Daily Tech News and Updates: January 2020

Friday, 31 January 2020

Budget 2020 Live: When and Where to Watch Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Speech on TV, Internet, and Mobile

Budget 2020 live stream can be watched on the NDTV Hindi and NDTV English channels, and on the website as well. Users can alternatively download the apps to enjoy the live stream in-app, or they could also watch it on YouTube.

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This Cybertruck-inspired iPhone 11 Pro costs $15K and isn’t made by Tesla or Apple

Phones are rounded rectangles now. Have been for years — ever since the iPhone killed the QWERTY slider dead. They’re getting rounder and rounder, in fact, as manufacturers continue to figure out how to bend OLED screens and raw metals to their will. They’re far too samey, unless you count an array of sci-fi inspired foldables that are so far basically just recreating the flip phone.

I want something edgier to exist in the world. And now, just as Tesla’s Cybertruck shook up the world of automobile design, a Cybertruck-inspired phone has emerged to maybe, possibly, OK probably not inspire the same sort of design in phones.

The exorbitantly priced Cyberphone, which is effectively just a fancy shell around an Apple iPhone 11 Pro, was...

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Markets blogger Zero Hedge suspended from Twitter after doxxing a Chinese scientist

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter says it has permanently suspended markets blog Zero Hedge’s Twitter account, @zerohedge, for violating the company’s platform manipulation policy. On Wednesday, Zero Hedge posted a blog that doxxed a Chinese scientist and strongly suggested without evidence that the scientist created the strain of coronavirus that’s currently spreading around the world.

That blog lists a name, photo, email, and phone number that are reportedly tied to the scientist, and suggested that readers “pay [him] a visit” if they wanted to know “what really caused the coronavirus pandemic.” BuzzFeed News reported on Zero Hedge’s blog that doxxed the scientist earlier this evening, ahead of the Twitter suspension.

The Verge is not publishing a link to Zero...

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Mark Zuckerberg thinks this is the biggest misconception about him - CNET

The Facebook CEO wants be understood rather than liked.

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Draft law could put encryption at risk, report says - CNET

The "Earn It" bill was drafted by Sen. Lindsey Graham to find better ways to protect children online, earlier reports said.

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Coronavirus Outbreak: Google Launches New SOS Alert to Offer Accurate Information, Safety Tips

Google and WHO have collaborated to offer a new SOS alert that will offer information, news, and safety tips for all coronavirus related searches around the world.

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Trump signs executive order aimed at preventing sales of counterfeit goods from overseas

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at preventing counterfeit products from abroad from being sold to U.S. citizens who shop online using Amazon.com, Walmart.com or other ecommerce websites, the White House said.

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Amazon holiday quarter delivers, threatens profit squeeze for UPS and FedEx

Amazon.com Inc's rapid expansion of one-day shipping delivered a strong holiday quarter and showed the rising ambition of the company, which in six years has created a network that handles nearly as many packages as FedEx Corp .

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Microsoft detects new Evil Corp malware attacks

Microsoft has observed that the hacking group known as Evil Corp or TA505 has switched up the tactics in its ongoing phishing campaign to deliver malware by using malicious Excel documents.

The company provided more details on the new campaign in a series of tweets in which its researchers said that the final payload is now being delivered by using an Excel document containing a malicious macro.

Evil Corp has been active since 2014 and the cybercrime group is financially motivated. It is known for targeting retail companies as well as financial institutions by using large malicious spam campaigns powered by the Necurs botnet.

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Researchers from Microsoft Security Intelligence explained how Evil Corp's new campaign works in a tweet, which reads:

“The new campaign uses HTML redirectors attached to emails. When opened, the HTML leads to the download Dudear, a malicious macro-laden Excel file that drops the payload. In contrast, past Dudear email campaigns carried the malware as attachment or used malicious URLs.”

Evil Corp

This new campaign marks the first time that Evil Corp has used HTML redirectors as part of its attacks. Previous email campaigns carried out by the group used attachments or malicious download URLs to deliver their malicious payloads.

Evil Corp's latest campaign sends out phishing messages that come with HTML attachments that automatically start downloading the Excel file used to drop the payload. Victims are told to open the Excel document on their computer and to enable editing to access its contents.

Once this is done, the malware will also try to drop a remote access trojan (RAT) known as Grace Wire or FlawedGrace onto a victim's system.

