About Us
Pricing
Briefing
Facebook

WhatsApp Delays Data Sharing With Facebook After User Backlash, as Rival App Signal Goes Offline

By Alex Heath
· · Source: The Information

WhatsApp is delaying a controversial update that further linked the encrypted messaging app with its parent company Facebook, prompting large spikes in downloads for rival apps. One beneficiary, Signal, went down completely for more than six hours Friday as a result of the surge in demand. The change to WhatsApp’s privacy policy, which users were recently asked to accept by February 8 or lose...

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
Exclusive Entertainment
How Vice, Vox and BuzzFeed Are Cashing In on the Streaming Boom
By Sahil Patel · July 27, 2021 9:01 AM PDT
Producers of Group Nine's short film "Two Distant Strangers" at the Oscars. Photo by AP.
“Land of the Giants” is a podcast series from Vox Media’s Recode covering the history of tech companies including Amazon and Netflix. It will soon be a TV show, made by Vox for a major cable network for a fee of several millions of dollars, according to people familiar with the matter. Digital media firms which have long struggled to compete with Facebook and Google for a...
Latest Briefs
 
Tencent Temporarily Suspends New User Registration for WeChat
By Wayne Ma · July 27, 2021
Intel to Make Chips for Other Customers Such as Qualcomm, Amazon
By Wayne Ma · July 27, 2021
Tesla’s Profit Soars in Q2 On Sharply Higher Revenue
By Martin Peers · July 26, 2021
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow. Photo: Bolt
Exclusive
Online Checkout Startup Bolt Valued at $4 Billion
By Kate Clark and Malique Morris
Bolt, a San Francisco-based startup that offers software for online shopping, is raising $333 million in Series D funding at a post-investment valuation of $4 billion, nearly five times its valuation in December, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Matt Mochary. Illustration: Mike Sullivan
Venture Capital Startups
The Coach Behind the Coinbase and Robinhood CEOs
By Kate Clark
Matt Mochary was on a high. AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant had just told the leadership consultant and former startup founder that their 90-minute session had solved a problem Ravikant had been grappling with for decades.
Amazon streaming chief Mike Hopkins. Photos: AP; MGM
Exclusive Media/Telecom Amazon
Mike Hopkins Wants to Make Amazon a Hollywood Powerhouse. MGM is Just the Start.
By Jessica Toonkel
Mike Hopkins had barely gotten his Amazon employee badge when Prime Video, the streaming service he oversaw for the internet retailer, had a possible crisis on its hands.
Exclusive
Robinhood’s Biggest IPO Winners
By Kate Clark
When Robinhood was raising its early funding rounds, co-founder Baiju Bhatt kept a journal. In it were pages filled with the names of over 100 investors, most of them accompanied by an “X” mark to indicate they had passed on the investment, said an early investor who saw the journal.
Illustration by Danielle Davis.
Markets
Boxed, BuzzFeed Debt Deals Show New Financing Option for SPAC Mergers
By Berber Jin
In early March, when online retailer Boxed decided to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, it expected to raise $150 million by selling equity.
Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc. Photo: Bloomberg
Exclusive Media/Telecom Entertainment
Vice Media’s SPAC Talks Stall
By Jessica Toonkel
Vice Media’s plan to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company has stalled as the company struggles to raise additional financing for the deal amid questions about Vice’s valuation, according to people familiar with the situation.