learning a programming language, you can learn a lot from this YouTube channel.

On freeCodeCamp, you’ll find full tutorials for many popular languages, including JavaScript and Python. Each one has a multi-hour full course that teaches complete beginners the basics. After that, you can walk through other examples to learn how to make games, work with website integrations, and more.

Of course, programming is a vast field with a lot to learn, so you’ll need to go beyond these videos if you want to become a professional programmer. Some people might find it easier to follow along with text lessons, but if you enjoy using the video format, this is an awesome way to start learning a desirable skill.

4. Khan Academy: Learn a Little Bit About Everything

Not sure what you want to learn? You should browse through Khan Academy’s epic collection of videos. The site behind this channel has worked to provide free educational tools for everyone for more than a decade.

The sheer variety of topics on offer here is amazing. You’ll find everything from calculus to government/civics, biology, and everything in between.

These videos are generally aimed at students at various grade levels, so they might be a little rudimentary for advanced learners. Nevertheless, they serve as a great introduction to various topics and are a great way to spend a few spare minutes.

5. Charisma on Command: Learn to Exude Confidence

Not everyone is in the mood or has the time to learn a new hard skill. Perhaps you have difficulty in social situations and want to work becoming a more likeable person. This channel hosts all sorts of videos to help you amp up your charisma and dominate social situations.

Most of the content here takes the form of lists and specific areas of improvement. You’ll learn how to be more self-aware, discover tips to get better at dating, and learn how to make subtle tweaks to your body language.

We don’t recommend that you try to fundamentally change who you are after watching these videos, though. Small tweaks can make a difference if you’ve been struggling, but you shouldn’t try to be someone you’re not.

What Will You Learn Next?

In this article, we’ve taken a look at five channels you can use to learn something new. Whether you want to learn something specific to help you now, or just want to discover something you never knew about before, YouTube is a treasure trove of information. Being able to glean tips and tricks from knowledgeable people and have years of videos available is insanely valuable.

If you didn’t find what you were looking for on YouTube, don’t despair. We have previously covered websites to help you learn online.

Read the full article: 5 Nifty YouTube Channels for Learning a New Skill or Strength

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First China, now Starbucks gets an ambitious VC-funded rival in Indonesia

Asia’s venture capital-backed startups are gunning for Starbucks.

In China, the U.S. coffee giant is being pushed by Luckin Coffee, a $2.2 billion challenger surfing China’s on-demand wave, and on the real estate side, where WeWork China has just unveiled an on-demand product that could tempt people who go to Starbucks to kill time or work.

That trend is picking up in Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, where an on-demand challenger named Fore Coffee has fuelled up for a fight after it raised $8.5 million.

Fore was started in August 2018 when associates at East Ventures, a prolific early-stage investor in Indonesia, decided to test how robust the country’s new digital infrastructure can be. That means it taps into unicorn companies like Grab, Go-Jek and Tokopedia and their army of scooter-based delivery people to get a hot brew out to customers. Incidentally, the name ‘Fore’ comes from ‘forest’ — “we aim to grow fast, strong, tall and bring life to our surrounding” — rather than in front of… or a shout heard on the golf course.

The company has adopted a similar hybrid approach to Luckin, and Starbucks thanks to its alliance with Alibaba. Fore operates 15 outlets in Jakarta, which range from ‘grab and go’ kiosks for workers in a hurry, to shops with space to sit and delivery-only locations, Fore co-founder Elisa Suteja told TechCrunch. On the digital side, it offers its own app (delivery is handled via Tokopedia’s Go-Send service) and is available via Go-Jek and Grab’s apps.

So far, Fore has jumped to 100,000 deliveries per month and its app is top of the F&B category for iOS and Android in Indonesia — ahead of Starbucks, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.

It’s early times for the venture — which is not a touch on Starbuck’s $85 billion business; it does break out figures for Indonesia — but it is a sign of where consumption is moving to Indonesia, which has become a coveted beachhead for global companies, and especially Chinese, moving into Southeast Asia. Chinese trio Tencent, Alibaba and JD.com and Singapore’s Grab are among the outsiders who have each spent hundreds of millions to build or invest in services that tap growing internet access among Indonesia’s population of over 260 million.