The cybercriminals behind this new campaign even utilized localized HTML files in different languages in order to reach victims from all around the world.

We've also highlighted the best antivirus software

Via BleepingComputer

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Taylor Swift opens up about eating disorders in Netflix doc - CNET

And in response, we put together info about disordered eating and how to get help.

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Coronavirus in pictures: Scenes from around the world - CNET

WHO declares a global health emergency, flights are suspended, cruise passengers quarantined. From China to South Korea, India to the US, the world reacts to a fast-moving threat.

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2020 C8 Chevy Corvette visible carbon option canned due to supplier issues - Roadshow

The 5VM package proved to be a popular option among C8 buyers, despite costing the better part of $5,000.

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Amazon’s Echo Show can now scan barcodes to flesh out your shopping list

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

In our review of the Amazon Echo Show 5 smart display, Dan called it the “smart alarm clock to get.” But I think I might move mine to the kitchen, right next to the garbage can.

That’s partly because Amazon has just added the ability for the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8’s camera to scan barcodes, and automatically add those items to your shopping list (via VentureBeat). I might do that when I’ve got an empty package I’m about to toss in the trash.

You start by saying “Alexa, scan this to my shopping list.” Up pops this screen:

Image by Sean Hollister / The Verge

I just tried it with a milk carton, orange juice, and a New Balance shoebox, and it seems to work fine in each case, adding each to my Alexa shopping list....

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The guy who knew Nintendo’s Switch surprise ahead of time has pled guilty to hacking

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

A California man has pled guilty to hacking Nintendo’s servers to steal confidential files, including taking information about the Nintendo Switch months before it was announced, the US Department of Justice revealed today.

According to the DOJ, Ryan Hernandez, 21, and an associate phished a Nintendo employee in 2016 to get access to and steal confidential information from the company. In October 2017, the FBI contacted Hernandez and his parents to ask him to stop hacking, at which time Hernandez “confirmed that he understood the consequences of any future hacking.”

However, from at least June 2018 to June 2019, Hernandez continued to illegally access confidential corporate information,...

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As coronavirus misinformation spreads on social media, Facebook removes posts

Facebook Inc said it will take down misinformation about China's fast-spreading coronavirus, in a rare departure from its usual approach to dubious health content that is presenting a fresh challenge for social media companies.

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GMC Hummer EV: I've got an opinion video - Roadshow

The upcoming electric pickup truck is a welcome addition to the playing field, and I've got a lot to say about it.

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US declares coronavirus a public health emergency - CNET

A 14-day quarantine has been announced by the CDC.

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Reach out and touch a Dell XPS 13 for just $784 - CNET

This 13.3-inch touchscreen laptop is a CNET favorite, and it looks even better when it's 35% off.

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Best TVs for gaming with low input lag - CNET

Any delay between your controller and the game can kill you. These are the TVs that minimize it.

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Super Bowl 2020 movie and TV trailers: Sonic the Hedgehog, F9 and more - CNET

A couple of (expensive) movie ad spots have already arrived online. You can also expect trailers from Black Widow, Fast & Furious 9, and more.

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Twitter adds threaded replies to iOS to make it easier to see ongoing conversations

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Twitter announced a subtle design change to its iOS app today that may go a long way in both making conversations easier to parse and to join. The change, which looks like it’s a change on Twitter’s end that does not require an update, is to the threading feature in the Twitter timeline, which currently does a poor job of differentiating between standard tweets and replies.

The update now draws a concrete line between a parent tweet and the replies, with the replies indented slightly and connected by the series of vertical and horizontal lines. It makes a Twitter conversation look effectively like thread of connected notes. The feature was first demoed in the company’s experimental twttr beta app back in spring of last year. It only...

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Russia blocks ProtonMail and ProtonVPN

The Russian government has blocked access to Proton Technologies end-to-end encrypted email service ProtonMail as well as to the company's VPN service ProtonVPN for failing to comply with local laws.

In a press release, Russia's telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor explained why it decided to block access to the company's services, saying:

“This email service was used by cybercriminals both in 2019 and especially actively in January 2020 to send false messages about the massive mining of objects in the Russian Federation under the guise of reliable information. The company responded with a categorical refusal to Roskomnadzor’s repeated requests for information to be included in the register of information dissemination organizers on the Internet. Information about the administrators of the mailboxes used to send threats has not been provided.”

