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Tag: Reddit

  • How the GameStop Stock Short Squeeze Cost Wall Street Billions

    How the GameStop Stock Short Squeeze Cost Wall Street Billions

    While most people invest on Wall Street to make money, a Reddit-based group known as Wall Street Bets had a different motive. They saw what wealthy hedge funds were doing to GameStop (GME) stock and decided they wanted to punish them. What came next was a saga more exciting than some video games GameStop sells: over the course of January 2021, GME stock rose from $18 at the beginning of the month to a peak of $483 on January 28th. GameStop did nothing as a company to earn this rally. Rather, it was the decentralized coordination of anonymous Redditors who spurred the buying frenzy.

    What Was the Problem

    What was Wall Street doing that these users objected to? They were engaged in 3 notable, risky investing practices: shorting, buying on margin, and options trading. When someone shorts a stock, they sell shares at one price with the expectation that the stock price will go down. After waiting for the prices to drop, an investor buys the shares again and profits on the difference. While this can lead to handsome profits if the investor predicted stock trajectory correctly, losses can theoretically be infinite if the price rises instead.

    To buy on margin is to use borrowed money for one’s transactions. If investments go the way one predicts, this money will be easy to pay back. If they don’t, the stocks are collateral and losses can be immense. Finally, options give an investor the right to purchase a stock later, usually once it hits a certain price. This can give someone an advantage over those buying the stock outright, but only if the contracted price comes to pass. If it does not, this practice is a total loss for the investor. As one can see from the results, r/WallStreetBets was able to induce losses on several fronts.

    What Happened to the Hedge Funds

    The hedge fund who suffered the most from GME’s surprise rally is Melvin Capital. This company lost nearly $6.6 billion from their actions surrounding GME stock. That’s over half their value as a hedge fund! While this is certainly bad news for Melvin Capital, the overall market initially believed the bad news wouldn’t reach them. Unfortunately, short sellers had to sell parts of their portfolios to raise cash, leading the S&P 500 to drop by 2.6% on January 27th. It was the worst stock market day in 3 months. People who had nothing to do with GME stock saw their holdings lose value.

    It gets worse for Wall Street. Despite their complaints, the SEC (the government body in charge of regulating Wall Street) is only monitoring the situation. Under current law, nothing Wall Street Bets did is illegal. Discussing what stocks to buy in a public online space is no crime. The only party likely to face punishment for their actions is the RobinHood trading app, who stopped users from buying GME stocks for a short period of time. They face a class-action suit for market manipulation. Social media users rarely show this much power.

    The Battle for Wall Street
    Source: Expensivity
  • Salesforce Embraces Remote Work, Flexible Office Policy

    Salesforce Embraces Remote Work, Flexible Office Policy

    Salesforce is the latest company to embrace remote work and flexible office policies in the wake of a pandemic that has upended the workplace.

    Brent Hyder, President & Chief People Officer, outlined the company’s strategy, as well as the research that led to it.

    Early in the pandemic, Salesforce started using employee wellbeing surveys to get the pulse of how employees were doing and how they were adapting to the changing circumstances. Those surveys led to immediate changes, including office setup stipends, childcare benefits and extended parental leave.

    The surveys also showed that nearly half of employees only want to go into the office a few times a month, but 80% of employees still want to keep a connection to the office. As a result, the company says employees will fall into three categories once it’s safe to return to the office.

    The first category is Flex. The majority of the company’s staff will continue to work from home, only coming into the office 1-3 days per week.

    The second category is Fully Remote. These employees will work remotely 100% of the time, either because they don’t live near an office or their work does not require office visits.

    Office-based employees will make up the smallest percentage of the company’s workforce, and will be in the office 4-5 days a week if their jobs require it.

    Salesforce also sees the potential to use remote work as a way to unlock access to new fresh talent and help create more equal opportunities.

