10 things in tech you need to know today, July 8

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10 things in tech you need to know today, July 8

Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Vanity Fair


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

  1. Civil rights groups called their meeting with Facebook execs a ‘disappointment’ and said the company isn’t ready to address the platform’s ‘vitriolic hate.’ Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Chris Cox “showed up to the meeting expecting an A for attendance,” according to the groups.
  2. Apple is ‘assessing’ the human rights impact of Hong Kong’s new national security law, but has not paused data requests from local police. An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that it was up to the US Department of Justice to block requests that might infringe on human rights, under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties.
  3. Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai are set to appear before Congress on July 27 in an antitrust hearing. Congress’s investigation is one of several federal antitrust probes into Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon. 
  4. Magic Leap has announced that Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson will join the company as CEO, replacing Rony Abovitz. Johnson, who will start work in August, has served as Microsoft’s vice president of business development since 2014.
  5. Amazon has put a 15-year company veteran who most recently ran the Prime program in charge of its new COVID-19 testing project, codenamed ‘Ultraviolet’. Cem Sibay is a trusted exec with a proven track record in the Prime business — but no healthcare background. 
  6. Facebook is publishing the results of a two-year civil-rights audit on Wednesday. But Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Tuesday that not every change it recommended would be carried out.
  7. Apple and T-Mobile are being hit with a class action lawsuit over a security flaw that exposed iMessages and FaceTime calls. Apple and T-Mobile are facing a complaint over an issue that caused Apple IDs to stay tethered to old SIM cards, exposing FaceTime and iMessage chats. 
  8. London-based fintech startup Wagestream has raised $25 million during the COVID-19 pandemic, while its CEO worked out of a garden shed. Wagestream lets employees draw down their wages early in exchange for a flat fee.
  9. Post-quantum security startup PQShield has raised $7 million to protect against future quantum attacks. Experts predict the post-quantum cryptography market will be worth $3.8 billion by 2028. 
  10. Will-writing startup Farewill has raised $25 million to help people write their will online. The UK-based startup says it has seen an increase in demand during the pandemic.

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