Google will pay Arizona $85 million over illegally tracking Android users

Google will pay Arizona $85 million to settle a 2020 lawsuit, which claimed that the search giant was illegally tracking Android users, Bloomberg reports. At the time, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich argued that Google continued to track users for targeted advertising, even after they turned off location data settings. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Google is also being sued by attorneys general in Texas, Washington, D.C., and Indiana over similar data tracking complaints. Brnovich’s office also notes that the $85 million settlement is the largest amount Google has paid per user in a privacy lawsuit like this. 

But given that Google is currently seeing quarterly revenue over $69 billion, the punishment may seem like a drop in the bucket. It’s nothing compared to the $1.7 billion Google was fined by the EU over abusive advertising practices. In a statement, Google spokesman José Castañeda said the suit was related to older product policies that have been changed. “We provide straightforward controls and auto delete options for location data, and are always working to minimize the data we collect,” he said. “We are pleased to have this matter resolved and will continue to focus our attention on providing useful products for our users.”

Brnovich, meanwhile, says he’s “proud of this historic settlement that proves no entity, not even big tech companies, is above the law.”

The Internet Archive is building a library of amateur radio broadcasts

The Internet Archive is aiming to build up a new library of old content. It’s expanding beyond Flash games and animations, movies, books and (of course) snapshots of websites with the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC). This particular archive, which will be led by tech historian Kay Savetz, will include amateur radio broadcasts and digital material from the early days of the internet.

Savetz told Gizmodo that his remit includes just about any kind of digital communications from the 1970s until the early 1990s. While the preservation project focuses on amateur radio recordings, it may also feature early podcasts, digital newsletters, photos, videos and, yes, websites. There are plans to digitize print materials as well. “I want the obscure stuff, the locally-produced ham radio newsletters or the smaller magazines, that sort of thing,” Savetz said.

The DLARC team, which has funding from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications Foundation, is looking for help to build out the collection. It’s seeking “partners and contributors with troves of ham radio, amateur radio, and early digital communications-related books, magazines, documents, catalogs, manuals, videos, software, personal archives and other historical records collections, no matter how big or small.” It added that every collection in the library will be accessible to everyone. The project will also offer a discovery portal designed for education and research use cases.

Teenage Engineering and Love Hulten designed a drum machine ‘with heart disease’

Teenage Engineering’s latest drum machine probably isn’t one that you’re going to use to add percussion to your next piece. The company teamed up with designer Love Hulten to create CHD-4 in the aim of raising awareness about congenital heart disease.

The drum machine has four modules that produce rhythms based on the echocardiogram (ECG) scans of four children with heart defects. The scan results revealed the shape, pace and BPM of their heartbeats, Teenage Engineering said. It added the data to a four-track circular sequencer. The patterns can be played together or individually in order to create sounds that exemplify “each child’s irregular heartbeat.” A video gives a sense of the kinds of haunting soundscapes the machine can create:

“Drum machines are defined by order – beats, pace, and rhythm,” Hulten said. “This machine disrupts that system, the same way life is disrupted when a child is born with congenital heart disease.” The machine also has an OLED screen that depicts the audio and beat in a similar fashion to a proper ECG machine.

It’s an art project, no doubt, but it’s a fascinating one that’s raising awareness of an important issue. If you’re lucky, and have deep enough pockets, you might be able to add CHD–4 to your collection. It will be auctioned on Valentine’s Day (February 14th), with all proceeds going to the Swedish Heartchild Foundation.

CHD-4 drum machine
Teenage Engineering/Love Hulten

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Apple faces US labor complaint over union busting

Apple’s alleged union busting has prompted federal action. As The New York Timesreports, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against Apple following accusations it broke multiple laws trying to thwart union organizers at the World Trade Center store in New York City. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union claims Apple surveilled and questioned staff, limited access to pro-union fliers and made employees listen to anti-union speeches.

The NLRB found enough merit in two of the claims. A judge will hold a hearing on December 13th if there’s no settlement.

We’ve asked Apple for comment. In a statement to The Times, a spokesperson said the iPhone maker disputed CWA’s allegations and was anticipating “presenting the facts.” In the past, Apple has maintained that unionization would hinder labor improvements and prevent “direct engagement” between the company and store workers. Apple told staff it would increase pay, but also that unionization could lead to fewer promotions and fixed hours.

There’s no certainty the NLRB complaint will lead to change in Apple’s labor practices. However, it comes as teams at multiple US stores have made unionization bids. While people at an Atlanta location gave up their efforts, Towson, Maryland workers voted to unionize this spring. Oklahoma City employees vote next week. There’s mounting pressure on Apple to act, if just to minimize similar complaints.

Spotify’s latest acquisition is a company that detects harmful content in podcasts

Spotify has bought a company it says will help it detect and address harmful content on the platform. Kinzen uses machine learning and human expertise to analyze possibly harmful content and hate speech across multiple languages, Spotify said in a statement. It added that Kinzen will “help us more effectively deliver a safe, enjoyable experience on our platform around the world” and that the company’s tech is especially suited to podcasts and other audio formats.

Looking for signs of harmful audio content across hundreds of languages is a difficult task, particularly since there may be nuances that certain systems and non-native speakers may not pick up on. As such, Spotify says Kinzen will help it to “better understand the abuse landscape and identify emerging threats on the platform.”