    This work-from-anywhere model will unlock new growth opportunities that will help us drive greater equality. Our talent strategy is no longer bound by barriers like location, so we can broaden our search beyond traditional city centers and welcome untapped talent from new communities and geographies.

    The company is also redesigning its workspaces to emphasize community and collaboration, as opposed to traditional office cubicles.

    Salesforce’s announcement makes it the latest major company to embrace the workplace transformation currently in progress. Dropbox, Reddit, Twitter, Microsoft, Google, and now Salesforce, are just a few of the companies acknowledging there’s no going back to the status quo post-pandemic.

  • Apple May Let Users Set Default Music and Podcast Apps

    Apple May Let Users Set Default Music and Podcast Apps

    Apple may be preparing to allow users to select their default music and podcast apps, according to reports on the iOS 14.5 beta.

    Apple has been loosening some of its control over iOS, giving users the ability to choose default applications. It began with allowing users to select their email client and web browser, instead of Mail and Safari. It appears Apple is taking it a step further, opening the door for users to select their default music and podcast apps.

    According to users on Reddit, via MacWorld, once iOS 14.5 beta is installed, asking Siri to play a song prompts the user to select from a list of available services. Siri will then prompt the user to allow access to the app’s data. Once permission is given, Siri will use that app for future requests.

    The results are still somewhat spotty, likely indicating the feature is still early in its development. Even so, if the feature makes it into the final version of iOS 14.5, it will give users significantly more choice and help Apple address concerns that its apps have an unfair advantage over third-party options.

  • Short-Seller Losses Top $70 Billion In the War on Wall Street

    Short-Seller Losses Top $70 Billion In the War on Wall Street

    Short-sellers have lost a staggering $70 billion in the War on Wall Street between institutional investors and day traders on Reddit.

    Day traders on Reddit began driving up the price of stocks traditional Wall Street investors had recommended shorting, most notably GameStop, which saw its price go up some 1,000%. AMC, Bed Bath and Beyond, Blackberry and others also saw stock jumps as a result of the day traders.

    None of the companies in question saw their stock rise as a result of any fundamental change or improvement in their business. Instead, the phenomenon seemed to be a continuation of the Wall Street protests following the ‘08 crash, with everyman investors teaming up to stick it to Wall Street. Even Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Sr. highlighted how the whole situation was showcasing the power of community.

    That community effort is taking a tangible toll on Wall Street, with Reuters reporting that investors have lost some $70.87 billion as a result of their short positions on US companies. GameStop makes up a sizable portion of those loses, coming in at $1.03 billion, Bed Bath & Beyond, meanwhile, accounts for $600 million.

    It remains to be seen where this saga will end but, now that everyman traders have had a taste of the power they can wield, it’s hard to imagine stock trading will ever be the same.

  • Robinhood Blocks GameStop Trading, Faces Backlash

    Robinhood Blocks GameStop Trading, Faces Backlash

    Robinhood has weighed in on the war on Wall Street, blocking buys of GameStop, AMC, Blackberry and others, and facing backlash for it.

    Day traders have been waging war against Wall Street, targeting stocks institutional investors have recommended shorting. The traders have been using Reddit to encourage others to buy those stocks, pumping them to record heights. GameStop surged as high as $247 from the $18 it was sitting at a couple of weeks ago.

    The end result has been staggering losses by Wall Street investors who had shorted those stocks, in many cases being forced to buy them back at much higher prices. The situation has even caught the attention of the White House and Treasury Department.

    Meanwhile, Wall Street investors have denounced the phenomenon, saying it’s not based on facts or the merits of the companies’ performance. Instead, the situation seems to be the latest example of community activism, fueled by frustration over how established institutions have done business.

    Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Sr. made that point on Twitter:

    Stock trading app Robinhood has taken action, blocking trades of $AAL, $AMC, $BB, $BBY, $CTRM, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD, $NOK, $SNDL, $TR, and $TRVG. Needless to say, users are outraged, with some filing SEC complaints and others jumping ship for competing platforms, such as CashApp.