There’s a lot at stake. A recent Google-Temasek report forecast that Indonesia alone will account for over 40 percent of Southeast Asia’s digital economy by 2025, which is predicted to triple to reach $240 billion.

As one founder recently told TechCrunch anonymously: “There is no such thing as winning Southeast Asia but losing Indonesia. The number one priority for any Southeast Asian business must be to win Indonesia.”

Forecasts from a recent Google-Temasek report suggest that Indonesia is the key market in Southeast Asia

This new money comes from East Ventures — which incubated the project — SMDV, Pavilion Capital, Agaeti Venture Capital and Insignia Ventures Partners with participation from undisclosed angel backers. The plan is to continue to invest in growing the business.

“Fore is our model for ‘super-SME’ — SME done right in leveraging technology and digital ecosystem,” Willson Cuaca, a managing partner at East Ventures, said in a statement.

There’s clearly a long way to go before Fore reaches the size of Luckin, which has said it lost 850 million yuan, or $124 million, inside the first nine months in 2018.

The Chinese coffee challenger recently declared that money is no object for its strategy to dethrone Starbucks. The U.S. firm is currently the largest player in China’s coffee market, with 3,300 stores as of last May and a goal of topping 6,000 outlets by 2022, but Luckin said it will more than double its locations to more than 4,500 by the end of this year.

By comparison, Indonesia’s coffee battle is only just getting started.

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Nintendo to open its first official store located in Japan

Fourteen years after unveiling its first location in New York, Nintendo is finally opening an official store in Japan, too. Nintendo Tokyo will be located in Shibuya Parco, the new flagship of the Parco department store chain. Nintendo Tokyo is scheduled to open at the same time as the shopping center in fall.

In an announcement, Nintendo said “we are preparing to make this store, which will be a new base for communicating Nintendo information in Japan, an enjoyable place for a wide range of consumers.” In addition to games, consoles, accessories like amiibo, and branded merchandise, Nintendo Tokyo will also host gaming kiosks and events (if the New York store, in Rockefeller Center, is anything to go by, these might include tournaments, demos, and launches).

Nintendo recently posted strong third-quarter revenue growth, but also cut its Switch forecast for the year. Sales may pick up again, however, if Nintendo releases a smaller and less expensive version of the console, as Japanese financial publication Nikkei reported it plans to do.

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Go-Jek confirms first close of $2B Series F round at $9.5B valuation

Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based ride-hailing company that is challenging Grab in Southeast Asia, has announced the first close of its Series F round, as TechCrunch reported last week. The company isn’t revealing numbers but sources previously told us it has closed around $920 million. Go-Jek is planning to raise $2 billion for the round, as reported last year.

Go-Jek said that the first close is led by existing backers Google, JD.com, and Tencent, with participation from Mitsubishi Corporation and Provident Capital. It didn’t provide a valuation but sources told us that week that it is around $9.5 billion.

The company said it plans to spend the money deepening its business in Indonesia, its home market, and growing its presence in new market expansions Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. It is also working to expand to the Philippines, where it has been rejected an operating license.

The Go-Jek business in Indonesia includes transportation, food delivery, services on demand, payments and financial services. That’s very much the blueprint for its expansion markets, all of which are in different stages. Go-Viet, its Vietnamese service, offers food delivery and motorbike taxis, Get in Thailand operates motorbike taxis and in Singapore Go-Jek provides four-wheeled car options.

Combined those efforts cover 204 cities, two million drivers and 400,000 merchants, the company said, but the majority of that is in Indonesia.

Grab, meanwhile, became the top dog after buying Uber’s local business, and it operates in eight countries. It recently crossed three billion rides to date and claims 130 million downloads. Grab said revenue for 2018 was $1 billion, it expects that to double this year. The company has raised $6.8 billion from investors, according to Crunchbase, and its current Series H round could reach $5 billion.

Go-Jek claims it has 130 million downloads — despite just being in three markets — while it said it reached an annualized transaction volume of two billion in 2018 and $6.7 billion in annualized GMV. Those figures require some caveats as Go-Jek is being a little creative. Transactions don’t mean revenue — a transaction could be a $1 motorbike ride or a payment via QR code — and GMV is not revenue either, while both are ‘annualized’ which means they are scaled up after measuring a short period.

