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1. Facebook won’t let you opt out of its phone number ‘look up’ setting
Users are complaining that the phone number Facebook hassled them to use to secure their account with two-factor authentication has also been associated with their user profile — which anyone can use to “look up” their profile.
Security expert and academic Zeynep Tufekci said in a tweet: “Using security to further weaken privacy is a lousy move — especially since phone numbers can be hijacked to weaken security.”
2. Huawei reportedly plans to sue U.S. government over ban
That news comes via two anonymous sources reported in The New York Times. The impending suit is pushback against longstanding bans in the U.S. that have barred the company’s equipment from infrastructural projects ahead of a nationwide push into 5G.
3. Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed fund invests in a global geothermal energy project developer
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the investment firm financed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Jack Ma that invests in companies developing technologies to decarbonize society, is investing $12.5 million in a geothermal project development company called Baseload Capital.
4. Tristan O’Tierney, who helped develop Square’s original payment app, has passed away
Square co-founders Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey hired O’Tierney to develop Square’s original mobile payment app in early 2009, and he’s generally credited as a co-founder.
5. Samsung finally gets Bluetooth earbuds right
Brian Heater says the Galaxy Buds work like a charm.
6. JetBlue contest asks users to delete their Instagram pics to fly free for a year
Don’t do this (unless you really hate your photos).
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
We’ve got a full-length episode of Equity discussing funding for women-led startups, plus a shorter segment about Lyft filing to go public. Meanwhile, the team at Original Content (including your humble newsletter editor) reviews Netflix’s “Umbrella Academy.”