    Robinhood may find itself reaping the same collective whirlwind Wall Street has been on the receiving end of, hurting its own business.

  • Day Traders Continue to Pump Stocks, WH and Treasury Monitoring

    Day Traders Continue to Pump Stocks, WH and Treasury Monitoring

    Day traders continued to take on Wall Street investors, pumping stocks traditional investors have been shorting.

    GameStop made headlines when its stock surged after Citron Research’s Andrew Left urged investors to short it. Traders took to Reddit to urge others to buy, causing the stock to hit as high as $247 in after hours trading Tuesday, a far cry from the $18 it was at a couple of weeks ago.

    GameStop isn’t the only company to see its stock take off. AMC has risen some 310%, Blackberry 24% and Bed Bath & Beyond 46%, according to Business Insider. It appears that day traders are engaging in a new level of activism, targeting stocks that institutional investors are shorting. The end result is volatile trading that has caused traditional investors to suffer heavy losses.

    The situation is not going unnoticed, with WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying the White House and Treasury Department were monitoring the situation.

  • Good Day For GameStop Investors As Stock Hits $247

    Good Day For GameStop Investors As Stock Hits $247

    GameStop is having a wild day, as individual investors have helped drive the price to $247, up from $18 just a couple of weeks ago

    Like many brick-and-mortar companies, GameStop has been struggling with the effects of its customers transitioning to online buying. The company has been forced to close hundreds of stores and faces an uncertain future.

    As a result, many investors started short-selling the stock. Andrew Left of Citron Research, in particular, was one of the most vocal in pushing for investors to short-sell. In response, individual investors on Reddit began grabbing up shares of the stock, causing its price to soar. In fact, its price starting rising so much that many short-sellers were forced to buy it back at higher prices.

    Elon Musk even got in on the action, tweeting about the phenomenon.

    The stock hit $159.18 Monday, before dropping to close at $76.79. On Tuesday the stock rose $147.98, before skyrocketing to $247 in after-hours trading.

    Ultimately, GameStop’s fundamentals are unchanged. This episode, however, shows the power of individual investors banding together against Wall Street, and adds an uncertain factor to future investor recommendations.

  • 29% of Professionals Will Quit Instead of Returning to Office

    29% of Professionals Will Quit Instead of Returning to Office

    Amid a global pandemic, remote work has become so popular that 29% of professionals will quit rather than return to the office.

    The coronavirus pandemic has forced record numbers of employees to work remotely. In many cases, companies have been surprised by the success of their remote work efforts and the corresponding productivity of their employees. A number of companies, including Twitter, Reddit, Dropbox, Microsoft, Facebook and others have committed to varying degrees of permanent remote work.

    Companies that have yet to permanently embrace telecommuting should take LiveCareer’s latest study to heart.

    At this point, we wanted to roll the dice and ask the respondents if they’d quit their job if not allowed to continue working remotely with their current employer—as many as 29% said, ‘YES.” That’s somewhat in line with Owl Labs’ 2020 report on the state of remote work that claims one in two people won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work after COVID-19.

    On top of that, a full 62% of remote staff also agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “In the future, I’ll give preference to employers that offer remote work.”

    These survey results should be a sobering wakeup call to companies insisting on resuming the status quo once the pandemic is over.

  • Internet Companies Launch Initiative In Support of Section 230

    Internet Companies Launch Initiative In Support of Section 230

    Some of the most prominent internet companies have formed the Internet Works coalition to promote Section 230, a key internet law.

    Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives companies immunity for content users upload or post on their sites. As a result, companies like Facebook, Twitter and others cannot be held legally liable for an offensive post, picture or the like.

    In recent years Section 230 has come under fire, culminating in President Trump threatening to veto a defense spending bill unless Section 230 is revoked. While President-elect Biden has not weighed in on Section 230 directly, his former top tech advisor has said its time for changes to the law, throwing in question the law’s status even with a change of administration.