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Apple reactivates Facebook’s employee apps after punishment for Research spying

After TechCrunch caught Facebook violating Apple’s employee-only app distribution policy to pay people for all their phone data, Apple invalidated the social network’s Enterprise Certificate as punishment. That deactivated not only this Facebook Research app VPN, but also all of Facebook’s internal iOS apps for workplace collaboration, beta testing and even getting the company lunch or bus schedule. That threw Facebook’s offices into chaos yesterday morning. Now after nearly two work days, Apple has ended Facebook’s time-out and restored its Enterprise Certification. That means employees can once again access all their office tools, pre-launch test versions of Facebook and Instagram… and the lunch menu.

A Facebook spokesperson issued this statement to TechCrunch: “We have had our Enterprise Certification, which enables our internal employee applications, restored. We are in the process of getting our internal apps up and running. To be clear, this didn’t have an impact on our consumer-facing services.”

Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on him

Meanwhile, TechCrunch’s follow-up report found that Google was also violating the Enterprise Certificate program with its own “market research” VPN app called Screenwise Meter that paid people to snoop on their phone activity. After we informed Google and Apple yesterday, Google quickly apologized and took down the app. But apparently in service of consistency, this morning Apple invalidated Google’s Enterprise Certificate too, breaking its employee-only iOS apps.

Google’s internal apps are still broken. Unlike Facebook that has tons of employees on iOS, Google at least employs plenty of users of its own Android platform, so the disruption may have caused fewer problems in Mountain View than Menlo park. “We’re working with Apple to fix a temporary disruption to some of our corporate iOS apps, which we expect will be resolved soon,” said a Google spokesperson. A spokesperson for Apple said: “We are working together with Google to help them reinstate their enterprise certificates very quickly.”

TechCrunch’s investigation found that the Facebook Research app not only installed an Enterprise Certificate on users phones and a VPN that could collect their data, but also demanded root network access that allows Facebook to man-in-the-middle their traffic and even deencrypt secure transmissions. It paid users age 13 to 35 $10 to $20 per month to run the app so it could collect competitive intelligence on who to buy or copy. The Facebook Research app contained numerous code references to Onavo Protect, the app Apple banned and pushed Facebook to remove last August, yet Facebook kept on operating the Research data collection program.

When we first contacted Facebook, it claimed the Research app and its Enterprise Certificate distribution that sidestepped Apple’s oversight was in line with Apple’s policy. Seven hours later, Facebook announced it would shut down the Research app on iOS (though it’s still running on Android which has fewer rules). Facebook also claimed that “there was nothing ‘secret’ about this”, challenging the characterization of our reporting. However, TechCrunch has since reviewed communications proving that the Facebook Research program threatened legal action if its users spoke publicly about the app. That sounds pretty “secret” to us.

Then we learned yesterday morning that Facebook hadn’t voluntarily pulled the app as Apple had actually already invalidated Facebook’s Enterprise Certificate, thereby breaking the Research app and the social network’s employee tools. Apple provided this brutal statement, which it in turn applied to Google today:

“We designed our Enterprise Developer Program solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organization. Facebook has been using their membership to distribute a data-collecting app to consumers, which is a clear breach of their agreement with Apple. Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which is what we did in this case to protect our users and their data.”

Apple is being likened to a vigilante privacy regulator overseeing Facebook and Google by The Verge’s Casey Newton and The New York Times’ Kevin Roose, perhaps with too much power given they’re all competitors. But in this case, both Facebook and Google blatantly violated Apple’s policies to collect the maximum amount of data about iOS users, including teenagers. That means Apple was fully within its right to shut down their market research apps. Breaking their employee apps too could be seen as just collateral damage since they all use the same Enterprise Certification, or as additional punishment for violating the rules. This only becomes a real problem if Apple steps beyond the boundaries of its policies. But now, all eyes are on how it enforces its rules, whether to benefit its users or beat up on its rivals.