The two companies have actually been working together since 2020, with the aim of preventing misinformation in election-related content. They forged their partnership before Joe Rogan started spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on his Spotify-exclusive show, which is said to be the most-listened-to podcast on the planet. 

There was a significant backlash against Rogan and Spotify earlier this year. Hundreds of doctors and scientists urged Spotify to enact a policy to stem the spread of misinformation. Weeks later, Spotify started adding a content advisory to podcast episodes that included discussions about COVID-19 and made its content guidelines public.

Several prominent artists pulled their music from Spotify in protest against Rogan, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. The host and editor of Spotify-owned podcast Science VS also pledged to stop making episodes (except ones in which it fact-checked Rogan and countered misinformation on the platform) unless the company did more to stem the flow of harmful falsehoods.

It may be the case that Spotify sees employing Kinzen’s tech as a means to help it avoid similar PR catastrophes in the future. However, it’s unclear how effective it will be in preventing the spread of misinformation. Were harmful content to be featured on a popular podcast, it may gain traction on social media and in press coverage before Spotify can act. Still, at least it’s trying to do more to stamp out misinformation.

Stadia launch title ‘Gylt’ is heading to other platforms next year

Now that Google is shutting down Stadia, at least one of its exclusives is headed elsewhere. Eurogamerreports that Tequila Works is bringing Stadia’s first exclusive, Gylt, to other platforms sometime in 2023. The Rime creator didn’t say just which systems would get their turn, but it won’t be surprising if consoles are included.

The third-person horror game has you playing Sally, a tween who ventures into a dark alternate world to rescue her cousin. You have to complete quests and solve spatial puzzles while hiding from (or illuminating) sludge monsters. While Gylt isn’t the most original title, we found it was a good introduction to horror gaming for older kids who might not be ready for something as intense as Dead Space.

This isn’t a stunning development, as you might have guessed. Gylt certainly isn’t Tequila Works’ only recent project (it’s working on the League of Legends spinoff Song of Nunu), but it will effectively cease to exist when Stadia goes offline in January. A multiplatform launch could help Tequila revive interest in Gylt and continue making money after Google’s cloud gaming service is gone.

The question is whether or not other Stadia exclusives will make the leap. Splash Damage said it would “evaluate the options” for its competitive multiplayer title Outcasters, but other developers have remained silent. While these cloud gaming projects weren’t must-play blockbusters, they’ll fade into complete obscurity if they aren’t ported elsewhere.

Amazon’s Blink security cameras and bundles are up to 54 percent off

Amazon is running a sale on Blink security cameras, and many of the devices and bundles are available for a steal at up to 54 percent off. Several have dropped to their lowest price to date, including the Blink Outdoor. That camera is currently $60, which is $40 off the regular price of $100.

Buy Blink Outdoor at Amazon – $60

Blink Outdoor is a wireless device and Amazon says it will run for up to two years on two lithium AA batteries. As long as you have the right mount, you should be able to position Blink Outdoor just about anywhere around your home. The weather-resistant camera records footage at up to 1080p resolution and it has infrared night vision.

You’ll receive a notification when the Blink Outdoor detects motion, and there’s two-way audio support, so you’ll be able to speak with someone who’s in front of the camera. Naturally, since it’s an Amazon device, Blink Outdoor works with Alexa, so you can use voice commands to stream live video to compatible devices and to arm or disarm the camera.

Next up, a two-pack of the Blink Mini can be all yours for $30. The bundle has returned to the lowest price we’ve seen for it to date. These are wired cameras, so they’ll need to stay inside and close to an outlet. Still, they have many of the same features as other Blink devices, including 1080p video capture, infrared night vision, motion sensors, Alexa support and two-way audio — which could be useful if you don’t feel like yelling from the other side of the house to speak to someone.

Buy Blink Mini (2-pack) at Amazon – $30

Also worth noting is the Whole Home Bundle. This includes the Video Doorbell, Blink Outdoor, Blink Mini and the Sync Module 2, which can store recordings locally. The bundle has dropped by $70 to $140, which is a 33 percent discount. Again, this is an all-time-low price.

Buy Blink Whole Home Bundle at Amazon – $140

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Someone made an operating system for the NES

You probably never saw the NES as a productivity machine, but some clever developers beg to differ. Hackaday and Ars Technica note Inkbox Software has released a graphical operating system, NESOS, for Nintendo’s console. The mid-’80s technology restricts the OS to two apps (a word processor and settings) and eight 832-byte files, but you have an honest-to-goodness pointer, movable icons and customizable interface colors.

Inkbox primarily had to overcome the NES’ very limited memory and storage. NESOS fits into just 48K, and the files have to sit inside the 2K of NVRAM that retains data when the console turns off. Graphics memory was a particularly large hurdle. Nintendo’s system only has two sprite memory grids (one each for the foreground and background), and it can only display 64 sprites at any time — that’s why many NES games flicker at busy moments. The creator had to combine sprites into larger shapes.

The project is available in a ROM that you’ll likely use through an emulator (unless you make your own cartridge). You won’t be writing a novel in NESOS. The memory prevents any kind of substantial content creation, and typing with the NES controller involves very slowly cycling through characters. This is more about defying expectations, and it’s significant that Inkbox didn’t have to modify the console to achieve its feat.