India said it will publicly release the source code of its contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu, to the relief of privacy and security experts who have been advocating for this ever since the app launched in early April.Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney made the announcement on Tuesday, dubbing the move “opening the heart” of the Aarogya Setu app to allow engineers to inspect and tinker with the code. The app has — an unprecedented scale globally.The source code of Aarogya Setu’s Android app will be published on GitHub at midnight Tuesday...…India said it will publicly release the source code of its contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu, to the relief of privacy and security experts who have been advocating for this ever since the app launched in early April.Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney made the announcement on Tuesday, dubbing the move “opening the heart” of the Aarogya Setu app to allow engineers to inspect and tinker with the code. The app has — an unprecedented scale globally.The source code of Aarogya Setu’s Android app will be published on GitHub at midnight Tuesday...WW…

Weeks after Facebook , two more American firms are reportedly interested in the Indian telecom market.Google is considering buying a stake of about 5% in Vodafone Idea, the second largest telecom operator in India, . Separately, Microsoft is in talks to invest up to $2 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, Indian newspaper Friday.According to Financial Times, Google has also held talks with Reliance Jio Platforms, a three-and-a-half-year-old telecom operator that has raised from Facebook and U.S. privacy equity firms Silver Lake, KKR, General Atlantic and Vista.Buzz about Microsoft’s interest...…Weeks after Facebook , two more American firms are reportedly interested in the Indian telecom market.Google is considering buying a stake of about 5% in Vodafone Idea, the second largest telecom operator in India, . Separately, Microsoft is in talks to invest up to $2 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, Indian newspaper Friday.According to Financial Times, Google has also held talks with Reliance Jio Platforms, a three-and-a-half-year-old telecom operator that has raised from Facebook and U.S. privacy equity firms Silver Lake, KKR, General Atlantic and Vista.Buzz about Microsoft’s interest...WW…

Facebook has rolled out a new safety feature in India that will enable users to easily lock their account so that people they are not friends with on the platform cannot view their posts and zoom into and download their profile picture and cover photo.The feature is especially aimed at women to give them more control over their Facebook experience, the company said. “We are deeply aware of the concerns people in India, particularly women, have about protecting their online profile,” said Ankhi Das, Public Policy director at Facebook India, in a statement.Locking the profile applies multiple...…Facebook has rolled out a new safety feature in India that will enable users to easily lock their account so that people they are not friends with on the platform cannot view their posts and zoom into and download their profile picture and cover photo.The feature is especially aimed at women to give them more control over their Facebook experience, the company said. “We are deeply aware of the concerns people in India, particularly women, have about protecting their online profile,” said Ankhi Das, Public Policy director at Facebook India, in a statement.Locking the profile applies multiple...WW…

Netflix said Thursday it will ask customers who have not watched anything on the on-demand video streaming service in a year or more if they wish to maintain their subscription — and will cancel their membership if it does not hear back.The company said it has started to notify customers who have’t watched anything on the platform in 12 months since they became a subscriber to check if they wish to keep their membership. The company is also reaching out to those who haven’t streamed anything in more than two years, it said.“You know that sinking feeling when you realize you signed up for...…Netflix said Thursday it will ask customers who have not watched anything on the on-demand video streaming service in a year or more if they wish to maintain their subscription — and will cancel their membership if it does not hear back.The company said it has started to notify customers who have’t watched anything on the platform in 12 months since they became a subscriber to check if they wish to keep their membership. The company is also reaching out to those who haven’t streamed anything in more than two years, it said.“You know that sinking feeling when you realize you signed up for...WW…

Facebook has a new connectivity app called to help those who can’t afford to get online access information on the web.The service, available through mobile web and Android app, allows users to visit any website in text format (no video, images, audio and other elements that eat up large amounts of data) and consume a few megabytes of internet data.For Discover, which is part of the company’s Free Basics initiative, Facebook is working with mobile operators in Bitel, Claro, Entel, and Movistar. Discover is currently available in Peru, where it is in the initial testing phase.In Peru,...…Facebook has a new connectivity app called to help those who can’t afford to get online access information on the web.The service, available through mobile web and Android app, allows users to visit any website in text format (no video, images, audio and other elements that eat up large amounts of data) and consume a few megabytes of internet data.For Discover, which is part of the company’s Free Basics initiative, Facebook is working with mobile operators in Bitel, Claro, Entel, and Movistar. Discover is currently available in Peru, where it is in the initial testing phase.In Peru,...WW…