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Apple reactivates Facebook’s employee apps after punishment for Research spying

After TechCrunch caught Facebook violating Apple’s employee-only app distribution policy to pay people for all their phone data, Apple invalidated the social network’s Enterprise Certificate as punishment. That deactivated not only this Facebook Research app VPN, but also all of Facebook’s internal iOS apps for workplace collaboration, beta testing and even getting the company lunch or bus schedule. That threw Facebook’s offices into chaos yesterday morning. Now after nearly two work days, Apple has ended Facebook’s time-out and restored its Enterprise Certification. That means employees can once again access all their office tools, pre-launch test versions of Facebook and Instagram… and the lunch menu.

A Facebook spokesperson issued this statement to TechCrunch: “We have had our Enterprise Certification, which enables our internal employee applications, restored. We are in the process of getting our internal apps up and running. To be clear, this didn’t have an impact on our consumer-facing services.”

Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on him

Meanwhile, TechCrunch’s follow-up report found that Google was also violating the Enterprise Certificate program with its own “market research” VPN app called Screenwise Meter that paid people to snoop on their phone activity. After we informed Google and Apple yesterday, Google quickly apologized and took down the app. But apparently in service of consistency, this morning Apple invalidated Google’s Enterprise Certificate too, breaking its employee-only iOS apps.

Google’s internal apps are still broken. Unlike Facebook that has tons of employees on iOS, Google at least employs plenty of users of its own Android platform, so the disruption may have caused fewer problems in Mountain View than Menlo park. “We’re working with Apple to fix a temporary disruption to some of our corporate iOS apps, which we expect will be resolved soon,” said a Google spokesperson. A spokesperson for Apple said: “We are working together with Google to help them reinstate their enterprise certificates very quickly.”

TechCrunch’s investigation found that the Facebook Research app not only installed an Enterprise Certificate on users phones and a VPN that could collect their data, but also demanded root network access that allows Facebook to man-in-the-middle their traffic and even deencrypt secure transmissions. It paid users age 13 to 35 $10 to $20 per month to run the app so it could collect competitive intelligence on who to buy or copy. The Facebook Research app contained numerous code references to Onavo Protect, the app Apple banned and pushed Facebook to remove last August, yet Facebook kept on operating the Research data collection program.

When we first contacted Facebook, it claimed the Research app and its Enterprise Certificate distribution that sidestepped Apple’s oversight was in line with Apple’s policy. Seven hours later, Facebook announced it would shut down the Research app on iOS (though it’s still running on Android which has fewer rules). Facebook also claimed that “there was nothing ‘secret’ about this”, challenging the characterization of our reporting. However, TechCrunch has since reviewed communications proving that the Facebook Research program threatened legal action if its users spoke publicly about the app. That sounds pretty “secret” to us.

Then we learned yesterday morning that Facebook hadn’t voluntarily pulled the app as Apple had actually already invalidated Facebook’s Enterprise Certificate, thereby breaking the Research app and the social network’s employee tools. Apple provided this brutal statement, which it in turn applied to Google today:

“We designed our Enterprise Developer Program solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organization. Facebook has been using their membership to distribute a data-collecting app to consumers, which is a clear breach of their agreement with Apple. Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which is what we did in this case to protect our users and their data.”

Apple is being likened to a vigilante privacy regulator overseeing Facebook and Google by The Verge’s Casey Newton and The New York Times’ Kevin Roose, perhaps with too much power given they’re all competitors. But in this case, both Facebook and Google blatantly violated Apple’s policies to collect the maximum amount of data about iOS users, including teenagers. That means Apple was fully within its right to shut down their market research apps. Breaking their employee apps too could be seen as just collateral damage since they all use the same Enterprise Certification, or as additional punishment for violating the rules. This only becomes a real problem if Apple steps beyond the boundaries of its policies. But now, all eyes are on how it enforces its rules, whether to benefit its users or beat up on its rivals.

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The Future Is Now: Puma Reveals Self-Lacing Sneakers Known as Fi

If there’s one thing we all thought the future would bring, it’s almost certainly shoes that lace themselves automatically. After all, just about everyone has seen Back to the Future and the iconic shoes featured within.

Well, popular athletic shoe company PUMA is actually jumping feet first into the self-lacing shoe market with its newly-announced Fit Intelligence shoe (Fi). Of course, Nike already released the Hyperadapt shoes that tie themselves, so PUMA is not the first.