    Internet Works, however, is working to help educate lawmakers about the role of the law. Automattic (maker of WordPress), Cloudflare, Dropbox, eBay, Etsy, Glassdoor, GoDaddy, Medium, Nextdoor, Patreon, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap Inc., Tripadvisor, Vimeo and the Wikimedia Foundation are all members of the coalition.

    “These well-known internet companies and nonprofits launched Internet Works to elevate the voice of stakeholders across the digital economy and work with policymakers to preserve the benefits of Section 230, the foundational internet law that enables the United States to lead the world in innovation and robust job growth in the technology sector,” said Josh Ackil, Spokesperson for Internet Works. “Internet Works members rely on CDA 230 to make their platforms safe for users and support free expression. This coalition brings new voices and diverse perspectives to Washington’s current Section 230 debate, which too often focuses on the largest internet platforms.”

    The wide range of companies making up the coalition illustrates the far-reaching impact of Section 230. While many think of social media platforms as the primary beneficiaries of the law, companies like Dropbox also benefit. As a cloud storage provider, should Dropbox be liable for whatever a customer chooses to use that storage for? If Dropbox should be liable, then what measures should they be expected to take to verify the content they host? What privacy protections will customers be able to expect, or not expect, as a result of those measures?

    Whatever happens with Section 230, it’s clear there are significant challenges to addressing the problems of a modern internet.

  • FTC Demands Answers From Big Tech on Privacy

    FTC Demands Answers From Big Tech on Privacy

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued orders to nine social media and video platforms, inquiring about their data practices.

    Big Tech is under more scrutiny than ever before, and privacy is a big focal point. Data breaches and mishandling of consumer data in recent years has resulted in individuals and officials being more privacy-conscious. As a result, there have been some instances of groundbreaking legislations, such as the EU’s GDPR and California’s CCPA/CPRA.

    It appears the FTC is increasing its own scrutiny of companies’ data practices, with an order to “Amazon.com, Inc., ByteDance Ltd., which operates the short video service TikTok, Discord Inc., Facebook, Inc., Reddit, Inc., Snap Inc., Twitter, Inc., WhatsApp Inc., and YouTube LLC.”

    The FTC is specifically looking to understand how these platforms “collect, use, track, estimate, or derive personal and demographic information.” In addition, the FTC wants to know how these platforms determine which ads and content are shown to users, how they handle user engagement and how children and teens are impacted.

    Some companies, such as Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla, have taken strong stands on privacy. The platforms covered by the FTC’s order, however, have based much of their business on collecting user information. In many cases, there has been a lack of transparency about what data is collected and how it is used.

    Hopefully the FTC’s inquiry is the first step toward stronger data protections for consumers.

  • Mozilla Firefox 83 Sports Major JavaScript Performance Boost

    Mozilla Firefox 83 Sports Major JavaScript Performance Boost

    Mozilla’s latest Firefox release, version 83.0, boosts a major increase to JavaScript performance.

    JavaScript, once mainly used for animations and menus, is one of the most important languages of the web. Thanks to JavaScript, developers are able to create complex web applications, many of which rival desktop applications for functionality.

    Unfortunately, running JavaScript-heavy websites is one of the most challenging aspects of a web browser’s duties. Every major browser manufacturer constantly works to increase JavaScript performance and responsiveness.

    Mozilla’s latest version of Firefox significantly boosts the browser’s performance thanks to a major update to its SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine. The new update, called Warp or WarpBuilder, makes changes to the Just-In-Time (JIT) compilers.

    With Warp (also called WarpBuilder) we’re making big changes to our JIT (just-in-time) compilers, resulting in improved responsiveness, faster page loads and better memory usage. The new architecture is also more maintainable and unlocks additional SpiderMonkey improvements.

