Taylor Hatmaker
Writer
The Latest from Taylor Hatmaker
RideAlong is helping police officers de-escalate 911 calls with data designed for the field
RideAlong keeps people in mind, and that’s a good thing. The company, founded by Meredith Hitchcock (COO) and Katherine Nammacher (CEO), aims to make streets safer, not with expansive surveillance s
Facebook is the recruiting tool of choice for far-right group the Proud Boys
Twitter may have suspended the Proud Boys and their controversial leader Gavin McInnes, but it was never their platform of choice. The Proud Boys, a self described “Western chauvinist” org
Some Infowars tweets vanished today, but Twitter didn’t remove them
A handful of tweets and videos that appear to have been cited in the choice to remove Alex Jones from Facebook and YouTube vanished from Twitter on Thursday after being called out in a CNN piece focus
Outgoing Facebook CSO Alex Stamos will join Disrupt SF to talk cybersecurity
At Disrupt SF 2018, Facebook’s soon-to-be-former chief security officer Alex Stamos will join us to chat about his tenure in the top security role for the world’s biggest social network, h
Twitter defends its decision to keep the Alex Jones conspiracy factory around
[Heavy sigh] Twitter is doing that thing again. That thing where it stands by an incoherent policy choice that is only consistent with its long historical record of inconsistency. Late Tuesday, Twitte
Coinbase adds instant trading, and increases daily limits
Coinbase just announced two new perks that should please regular cryptocurrency traders. Starting on Tuesday, new Coinbase users will no longer have to wait for five days to trade after signing up for
Activists push back on Facebook’s decision to remove a DC protest event
A number of activists and organizers in the Washington, DC area are disputing Facebook’s decision to remove a counter-protest event for a rally organized by Jason Kessler, the white nationalist
Facebook shuts down a Unite the Right counter-protest event linked to fake accounts
According to COO Sheryl Sandberg, getting ahead of an event called “No Unite the Right 2, DC” is the reason behind Facebook’s decision to disclose new platform behavior that closely
Facebook finds evidence of possible Russia-linked influence campaigns targeting US midterms
In a newsroom post Tuesday, Facebook revealed that it has detected evidence of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” designed to influence U.S. politics on its platform. According to Facebook
Mammoth Biosciences raises $23 million for its CRISPR-based disease detection engine
Mammoth Biosciences, the biotech company that grew out of a close relationship with CRISPR legend Jennifer Doudna, has raised $23 million in a sturdy Series A. Mammoth previously raised $120,000 from
MoviePass is down again
After the revelation that MoviePass borrowed $5 million to keep its service up and running last week, things aren’t looking good. MoviePass subscribers, myself included, were met on Monday with
Google’s lead lawyer moves into a global policy role
Google is promoting its top lawyer, Kent Walker, into a global policy position, CNBC reports. Walker, Google SVP and general counsel, has already been a public voice in the company’s recent priv
Idaho inmates hacked prison-issued tablets for $225,000 in credits
Inmates in Idaho successfully hacked the software of the prison-issued tablets to issue themselves nearly a quarter of a million dollars in credits on the devices that are often one of their only conn
Russian hackers already targeted a Missouri senator up for reelection in 2018
A Democratic senator seeking reelection this fall appears to be the first identifiable target of Russian hacking in the 2018 midterm race. In a new story on the Daily Beast, Andrew Desiderio and Kevin
Tech companies can bid on the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud contract, starting today
On Thursday, the Pentagon opened bidding for a huge cloud computing contract that could be worth as much as $10 billion. Given its size, the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, known as
You can buy the NES Classic and SNES Classic on Amazon now
If you missed the first few rounds of excitement about Nintendo’s mini nostalgia machines, you’ve got another shot at paying a normal price. Nintendo’s NES and SNES Classic consoles
Indian H-1B applicants face particular scrutiny in Trump’s work visa crackdown
Coming to the U.S. on a work visa is getting harder across the board, but workers from India in particular are feeling the effects of recent policy shifts from the Trump administration. A new report f
Healthcare data breach in Singapore affected 1.5M patients, targeted the prime minister
In what’s believed to be the biggest data breach in Singapore’s history, 1.5 million members of the country’s largest healthcare group have had their personal data compromised. The b
Instagram adds a status indicator dot so people know when you’re ignoring them
In a blog post today, Instagram announced a new feature: a green status dot that indicates when a user is active on the app. If you’re cruising around Instagram, you can expect to see a green do
A vacuum vulnerability could mean your Roomba knockoff is hoovering up surveillance
Yet again we are reminded that the mild conveniences of the smart home are all well and good, right up until someone decides to turn one of those Wi-Fi-connected things you invited in against you. But