Still, these shoes sound like they’re packed with <a “no-callout” href=”//http://bit.ly/2TuObCJ features, and they definitely seem worth a look… Though the price might shock you a bit.

Fit Intelligence Shoe (Fi)

PUMA just unveiled these high-tech shoes today in Hong Kong, and they sound rather interesting. The main feature is the fact that the shoes don’t require you to lace them like a traditional pair of shoes would. Instead, they feature a cable that runs through the upper portion of the shoe.

Once you step into the shoe, you swipe up on the small module, and the shoes tighten around your foot.

According to PUMA, the shoe actually features a proprietary system that learns the shape of your foot and tightens accordingly. Of course, we’ll have to wait until we get to try a pair for ourselves to see how well this works and how comfortable they are, but it all sounds very promising.

You won’t need to rely strictly on the shoe’s reading of your foot, as there’s a smartphone app that lets you tune the fit to your preferences. After all, shoes are definitely not one size fits all. There will also be support for Apple Watch, which will allow mid-run adjustments without taking your phone out of your pocket.

To remove the shoe, you simply swipe down on the little module on the front, and the laces will loosen, making it easy to slide your foot out.

How Much Will the Fi Shoes Be and When Are They Out?

Unfortunately, anyone waiting for the future of footwear from PUMA is going to have to be patient, as the shoes aren’t expected to release until spring of 2020. We’re more than a year away from getting to experience the joy of never tying our shoes again.

As for the price, PUMA announced that the shoes will be available for $330 a pair, which puts them slightly ahead of Nike’s upcoming model, which will retail for $350.

Can’t get enough of the future? Check out these smart home gadgets that’ll make your whole home feel like it’s in the future.

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YouTube Music Now Works With Sonos Speakers

If you own a Sonos speaker you can now listen to YouTube Music through it. That is if you subscribe to either YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium. This gives fans of Sonos speakers yet another streaming music service to consider using.

What Is YouTube Music Anyway?

As music streaming services go, YouTube Music is the new kid on the crowded block. In May 2018, Google launched YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. The former offers YouTube-centric music streaming, with the latter replacing YouTube Red.

What differentiates YouTube Music from the competition is the onus on music videos. However, a YouTube Music Premium buys access to an audio-only mode (as well as ad-free listening and downloads). Putting it somewhat on a par with Spotify and Apple Music.

Using YouTube Music on Your Sonos Speaker

Now, as detailed on the Official YouTube Blog, YouTube Music is available on Sonos speakers. Essentially, this means anyone with a YouTube Music Premium or YouTube Premium subscription can now listen to YouTube Music through their Sonos speaker.

Today, @youtubemusic Premium is available to stream on Sonos, making it easier than ever to listen to your favorite playlists anywhere in your home. The new music streaming app. Made by @YouTube. pic.twitter.com/zMcAMkVLdW

— Sonos (@Sonos) January 30, 2019

The YouTube Music features available through the Sonos app include:

• Recommended, which features “listening suggestions based on your favorites”.
• New Releases, comprised of “the freshest music specifically tailored to your tastes”.
• YouTube Charts, which is “the best way to see what’s hot in music right now”.
• Your Mixtape, containing “your favorites and new songs we think you’ll love”.
• Library containing “your saved playlists, albums, and songs”.

YouTube Music is available on Sonos in every country where YouTube Music and YouTube Premium are available. Existing subscribers should follow the instructions on this page to set up YouTube Music on the Sonos app. Everyone else can sign up for a 30-day free trial.

Helping YouTube Music Compete

YouTube Music cannot compete with Spotify and Apple Music in terms of the number of subscribers. However, with the might of Google behind it, plus the focus on videos, we wouldn’t bet against it carving out a sizeable chunk of the market.

As for Sonos, we’re big fans of the speakers, with our Sonos One review suggesting this is “the one smart speaker to rule them all”. Which, with brilliant Amazon Echo and Google Home speakers also available to buy, is a huge compliment.