    Traditionally, JavaScript is an interpreted language. That means the code is interpreted on the fly as it is executed. This can result in major performance issues, especially when code must be executed repeatedly, such as code loops. JIT compilers help solve this problem by compiling and storing frequently used code, speeding up operations.

    Firefox’s latest boost comes from significantly optimizing those JIT compilers, resulting in significant real-world gains over Warp’s predecessor Ion.

    Warp is faster than Ion on many workloads. The picture below shows a couple examples: we had a 20% improvement on Google Docs load time, and we are about 10-12% faster on the Speedometer benchmark.

    We’ve seen similar page load and responsiveness improvements on other JS-intensive websites such as Reddit and Netflix. Feedback from Nightly users has been positive as well.

    Although Firefox is no longer the leading browser, in terms of market share, it continues to be a major player. Its improved performance, not to mention emphasis on privacy, will hopefully help it gain some ground against its larger rivals.

  • Reddit Reveals It Has 52 Million Daily Users

    Reddit Reveals It Has 52 Million Daily Users

    Reddit has reported it has 52 million daily users for October, shining a light on data it has never before released.

    Traditionally, Reddit has only reported its monthly active users, coming in at 430 million a year ago. That represented a 30% uptick, year-over-year. Now, however, the company told the Wall Street Journal it has 52 million daily users.

    “We’re sharing [daily active users] for the first time as a more accurate reflection of our user growth and to be more in-line with industry reporting,” said Jen Wong, Reddit COO. “We’re focused on daily usership and increasing this number as we continue to grow our community and scale our advertising business.”

    Although its daily user count it much smaller, Reddit’s growth rate far surpasses that of its rivals, coming it at 44% year-over-year. In contrast, according to their latest quarterly reports, Facebook’s growth rate came in at 12%, Snap at 18% and Twitter at 29%.

    Reddit’s ad revenue grew by 83% year-over-year in the third quarter. It’s a safe bet advertisers will continue to flock to the platform with the release of these numbers.

  • Comcast Will Raise Internet and TV Prices in January

    Comcast Will Raise Internet and TV Prices in January

    Comcast is not winning any popularity contests this week as it announces internet and TV price hikes on the heels of expanding data caps.

    Comcast sent out notice to customers that, effective January 2021, the price of “Broadcast TV” will go up by as much as $4.50 per month. Similarly, the Regional Sports Network (RSN) will go up by as much as $2 per month.

    Unfortunately, the pain doesn’t stop there. Comcast told Ars Technica that “six Internet-only packages that cost $53 to $113 a month will all rise $3 a month, and the price for professional installations or in-home service visits is rising from $70 to $100.”

    A copy of the notice was shared on Reddit, with a breakdown of the various packages.

    The news comes at the same time that Comcast is extending its data cap policy to the rest of its region. Customers will be capped at 1.2 TB per month, with fees of $10 per 50GB after that. Although the overage fees will be capped at $100 per month, many critics are calling the company out for making it harder on individuals and families at a time when internet access is more important than ever.

  • Starlink Beta Already Delivering Over 150 Mbps Speeds

    Starlink Beta Already Delivering Over 150 Mbps Speeds

    Starlink’s internet service beta is already exceeding expectations, as it delivers faster speeds than promised.

    Starlink launched its beta on October 26, inviting individuals who had previously signed up and live within the current range of service. The company called it the “Better Than Nothing Beta,” perhaps in an effort to lower expectations.

    It seems lowering expectation may not have been required, as the initial reports indicate the service is exceeding expectations. Starlink said users would see speeds between 50 and 150 Mbps. One user in Montana, however, posted a screenshot of their speed test showing that Starlink was delivering 174 Mbps download, 33 Mbps upload and a mere 39 ms ping.

    In the Reedit thread discussing the results, users discuss how these speeds are 95% faster than what most Americans have. As the original poster says, “Starlink will forever change the game” for rural Americans.