ProtonMail adds encrypted calendar to its mail service
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ProtonVPN releases source code and undergoes full security audit

Last year Russia passed a new law which requires all VPN providers to sign up for a government system that helps facilitate the sharing of information between the companies and its security services. However, Proton Technologies, as well as many other VPN providers, refused to register its services with state authorities and this is why the recent block on ProtonMail and ProtonVPN was put in place by Roskomnadzor.

Bypassing the block

Proton Technologies provided further details on how its services are currently down in Russia in an incident report on its status page, which reads:

“We have received reports that Proton is currently blocked in Russia. We are reaching out to the appropriate authorities to get the block lifted as soon as possible. This block affects ProtonMail and ProtonVPN users who were not logged in before the block was implemented. For now, we recommend using the TOR network (via the TOR Browser) to access our services.”

In addition to trying to have the block lifted as quickly as possible, the company also provided users with a workaround in the form of the TOR Browser though users who were already logged on before the block went into place will still be able to access its services.

Now that Roskomnadzor has blocked ProtonVPN, we could see the Russian telecommunications watchdog take action against other VPN services currently operating in the country.

We've also highlighted the best VPN services

Via BleepingComputer

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Latin America Roundup: Loft raises $175M, Softbank invests in Mexico’s Alphacredit and Rappi pulls back

Brazil’s famously-tricky real estate market has long drawn international investors to the region in search of tech solutions. This time, Brazilian startup Loft brought in a $175M Series C from first-time investor in the region, Vulcan Capital (Paul Allen’s investment arm), alongside Andreessen Horowitz. Loft is also a16z’s first and only Brazilian investment.

Co-founded by serial entrepreneurs and investors, Mate Pencz and Florian Hagenbuch in 2018, Loft uses a proprietary algorithm to process transaction data and provide more transparent pricing for both buyers and sellers. The startup uses two models to help clients sell properties; either Loft will value the apartment for listing on the site, or they will offer to purchase the property from the buyer immediately. Many real estate platforms in the US are shifting toward a similar iBuyer model; however, this system may be even more apt for the Latin American market, where property sales are notoriously untransparent, bureaucratic, and tedious.

Loft will use the capital to expand to Rio de Janeiro in Q1 2020 and to Mexico City in Q2, bringing on at least 100 new employees in the process. It also plans to scale its financial products to include mortgages and insurance by the end of the year.

Alphacredit raises $125M from Softbank

Mexican consumer lending startup Alphacredit became Softbank’s new Mexico bet this month, with a $125M Series B round. Alphacredit uses a programmed deduction system to provide rapid, online loans to individuals and small businesses in Mexico. To date, the startup has granted over $1B in loans to small business clients in Mexico and Colombia, many of whom have never previously had access to financing.

Alphacredit’s programmed deductions system enables the startup to lower default rates, which in turn lowers interest rates. For over eight years, Alphacredit has encouraged financial inclusion in Mexico and Colombia through technology; this round of investment will enable the platform to consolidate its holding as one of the top lending platforms in the region. The investment is still subject to approval by Mexico’s competition authority, COFECE, which has previously blocked startup deals such as the Cornershop acquisition in 2019.

Softbank’s biggest bets back off in Latin America

While Softbank is still rapidly deploying its Latin America-focused Innovation Fund, some of its largest companies are stepping on the brakes. In particular, Softbank’s largest LatAm investment, Rappi, recently announced that it would lay off up to 6% of its workforce in an effort to cut costs and focus on their technology. The Colombian unicorn has been expanding at a breakneck pace throughout the region using a blitzscaling technique that has helped it reach nine countries with 5,000 employees in just two years, including Ecuador in November 2019.

Rappi has stated that it will focus on technology and UX in 2020, explaining that the job cuts do not reflect its long-term growth strategy. However, Rappi is also facing legal action for alleged intellectual property theft. Mauricio Paba, José Mendoza, and Jorge Uribe are suing Rappi CEO Simon Borrero and the company for stealing the idea for the Rappi platform while providing consulting for the three founders through his firm, Imaginamos. The case is currently being processed in Colombia and the U.S.

