Technology

Consumer activists, small business owners and state lawmakers are increasingly calling for measures to rein in companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google that wield influence over so many.

As malicious conspiracy theories continue to spread, lawmakers are pounding the social media companies over their market dominance, harvesting of user data and practices that some believe actually encourage the spread of engaging but potentially harmful misinformation.

State lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a new bill aimed at closing the digital divide in California, an equity issue that’s been repeatedly highlighted during the pandemic when internet access has been the critical link for California students forced to learn remotely. 

The Duke of Sussex will become the "chief impact officer" of BetterUp Inc., a San Francisco-based firm.

A new UCSF study shows anti-Asian sentiment online can have a snowball effect.

Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years.

The lawsuit said Clearview AI scrapes dozens of internet sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and Venmo, to gather facial photos. Scraping involves the use of computer programs to automatically scan and copy data, which the lawsuit says is analyzed by Clearview AI to identify individual biometrics such as eye shape and size that are then put into a “faceprint” database that clients can use to ID people.

Twitter says it has begun labeling tweets that include misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines and using a “strike system” to eventually remove accounts that repeatedly violate its rules.

A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users.

No timetable was announced for the closure, but the company statement said it had ceased regular operations and began an orderly wind-down process Wednesday.

Zoom fatigue is real. Spending so much time online, even if you're talking to friends through video, can make you tired, irritated and emotionally drained.

The telecom industry asked a federal judge to keep blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law.