  • Upwork: Up to 23 Million Americans Relocating Thanks to Remote Work

    Upwork: Up to 23 Million Americans Relocating Thanks to Remote Work

    Upwork has released its “Remote Workers on the Move” report, highlighting the impact the pandemic is having on the American workforce.

    As the pandemic swept the globe, companies the world over sent their employees home to work remotely. Just as the initial restrictions started to ease, the pandemic picked up its pace, forcing companies to extend their work-from-home policies. In some cases, companies such as Dropbox, Reddit, Twitter and Microsoft have made remote work a permanent part of their culture.

    The shift to remote work is having a profound impact on the American workforce, according to Upwork. In particular, remote work could be leading to a sizable migration.

    Anywhere from 14 to 23 million Americans are planning to move as a result of remote work. Combined with those who are moving regardless of remote work, near-term migration rates may be three to four times what they normally are.

    Large cities are the biggest losers in this scenario, with 20.6% of those planning to move leaving a big city. Those planning to move are not just moving further into the suburbs. Some 54.7% of those migrating are planning on moving at least two hours away, farther than typical commuting distance.

    Upwork calls the transition to remote work “the biggest, fastest transformation of the labor market since the World World II mobilization.” The report makes it clear that companies must adapt to what has become a new normal, providing employees with remote work options. In particular, Upwork makes the case that companies are better off allowing full remote work rather than partial options.

    In addition to the impacts to cities, the results of the survey also present an important lesson for businesses on the future of remote work. In order to capture and provide professionals with the full benefits of remote work, businesses must allow full-time remote work. While a partial-remote model, a policy that requires a blend of both remote work and in office work, may have some appeal as a “best of both” choice, it also means forgoing many benefits. A professional cannot move hours and even states away if they still have to go into the office two days a week. Our survey shows that for 41% of people moving out of the area because of remote work, they are going 4 or hours farther away. This is not a weekly commute distance, and is not something workers can do easily with a partial-remote model.

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    Likewise, with a partial-remote model businesses forgo one of the biggest benefits of a remote workforce; the ability to hire from a larger talent pool. Businesses cannot hire workers wherever they are if weekly office visits are still required.

  • Reddit Embraces Permanent Remote Work, Unifies Employee Pay

    Reddit Embraces Permanent Remote Work, Unifies Employee Pay

    Reddit has become the latest company to make remote work a permanent option, even going so far as to unify employee pay as an added incentive.

    As COVID-19 cases soar and push back many companies’ plans to return to the office, one after another has begun to permanently adopt remote work options. As early as May, Twitter announced it would allow employees to work from home permanently. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that employees will be able to work remotely for less than 50% of their schedule, with permanent remote work available with manager approval.

    Dropbox announced one the most sweeping adoptions of remote work, transitioning to what it termed a “virtual first” company. It even went so far as to open source its Virtual First Toolkit in an effort to help other companies make the transition.

    Now Reddit has announced it is embracing remote work permanently, giving employees the right to choose how they want to work.

    “Moving forward, teams and team members will have flexibility to explore where they work: in the office, remotely, or a combination of the two,” reads the company’s blog. “There are some exceptions; we have some roles at Reddit that need to be performed from our offices or specific geographic locations, such as Facilities or IT Support. Ultimately, we empower our leaders and their teams to make those decisions, balancing the needs of the business and employees.”

    In addition, the company is also doing away with its geographic compensation program. In the past, employees who choose to work remotely were paid less than employees working in the company’s offices. Moving forward, all employees’ pay will be based on the same scale.

    “To help drive the idea home (pun intended), we’ve reimagined our approach to compensation in the US,” the blog continues. “To support employees to live where they want to and do their best work, we are eliminating geographic compensation zones in the US. It means that our US compensation will be tied to pay ranges of high-cost areas such as SF and NY, regardless of where employees live. We believe this is the right balance of flexibility and support for employees, recognizing the varied tradeoffs people consider when deciding where to live. Internationally, we have had one pay range per country, and now the US will be consistent with this approach.”