One of Softbank’s biggest bets in Asia, Oyo Rooms, is facing similar challenges. Just months after announcing their expansion into Mexico, Oyo fired thousands of employees in China and India. Oyo plans to be the largest hotel chain in Mexico by the end of 2020, according to a local spokesperson.

Argentina’s Agrofy breaks regional agtech records

With a $23M Series B from SP Ventures, Fall Line Capital, and Acre Venture Partners, Argentine agricultural supply marketplace Agrofy has raised the region’s largest round for an agtech startup to date. The platform provides transparency and ease for the agricultural industry, where users can buy and everything from tractors to seeds. In four years, Agrofy has established itself as the market leader in agricultural e-commerce; it was also Fall Line Capital’s first investment outside of the U.S.

Agrofy is active in nine countries and receives over five million visits per month, 60% of which come from Brazil. However, the startup faces the challenge of low connectivity in rural areas, where most of its customers live. The investment will go to improving the platform, as well as integrating new payment types directly into the site to help clients process their transactions more smoothly.

News and Notes: Fanatiz, Pachama, Moons, Didi, and IDB

The Miami-based sports-streaming platform, Fanatiz, raised $10M in a Series A round from 777 Partners in January 2020 after registering 125% user growth since July 2019. Founded by Chilean Matias Rivera, Fanatiz provides legal international streaming of soccer and other sports through a personalized platform so that fans can follow their teams from anywhere in the world. The startup provided the Pope with an account so that he could follow his beloved team, San Lorenzo, from the Vatican. Fanatiz has previously received investment from Magma Partners and participated in 500 Startups’ Miami Scale program.

Conservation-tech startup Pachama raised $4.1M from Silicon Valley investors to continue developing a carbon offset marketplace using drone and LIDAR data. Pachama was founded by Argentine entrepreneur Diego Saez-Gil in 2019 after he noticed the effects of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. After participating in Y Combinator in 2019, Pachama now has 23 sites in the US and Latin America where scientists are working alongside the startup’s technology to certify forests for carbon sequestration projects.

Mexico’s Moons, an orthodontics startup that provides low-cost invisible aligners, has raised $5M from investors such as Jaguar Ventures, Tuesday Capital, and Foundation Capital and was recently accepted into Y Combinator, bringing the startup to the US. Moons provides a free consultation and 3D scan to patients in Mexico to determine if they are a good fit for the program, then supplies them with a yearlong invisible braces regime for around $1200. With 18 locations in Mexico and two in Colombia, Moons is expanding rapidly across the region, with ambitions for providing low-cost healthcare across several verticals in Latin America.

Chinese ridehailing startup Didi Chuxing recently launched a sustainable fleet of over 700 electric and hybrid cars for its Mexico City operations. After two years operating in Mexico, Didi announced that it would establish its headquarters in the capital city to manage its new low-emissions fleet. The company will provide financing to help its drivers acquire and use the vehicles, in an effort to reduce Didi’s environmental impact.

The IDB Lab released a report on female entrepreneurs in Latin America, finding that 54% of female founders have raised capital and 80% plan to scale internationally in the next five years. The study, entitled “wX Insights 2020: The Rise of Women STEMpreneurs,” finds that female entrepreneurship is on the rise in Latin America, particularly in the areas of fintech, edtech, healthtech, and biotech. Nonetheless, 59% of the 1,148 women surveyed still see access to capital as the most significant limitation for their companies. However, as women take center-stage in Latin American VC, such as Antonia Rojas Eing joining ALLVP as Partner, we may see funding tilt toward female-founded firms.

This month has set 2020 on a course to continue the strong growth we saw in the Latin American ecosystem in 2019. It is always exciting to see international investors make their first bets in the region, and we expect to continue seeing new VCs entering the region over the coming year.

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Thursday, 30 January 2020

Optus fined half a million for spamming customers that had already unsubscribed

Optus has been handed the second-largest fine ever dealt by the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) for contacting customers that had explicitly unsubscribed from communications.

The ACMA fined the telco giant AU$504,000 following an investigation into breaches of Australia’s anti-spam laws, a sum second only to a AU$510,000 fine Telstra copped in 2014 for delays in connecting landline customers.

Specifically, Optus was found to have sent marketing emails and SMS messages in 2018 to around 750,000 customers that had already opted out of these communications. Other emails were also sent that lacked any kind of unsubscribe facility.

ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was the largest infringement paid for spamming and that it “reflects the seriousness of breaches made by Optus and its failure to honour its customers’ wishes to unsubscribe, in some cases on multiple occasions”.

In order to ensure Optus doesn’t break the law again in the future, the telco will appoint an independent consultant to act as a watchdog, reviewing its procedures, systems, and policies for compliance with these laws.

On top of this, “the ACMA will be actively monitoring Optus’ compliance with its commitments,” O’Loughlin said. “If they are not met, the ACMA will consider court action”.

O’Loughlin told the Sydney Morning Herald that Optus blamed the spam messaging on an “IT systems failure” and that the telco had checked its marketing lists for compliance, although the ACMA believes otherwise.

Optus speed test: Check if your internet connection is slow or fast

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Microsoft will now pay up to $20k for Xbox Live security exploits

Think you’ve found a glaring security hole in Xbox Live? Microsoft is interested.

The company announced a new bug bounty program today, focused specifically on its Xbox Live network and services. Depending on how serious the exploit is and how complete your report is, they’re paying up to $20,000.

Like most bug bounty programs, Microsoft is looking for pretty specific/serious security flaws here. Found a way to execute unauthorized code on Microsoft’s servers? They’ll pay for that. Keep getting disconnected from Live when you play as a certain legend in Apex? Not quite the kind of bug they’re looking for.

Microsoft also specifically rules out a few types of vulnerabilities as out-of-scope, including DDoS attacks, anything that involves phishing Microsoft employees or Xbox customers, or getting servers to cough up basic info like server name or internal IP. You can find the full breakdown here.

This is by no means Microsoft’s first foray into bounty programs; they’ve got similar programs for the Microsoft Edge browser, their “Windows Insider” preview builds, Office 365, and plenty of other categories. The biggest bounties they offer are on their cloud computing service, Azure, where the bounty for a super specific bug (gaining admin access to an Azure Security Lab account, which are closely controlled) can net up to $300,000.

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Roku is losing Fox apps just in time for you to miss the Super Bowl, maybe

If you were hoping to watch the Super Bowl on your Roku TV or set-top box, I hope you don’t mind paying for streaming services like FuboTV, Sling or Hulu, because your existing cable subscription is no good as of today — Roku is pulling all of its Fox apps off of the platform, effective tomorrow, one day before the Big Game.

That might strike you as sudden, considering we reported this very morning that Fox Sports was working hard to bring a 4K HDR stream of the Super Bowl to Roku’s streaming sticks, pucks, and TVs. But minutes ago, Fox Sports removed references to Roku from multiple spots on its Super Bowl website, and we confirmed with Roku that seven channels in total are leaving... unless Fox and Roku strike a deal.

...

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Nintendo CEO says no plans to launch new Switch model in 2020

Nintendo Co Ltd CEO Shuntaro Furukawa said the gaming company has no plans to launch a new Switch model this year.

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SK Hynix says so far no production disruption from China virus outbreak

South Korea's SK Hynix Inc said on Friday that the newly-identified coronavirus outbreak in China has so far caused no production disruptions at its businesses in the country, including in its semiconductor factory in Wuxi, China.

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As new Boeing CEO takes over, it's unclear when the 737 Max will fly again - CNET

Two crashes killed 346 people and authorities are blaming Boeing's design, a faulty sensor and airline staff. Plus: Everything you need to know about the plane's other issues.

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Ricky Brabec and Honda win the 2020 Dakar rally - Roadshow

It was a 9,000-kilometer race over the span of nearly two weeks and Ricky is the first American to ever take the top spot.

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Honda's 2020 Dakar effort brought home the first US victory ever - Roadshow

Ricky Brabec rode to victory on a Honda CRF450 Rally and had help from a crew of dedicated mechanics.

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How Ricky Brabec and Honda won the 2020 Dakar Rally for America - Roadshow

The Dakar Rally is a brutal and dangerous test of man and machine that no American had previously won, until now.

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Kobe Bryant will be honored at the Super Bowl on Sunday - CNET

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira say they'll pay tribute to the late basketball star in the halftime show.

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Censorship claims emerge as TikTok gets political in India

A TikTok influencer says his videos on Hindu-Muslim unity have triggered censorship on the app.

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Making beautiful colours without toxic chemicals

Dyeing clothes uses a lot of water and chemicals, but new tech is drawing on nature for colours.