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Be an Expert Number Cruncher With This Best Selling Excel Bootcamp

Data plays a vital role in sales, finance, and countless other sectors. Yet relatively few people even know how to work with a simple spreadsheet. If you want to stand out from the crowd, the 2019 Microsoft Excel Bootcamp Bundle can help. Through five courses and over 78 hours of video tutorials, this bundle can turn anyone into a number-crunching expert. You can get the training now for just $39 at MakeUseOf Deals.

Master Microsoft Excel

If you work behind a desk, you have probably met Microsoft Excel before. But without guidance, it’s easy to miss some of the most powerful features.

This bundle helps you learn the software inside out, with hours of hands-on tutorials from expert instructors. You don’t need any prior knowledge to get started, and the courses teach you valuable workplace skills.

The first track covers all the fundamentals. You learn how to navigate Excel, create a workbook, format your data, use formulas, and design eye-catching graphs.

The Advanced course shows you a variety of time-saving techniques, along with powerful functions and macros. You can also take a deep dive into PivotTables, learn about VBA programming, and discover how Excel can provide key business insights.

You can learn at your own pace, and each course comes with a certificate of completion — a great addition to any résumé.

78 Hours of Training for $39

They’re worth $1,725, but you can grab all five courses now for only $39 with lifetime access included.

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8 Popular Websites You Can Fix Using Chrome Extensions

The internet and its flagship websites have come a long way. Gone are the days when Amazon only sold books and Facebook was limited to a handful of schools. In the process, most of them have also become cluttered and too cumbersome to use. But thanks to a few alternative ways to browse them, we can enjoy an uncluttered experience.

Therefore, here are eight Chrome extensions that let you fix some of the internet’s most popular websites like Amazon, Facebook, and YouTube.

1. Amazon Lite

This extension gets rid of every unnecessary element from Amazon’s desktop website and leaves you with a clean design. That includes clearing up the endless rows of recommendations, advertisements, the huge offer banners, and more.

Instead, Amazon Lite replaces it with a home page that only has a search bar at the top and a handful of links for quickly jumping over to your past orders, lists, cart items, etc.

Also, when you look up a product, Amazon Lite presents you with a clear page with all the crucial filters. There’s also an option for switching to the original Amazon website and enabling or disabling the extension on-demand.

If you’re someone who is often distracted by the rows of recommendations or finds it too difficult to focus on what you’re searching for, this extension is undoubtedly a no-brainer.

Download: Amazon Lite (Free)

2. ShutUpBookingCom

Unlike Amazon Lite, ShutUpBookingCom won’t magically revamp Booking.com. On the contrary, it mends a bunch of tiny, pushy design choices. The aggravating one is the constant alert which tells you if a particular property is in high demand. These are designed to force you into making a rushed decision.

ShutUpBookingCom is itself is a lightweight tool and won’t bog your computer down by making an already heavy website even worse.

Download: ShutUpBookingCom (Free)

3. Social Fixer for Facebook

Social Fixer is the ultimate utility for people who are fed with how Facebook has evolved. The extension allows you to customize or eliminate nearly any column or content on the website whether it’s stories or the chat window.

What’s more, Social Fixer comes with a flurry of options so that you can filter out anything you don’t like. You can do so by either setting up triggers or selecting an event from one of the predefined topics like Pokemon Go. Plus, there’s a stealth mode through which you can remove likes and comments. It’s can be the holy grail for Facebook addicts.

Download: Social Fixer for Facebook (Free)

4. Improve YouTube!

Our next extension on the list, appropriately titled Improve YouTube, does exactly what its name says. It features the ability to personalize every bit of the YouTube desktop website. You can move blocks around to your liking, ditch them, or tweak their various properties. For instance, the size of the player.

Moreover, Improve YouTube unlocks a vast number of features which are not even natively available. That includes tools such as a pop-up player, playlist control, options to hide moving thumbnails, and a whole lot more. You can even revert back to previous YouTube designs and configure custom shortcuts.

Download: Improve YouTube! (Free)

5. Shine for Reddit

Shine is another free Chrome extension that tries to fix the front page of internet i.e. Reddit.

The add-on refreshes the site’s design with an aesthetic that’s easier on the eye and more intuitive to use. One of the highlights of Shine is that it has a grid view so that you can quickly scroll through posts.