    For those times when employees want or need to be in the office, the company is reimagining the office workspace, with private focus areas, community collaboration and relaxed, coffee shop-style seating. The company hopes this will help employees stay connected with corporate culture and their fellow workmates.

    It’s safe to say Reddit is taking remote work farther than most, and just catapulted itself to the top of the ‘best place to work’ list.

  • iOS 14 Outs Major Apps For Snooping On Users

    iOS 14 Outs Major Apps For Snooping On Users

    iOS 14 has a number of significant privacy improvements, one of which has been a source of embarrassment for several high-profile apps.

    Privacy was one of the highlights of Apple’s WWDC 2020 Keynote, with the company outlining the steps it is taking to improve the level of privacy it offers customers. One such feature is clipboard monitoring. In short, iOS 14 will alert a user when an app accesses the data currently held in the clipboard. Given that users often copy and paste bank account numbers, credit card numbers, passwords and other sensitive data, this is an excellent new feature.

    Unfortunately for a number of apps, however, they don’t seem to have gotten the memo. In short order, TikTok, LinkedIn and Reddit and several others have all been called out for reading the contents of the iOS clipboard. These apps were all caught accessing the clipboard even when they were not the app involved in the copy and paste function. Basically, once they were opened, they started reading the clipboard’s contents. In the case of TikTok, it appears to have been accessing the clipboard every 1 to 3 keystrokes.

    All three companies have pledged to release an update that will resolve the issue. LinkedIn and Reddit blamed the behavior on bugs, while TikTok said it was a measure designed “to identify repetitive, spammy behavior.” While some users may be willing to give LinkedIn and Reddit a pass, TikTok’s intentional use of the feature does not bode well for a company that is already accused of gross privacy violations.

    Either way, kudos to Apple for helping put an end to this practice. iOS 14 can’t arrive soon enough.

  • Companies Vow to Fight Warrantless Browser Data Access

    Companies Vow to Fight Warrantless Browser Data Access

    Following the defeat of a Senate amendment that would have banned warrantless browser data access, a coalition of companies are taking the fight to the House.

    Mozilla, Engine, Reddit, Inc., Reform Government Surveillance, Twitter, i2Coalition and Patreon all signed a letter addressed to four of the US House of Representatives members. In the letter, they state the following:

    “We urge you to explicitly prohibit the warrantless collection of internet search and browsing history when you consider the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act (H.R. 6172) next week. As leading internet businesses and organizations, we believe privacy and security are essential to our economy, our businesses, and the continued growth of the free and open internet. By clearly reaffirming these protections, Congress can help preserve user trust and facilitate the continued use of the internet as a powerful contributing force for our recovery.”

    The companies highlight that Senators Ron Wyden and Steve Daines introduced an amendment in the Senate to ban the warrantless collection of browser data when the USA PATRIOT Act was renewed. That amendment had supermajority support in the Senate, as well as wide bipartisan support, but failed because several senators failed to show up for the vote.

    The companies point out in their letter that web browsing data “can provide a detailed portrait of our private lives. It may reveal medical conditions, religious beliefs, and personal relationships, and it should be protected by effective legal safeguards.”

    While Mozilla does not collect that data, the companies strongly believe there needs to be legislations specifically prohibiting its use without a warrant. Moves like this are one of the reasons Mozilla continues to be one of the strongest voices in the fight for privacy.

  • Reddit Pulls “Start Chatting” Feature Amid Uproar

    Reddit Pulls “Start Chatting” Feature Amid Uproar

    Reddit has pulled its newly announced “Start Chatting” features amid an uproar on the part of moderators.