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Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing-themed Switch looks amazing

Nintendo is releasing an Animal Crossing-themed Switch on March 13th, just one week before the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it’s one of the best-looking Switch models yet. Nintendo says you’ll be able to pre-order the themed console at select retailers soon.

This is the full-size Switch, which means it can be played in handheld mode or on a TV by dropping the Switch into the (Nook family-adorned) dock. It also comes with detachable Joy-Con controllers, and the colors on them look amazing.

Image: Nintendo

This model of the Switch also has an embossed design on the back that’s just awesome.

Image: Nintendo

If you do pick this up, though, you should be aware that Animal Crossing: New...

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EA's tepid forecast overshadows quarterly beat, shares slip

Electronic Arts Inc forecast fourth-quarter adjusted revenue below analysts' estimates, weighed down by the delayed launch of its basketball title "NBA Live", while its "Apex Legends" battles "Fortnite" and "PUBG" to attract young gamers.

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SK Hynix posts lowest profit in seven years, warns of growing uncertainties

South Korea's SK Hynix, a chip supplier to Apple Inc and Huawei, on Friday warned of growing uncertainties, after posting its lowest quarterly profit in seven years, hit by a protracted industry downturn.

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WireGuard VPN protocol will ship with Linux kernel 5.6

The WireGuard VPN protocol will be included into the next Linux kernel as Linus Torvalds has merged it into his source tree for version 5.6.

There is no set date for Linux kernel releases and being as version 5.5 was released this month, the next version will likely be released in a few months time.

The addition of WireGurd in the next Linux kernel does also not come as a surprise as the code had already been merged into Dave Miller's repository back in December. However, the code was just recently pulled into Torvalds' source tree.

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WireGuard VPN protocol

While there are many popular VPN protocols such as OpenVPN, WireGuard has made a name for itself by being easy to configure and deploy as SSH. On its website, WireGuard's team explains what sets its protocol apart from others, saying:

“WireGuard has been designed with ease-of-implementation and simplicity in mind. It is meant to be easily implemented in very few lines of code, and easily auditable for security vulnerabilities. Compared to behemoths like *Swan/IPsec or OpenVPN/OpenSSL, in which auditing the gigantic codebases is an overwhelming task even for large teams of security experts, WireGuard is meant to be comprehensively reviewable by single individuals.”

The WireGuard protocol is a project from security researcher and kernel developer Jason Donenfeld who created it as an alternative to both IPsec and OpenVPN. Since the protocol consists of around just 4,000 lines of code as opposed to the 100,000 lines of code that make up OpenVPN, it is much easier for security experts to review and audit for vulnerabilities.

While WireGuard was initially released for the Linux kernel, the protocol is now cross-platform and can be deployed on Windows, macOS, BSD, iOS and Android.

We've also highlighted the best Linux VPN

Via BleepingComputer

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Amazon quietly publishes its latest transparency report

Just as Amazon was basking in the news of a massive earnings win, the tech giant quietly published — as it always does — its latest transparency report, revealing a slight dip in the number of government demands for user data.

It’s a rarely seen decline in the number of demands received by a tech company during a year where almost every other tech giant — including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter — all saw an increase in the number of demands they receive. Only Apple reported a decline in the number of demands it received.

Amazon said it received 1,841 subpoenas, 440 search warrants and 114 other court orders for user data — such as its Echo and Fire devices — during the six-month period ending 2019.

That’s about a 4% decline on the first six months of the year.

The company’s cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, also saw a decline in the number of demands for data stored by customers, down by about 10%.

Amazon also said it received between 0 and 249 national security requests for both its consumer and cloud services (rules set out by the Justice Department only allow tech and telecom companies to report in ranges).

At the time of writing, Amazon has not yet updated its law enforcement requests page to list the latest report.

Amazon’s biannual transparency report is one of the lightest reads of any company’s figures across the tech industry. We previously reported on how Amazon’s transparency reports have purposefully become more vague over the years rather than clearer — bucking the industry trend. At just three pages, the company spends most of it explaining how it responds to each kind of legal demand rather than expanding on the numbers themselves.

The company’s Ring smart camera division, which has faced heavy criticism for its poor security practices and its cozy relationship with law enforcement, still hasn’t released its own data demand figures.

Many smart home device makers still won’t say if they give your data to the government

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