Plus, you can try on a host of different themes, layouts and choose the one that suits your preferences the best. Like others, it also has all the customization tools you need to hide specific sidebars and elements.

Download: Shine for Reddit (Free)

6. Fix Twitter

Fix Twitter is not as powerful as other apps on the list. But it does improve the microblogging experience. It brings back a bunch of handy features Twitter decided to ax. For instance, it can show the good-ol’ replying-to indicator when you’re replying in a thread.

Furthermore, the tool replaces Twitter’s proprietary t.co links with the original address and even hides the “in case you missed it” alerts.

Download: Fix Twitter (Free)

7. Improved Layout for Instagram

This little extension fills the wide void in the whole Instagram experience by delivering a proper desktop layout.

Instagram’s website essentially feels and functions like a stretched out version of the mobile web page. The add-on overcomes that by turning it into a grid so that you can utilize the entire screen real estate and view more posts in one instance.

In addition, it puts the stories and suggestions sidebar onto a scrollable pane enabling you to hide and reveal it whenever needed.

The extension offers a bunch of other options including a dark theme, the ability to set the number of rows, columns, and a photo-only mode. Additional video controls are available too which let you rewind or forward them, download the file, and tweak the volume.

Download: Improved Layout for Instagram (Free)

8. Super Netflix

Super Netflix, as the name suggests, augments your streaming experience with a couple of nifty enhancements. While it keeps most of the design intact, the extension discards a few of its annoyances. That means putting an end to auto-playing previews on the home page, blurring out descriptions to avoid potential spoilers, and automatically skipping intros.

Plus, Super Netflix adds a handful of supplementary, little tools such as the ability to change the playback pace, and upload your own subtitles. It also brings several modes to alter the video’s several qualities like brightness, contrast, and color.

Super Netflix is just one of the tools you can download for supercharging your Netflix watching experience. There are a ton of other ways for getting the most out of Netflix.

Download: Super Netflix (Free)

Get Rid of the Internet’s Biggest Annoyances

The extensions we discussed here will surely help you eradicate some of your most-visited websites’ core shortcomings. But that doesn’t solve all the issues internet suffers from. For that, you will need these tools and tips that enable you to get rid of the internet’s biggest annoyances.

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7 Essential Privacy Settings for Chrome OS and Google Chrome

There’s a certain irony to Chromebooks. On one hand, Google is hardly a company most people would associate with privacy. On the other, Chromebooks are easy to lock down. With a few tweaks, they can provide a relatively safe way to get online. And that’s without installing anything.

So how do you configure Chrome OS to guard your privacy? Here are some steps that are easy to take. These tips also apply if you’re using Google Chrome on Windows or MacOS, though the settings may vary.

1. Disable These “Privacy and Security” Settings

Google has built several features into Chrome intended to improve your web browsing experience. The catch is that these services involve sending data to the company’s servers, which it can add to your user account. Google then analyzes your data in order to sell increasingly personalized ads.

Some of these features send data to Google every time you enter a letter into the navigation bar.

This means Google gets to see everything you search for and every website you visit, whether or not you use the Google search engine, and even if you change your mind and decide not to visit a site or start a search. Are you comfortable with Google knowing that much about you?

You can disable these options by opening Chrome settings and going to the Privacy and security section.

Features to disable:

• Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar or the app launcher search box
• Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly
• Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors
• Help improve Safe Browsing
• Automatically send diagnostic and usage data to Google
• Use a web service to help resolve spelling errors

2. Enable “Safe Browsing” and “Do Not Track”

Under Privacy and security, there are also a few settings you will likely want to enable.

Safe Browsing is one of them. This feature can prevent certain malicious or poorly secured sites from opening in your browser.

Do Not Track is another. Websites sometimes monitor your behavior. They may know how much time you spend on any given page and what type of information most interests you.

Sometimes they do this to provide you with a better experience, but in the process, they’re able to build a profile that you might prefer they didn’t have. With Do Not Track enabled, you’re telling websites not to track your behavior. Will all of them listen? No. But some might.

