🕵️‍♀️ Amazon Is Becoming the Everything Tracker

Plus: Why Signal won't compromise on encryption, Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK competition regulator, and more…

Today’s pick

Amazon Is Becoming the Everything Tracker. Imagine, for a moment, the near future Amazon dreams of. Every morning, you are gently awakened by the Amazon Halo Rise. From its perch on your nightstand, the round device has spent the night monitoring the movements of your body, the light in… (Chris Gilliard / The Atlantic)

the specter of surveillance 👻 @hypervisible

“What does it mean when one’s life becomes completely legible to tech companies? Taken as a whole, Amazon’s suite of consumer products threatens to turn every home into a fun-house-mirror version of a fulfillment center.”

theatlantic.comThe Rise of ‘Luxury Surveillance’Surveillance isn’t just imposed on people: Many of us buy into it willingly.

---

Why Signal won't compromise on encryption, with president Meredith Whittaker. Meredith Whittaker is the president of Signal, the popular messaging app that offers encrypted communication. You might recognize Meredith's name from a different context: in 2018, she was an AI researcher at Google and one of the organizers of the… (Nilay Patel / The Verge)

nilay patel @reckless

Talked to Signal president @mer__edith about competing with iMessage, RCS, and facing down government pressure to break encryption. Oh, and what it's like to hire a new CEO. A really good episode of Decoder -> theverge.com/23409716/signa…

---

The best way to reach new readers is word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends.

---

Facebook parent Meta ordered to sell Giphy by UK competition regulator after failed appeal. Meta, the owner of Facebook, has been reordered by U.K. competition regulators to sell its animated GIF unit Giphy after losing an appeal against the initial decision. Citing the risk of a substantial… (Ryan Browne / CNBC)

Ryan Browne @Ryan_Browne_

It's official: Meta's $400m Giphy takeover has been unwound by competition regulators in the UK. Meta has admitted defeat, with a spokesperson for the company telling me the company "accept today’s ruling as the final word on the matter." Story:

cnbc.comFacebook parent Meta admits defeat after Giphy deal is blocked by UK regulatorsMeta, the owner of Facebook, has been reordered by U.K. competition regulators to sell its animated GIF unit Giphy after losing an appeal.

---

Netflix Looks to Put an End to Subscriber Losing Streak. Investors have one big question ahead of Netflix Tuesday earnings report: Was the streaming giant able to once again gain subscribers, after two back-to-back quarters of shedding them? Netflix said in July that it expected to add 1 million net new… (Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal)

Sarah Krouse @bysarahkrouse

Netflix beat its forecast for subscriber growth in Q3 and added customers in each major region

wsj.comNetflix Gains 2.4 Million New Subscribers, Reversing TrendThe streaming giant added more than twice as many new subscribers as expected during the third quarter, reversing back-to-back quarters of defections.

---

China's WeChat Is a Hot New Venue for US Election Misinformation. “I'm an engineer; I like facts: one is one, zero is zero,” says More Less, the online pseudonym of a Silicon Valley-based software engineer from China. “I think it's my responsibility to rebut this nonsense.” More Less… (Jennifer Conrad / WIRED)

WIRED @WIRED

With the US midterm elections two weeks away, activists tracking misinformation in Chinese American communities worry that posts stoking racial tensions or casting doubt on the integrity of elections could sway close races.

wired.trib.alChina’s WeChat Is a Hot New Venue for US Election MisinformationAhead of US midterms, activists are fighting falsehoods circulating in Chinese-language communities that they fear will distort the vote or suppress turnout.

---

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

P.S. Want to advertise with us? We’d love to hear from you.