Chinese investors, who have poured about , will be subjected to tougher scrutiny for their future investments in the world’s second largest internet market.India amended its foreign direct investment policy on Saturday to require all neighboring nations with which it shares a boundary to seek approval from New Delhi for their future deals in the country. Previously, only Pakistan and Bangladesh were subjected to this requirement.The nation’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said it was taking this measure to “curb the opportunistic takeover” of Indian firms that are...…Chinese investors, who have poured about , will be subjected to tougher scrutiny for their future investments in the world’s second largest internet market.India amended its foreign direct investment policy on Saturday to require all neighboring nations with which it shares a boundary to seek approval from New Delhi for their future deals in the country. Previously, only Pakistan and Bangladesh were subjected to this requirement.The nation’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said it was taking this measure to “curb the opportunistic takeover” of Indian firms that are...WW…

Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners said on Friday it will invest $1.5 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, joining social conglomerate Facebook and Silver Lake that have also made bets on the Indian telecom giant in recent weeks.The planned announcement, which would give the U.S.-headquartered software-focused buyout firm a 2.32% stake in Reliance Jio Platforms, values India’s top telecom operator at $65 billion (equity valuation) — the  and a 12.5% premium over , the Indian firm said.In the last three weeks, Reliance Jio Platforms has announced plans to sell about 13.4%...…Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners said on Friday it will invest $1.5 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, joining social conglomerate Facebook and Silver Lake that have also made bets on the Indian telecom giant in recent weeks.The planned announcement, which would give the U.S.-headquartered software-focused buyout firm a 2.32% stake in Reliance Jio Platforms, values India’s top telecom operator at $65 billion (equity valuation) — the  and a 12.5% premium over , the Indian firm said.In the last three weeks, Reliance Jio Platforms has announced plans to sell about 13.4%...WW…

India said today Zoom is ‘not a safe platform’ and advised government employees to not use it for official work as the video conference service surges in popularity in many nations including the world’s second largest internet market as billions of people remain stuck at home due to the coronavirus crisis.“Zoom is a not a safe platform,” the Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of India’s ministry of home affairs said in a  (PDF) advisory. “Platform not for use by government officers/officials for official purposes,” said Press Bureau of India in a statement. The advisory includes...…India said today Zoom is ‘not a safe platform’ and advised government employees to not use it for official work as the video conference service surges in popularity in many nations including the world’s second largest internet market as billions of people remain stuck at home due to the coronavirus crisis.“Zoom is a not a safe platform,” the Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of India’s ministry of home affairs said in a  (PDF) advisory. “Platform not for use by government officers/officials for official purposes,” said Press Bureau of India in a statement. The advisory includes...WW…

WhatsApp has long grappled with its platform being used to . In the latest move, today it announced two initiatives to fight specifically against fake news and other misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.The Facebook-owned instant messaging service announced the — in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP — to offer simple, actionable guidance, general tips and resources for users around the world to be better informed about the disease and hence reduce the spread of rumors.WhatsApp said it is working with the WHO and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people around the...…WhatsApp has long grappled with its platform being used to . In the latest move, today it announced two initiatives to fight specifically against fake news and other misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.The Facebook-owned instant messaging service announced the — in partnership with the WHO, UNICEF, and UNDP — to offer simple, actionable guidance, general tips and resources for users around the world to be better informed about the disease and hence reduce the spread of rumors.WhatsApp said it is working with the WHO and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people around the...WW…

Remove China Apps, an app that and did exactly what its name suggests, has been pulled from the Play Store.The top trending app in India, which was downloaded more than 5 million times since late May and enabled users to detect and easily delete apps developed by Chinese firms, was pulled from Android’s marquee app store for violating Google Play Store’s , TechCrunch has learned.Under this policy an app on Google Play Store cannot make changes to a user’s device settings, or features outside of the app, without the user’s knowledge and consent, and it cannot encourage or incentivize users...…Remove China Apps, an app that and did exactly what its name suggests, has been pulled from the Play Store.The top trending app in India, which was downloaded more than 5 million times since late May and enabled users to detect and easily delete apps developed by Chinese firms, was pulled from Android’s marquee app store for violating Google Play Store’s , TechCrunch has learned.Under this policy an app on Google Play Store cannot make changes to a user’s device settings, or features outside of the app, without the user’s knowledge and consent, and it cannot encourage or incentivize users...WW…