3. Disable or Encrypt Data Syncing

Web browsers may primarily serve to connect us to the web, but your bookmarks and browsing history are typically saved on your computer. You don’t have to store everything online. If you enable syncing, you’re taking data from your computer and giving it to Google. Disable syncing to keep a copy off of Google’s servers.

You can disable syncing by going to People > Sync. There you can turn off Sync everything and untoggle various categories.

If you use numerous devices and value having your browsing data synced across all of them, you can instead choose to encrypt all of your synced data with a passphrase. You can find this option underneath all of the toggles mentioned above.

Chrome will ask you to create a passphrase that you will need to enter on every device you choose to sync. To keep this data private, make sure the passphrase is not the same as the one you choose for your Google account. This way Google’s servers will store your data, but the company won’t have the passphrase needed to decrypt your files.

Warning: Be careful not to forget your passphrase. Since your passphrase is not stored online, Google cannot help you recover it. This means you will lose your synced data.

4. Disable Location Tracking

Websites can get an idea where you live from your IP address, but with location tracking, they can get your exact location. You can manage location tracking under Privacy and security > Content settings > Location.

Initially, Chrome will ask if you want to allow a site to access your location. The browser will keep a list of all the sites your permit or deny. But more often than not, you can use the web just fine by blocking this functionality entirely.

You can use Google Maps and similar sites by entering your address manually, just like in the days before our devices came with GPS built-in.

5. Don’t Save Addresses and Payment Methods

Whether you love the internet or prefer to stay offline, these days it’s hard to avoid filling out online forms. Chrome will try to make this task easier for you by remembering information you fill out often, such as your email address, your physical address, phone numbers, and credit cards.

As tempting as this may be, it means you’re creating a record of your personal information that isn’t necessary. Even if you disable syncing, someone with access to your computer can peak at this information. This could be dangerous if you leave your computer in a public place, but it can also lead to unintended consequences when sharing your device with friends or family members.

You can tell Chrome not to remember most of this information by going to People > Addresses and more.

To stop Chrome from storing your credit cards, go to People > Payment methods. Both locations allow you to delete any information that Chrome may have already stored.

6. Limit Cookies

When we talk about websites and ad networks tracking your behavior, we’re typically talking about the use of cookies. Your browser stores these files so that websites function as you would expect. Without them, you’re starting from a clean slate whenever you visit a page.

Cookies are important for sites that let you sign into an account or add items into a cart.

But sites can store whatever they want in these files. So can ad networks. That’s why it’s a good practice to limit which cookies are permitted onto your computer.

To do this, go to Privacy and security > Content settings > Cookies. Enable Block third-party cookies. To better cover your tracks, you can also enable Keep local data only until you quit your browser, but know that this means you will have to sign into sites again the next time you open Chrome.

You can see all of the cookies Chrome has saved by selecting See all cookies and site data. Here you can delete cookies one at a time or clear them all.

7. Change Default Search Engine

Chrome defaults to the Google search engine. That provides Google with every search that we enter into the navigation bar. This information is so personal, it means Google knows certain things about us that would surprise our loved ones or closest colleagues.

You can cut Google off from this information by changing your default search engine. You could try Bing, if you prefer, though that requires giving your data to Microsoft rather than Google. Alternatively, you can try a search engine that prioritizes privacy.

You can change your default search engine by going to Search and Assistant > Manage search engines. You can also get here by right-clicking the navigation bar and selecting Edit search engines… in the context menu.

Under Search and Assistant, you also have the option to change “Search engine used in the address bar.” You can also choose to disable Google Assistant, if your computer supports that feature.

Other Steps You Can Take

These tips will greatly reduce the amount of information you put online, but it won’t stop all data collection. It’s still possible for others, including your Internet Service Provider, to monitor your browsing habits.

If you want to further guard your privacy, consider changing your DNS settings as well as using a VPN. (MakeUseOf readers can save 49% on our favorite VPN service, ExpressVPN!)

Let’s not stop with your browser and network settings. If you own a Chromebook, then you likely have a Google account. You’ve probably already given Google quite a bit of data. Fortunately, Google is somewhat transparent about what it collects. You can take a look at your account and limit what data Google can access.

Read the full article: 7 Essential Privacy Settings for Chrome OS and Google Chrome

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