What do you think about these companies?
Below is some news about well-known tech companies.
If you think that the companies mentioned in these articles don't treat their users well - correctly, respectfully - you can start using free and open source software – including non-commercial social networks and a better, more secure email app. Also find out about better instant messaging apps.
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Bumble's AI icebreakers are mainly breaking EU law (noyb). In December 2023, the dating platform Bumble introduced so-called AI Icebreakers to the “Bumble for Friends” section of the app. Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the feature is designed to help you start a conversation by providing an AI-generated message. In order to do this, your personal profile information is fed into the AI system without Bumble ever obtaining your consent. Although the company repeatedly shows you a banner designed to nudge you into clicking “Okay”, which suggests that it relies on user consent, it actually claims to have a so-called “legitimate interest” to use data. noyb has therefore filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority. (Jun 26, 2025).
WhatsApp is getting ads using personal data from Instagram and Facebook (noyb). (Jun 16, 2025).
‘It’s terrifying’: WhatsApp AI helper mistakenly shares user’s number (The Guardian). Chatbot tries to change subject after serving up unrelated user’s mobile to man asking for rail firm helpline (Jun 18, 2025).
Meta to get rid of factcheckers and recommend more political content (The Guardian). (Jan 07, 2025).
On These Apps, the Dark Promise of Mothers Sexually Abusing Children (The New York Times). Smartphone apps downloaded from Apple and Google can allow parents and other abusers to connect with pedophiles who pay to watch — and direct — criminal behavior. (Dec 07, 2024).
Meta's Threads is 'overrun' with liberal election fraud conspiracies (user mag). Thousands of users have amplified baseless claims of hacked voting machines as Democrats become more comfortable embracing denialism. (Nov 10, 2024).
Don’t say ‘vote’: How Instagram hides your political posts (The Washington Post). Our tech columnist investigates how Meta’s Instagram, Facebook and Threads suppress content related to the election. Even discussing how to vote isn’t safe. (Oct 16, 2024).
Surgeon general demands warning label on social media apps (CNN). (Jun 17, 2024).
How Facebook and Instagram became marketplaces for child sex trafficking (The Guardian). “Our two-year investigation suggests that the tech giant Meta is struggling to prevent criminals from using its platforms to buy and sell children for sex” (April 27, 2023).
Facebook owner Meta fined €1.2bn for mishandling user information (The Guardian). Penalty from Ireland’s privacy regulator is a record for breach of EU data protection regulation (May 22, 2023).
Sunset of the social network (Axios). "Now Facebook wants to shape your online life around the algorithmically-sorted preferences of millions of strangers around the globe." (Jul 25, 2022).
Facebook Doesn’t Know What It Does With Your Data, Or Where It Goes: Leaked Document (Vice). “We’ve built systems with open borders. The result of these open systems and open culture is well described with an analogy: Imagine you hold a bottle of ink in your hand. This bottle of ink is a mixture of all kinds of user data (3PD, 1PD, SCD, Europe, etc.) You pour that ink into a lake of water (our open data systems; our open culture) … and it flows … everywhere,” the document read. “How do you put that ink back in the bottle? How do you organize it again, such that it only flows to the allowed places in the lake?” (April 26, 2022).
Google to pay $60m fine for misleading Australians about collecting location data (The Guardian). The tech giant kept track of some Android phone owners even when their location history was set to ‘off’ (Aug 11, 2022).
Twitter to pay $150 million penalty for allegedly breaking its privacy promises – again (Federal Trade Commission) (May 25, 2022).
Twitter faces $250 million FTC fine for misusing emails and phone numbers (The Verge). Twitter said the identifiers were ‘inadvertently’ used for advertising (Aug 03, 2020).
Updated: Jun 29, 2025.