    Start Chatting was designed to help make it easier for people to connect with other individuals to talk about common interests. According to the official launch post, Reddit “wanted to give you a heads up about a new feature that we are launching this week called ‘Start Chatting.’ This past month, as people around the world have been at home under various shelter-in-place restrictions, redditors have been using chat at phenomenal new levels. Whether it’s about topics related to COVID-19, local news, or just their favorite games and hobbies, people all around the world are looking for others to talk to. Since Reddit is in a unique position to help in this situation, we’ve created a new tool that makes it easier to find other people who want to talk about the same things you do.”

    While the goal may have been admirable, it was not well received by the community. At the time of writing, the announcement had received some 1,400 comments, many of them negative and many of them highlighting some of the very difficult issues the new feature would create. For example, one of the moderators for r/abuse pointed out that people only felt safe discussing their past abuse in that community because moderators were able to aggressively protect them from trolls, perverts and abusive individuals—protection that would not be available if members could engage in moderator-free chat.

    It seems the complaints have been heard, as Reddit has fully rolled back the feature. According to the update post, Reddit says they “will not roll the feature out within your community again without having a way for you to opt out, and will provide you with ample notice and regular updates going forward.”

    Start Chatting has real potential to be a game-changer for Reddit, but it’s obvious some considerations were overlooked in the initial implementation. Here’s to hoping they get it right the second time around.

  • TikTok Plans Transparency Center, Tries to Dispel Censorship Claims

    TikTok Plans Transparency Center, Tries to Dispel Censorship Claims

    TikTok has announced the upcoming launch of a new Transparency Center, aimed at pulling the curtain back on the platform’s moderation efforts.

    TikTok has faced ongoing scrutiny over privacy concerns, with at least one lawsuit alleging the company secretly recorded videos and uploaded them to servers in China. Concerns over the app prompted the Department of Defense (DOD) to instruct all personnel to uninstall the app, and for Reddit’s CEO to label the social media app “fundamentally parasitic.”

    In an effort to address concerns, including allegations it censors users, TikTok is launching its Transparency Center where outside experts will have “an opportunity to directly view how our teams at TikTok go about the day-to-day challenging, but critically important, work of moderating content on the platform.

    “Through this direct observation of our Trust & Safety practices, experts will get a chance to evaluate our moderation systems, processes and policies in a holistic manner.”

    Although the Transparency Center initially focuses on censorship, it will eventually help address other security and privacy concerns as well.

    “The Transparency Center will open in early May with an initial focus on TikTok’s content moderation. Later, we will expand the Center to include insight into our source code, and our efforts around data privacy and security. This second phase of the initiative will be spearheaded by our newly appointed Chief Information Security Officer, Roland Cloutier, who starts with the company next month.”

  • Robinhood Experience Second Major Outage

    Robinhood Experience Second Major Outage

    For the second day in a row, the Robinhood trading app experienced a major outage, leaving users frustrated and angry.

    Robinhood went down Monday, leaving users unable to cash in on the stock market’s massive rally. Users turned to Reddit and Twitter to express their outrage over the app’s outage which, in some cases, had cost users money. Some users were threatening lawsuits, while others expressed hesitation to trust the app again.

    The trading app seemed to be back up and running Monday evening, only to go back down again Tuesday. All services except Market Data and Corporate Actions were experiencing a major outage, with Email Support experiencing degraded performance.

    In a tweet, the company said it was trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

    Our systems are currently experiencing downtime. We’re determined to restore full functionality as soon as possible. We’ll be sharing updates here and on status.robinhood.com.

    —Robinhood Help (@AskRobinHood) 3/3/20

    Shortly before noon, the company announced that functionality had been fully restored and again apologized for the issues.

    Robinhood is now fully restored. We know this has been frustrating and we will work diligently to provide the level of service you deserve.

    —Robinhood Help (@AskRobinHood) 3/3/20

    The company has said it may provide some form of compensation on a case-by-case basis, according to Bloomberg. The bigger issue for the company is the loss of trust it has experienced as a result of its missteps.