10 things in tech you need to know today

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1. TikTok employees say they have mostly been left in the dark, as President Trump tried to get the app banned. Some TikTok employees who are ethnically Asian said they felt vulnerable as public discourse around a ban or forced sale has veered into anti-China talking points with nationalist undertones.
2. Rent the Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman, one of the most successful female founders, is fighting to save her company. In August, Rent the Runway permanently shuttered its five retail stores and prior to that implemented furloughs, layoffs, and three months of pay cuts for salaried employees
3. Amazon has identified more than 19,000 COVID-19 cases among its frontline workers. The company claimed its positive case rate was 42% lower than it would expect based on rates in the general population around its facilities is, but its study has not been independently verified.
4. Google contractors alleged in a lawsuit that they were required to sign illegal nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from whistleblowing and violated their free speech rights. The workers, some of whom were employed via the staffing agency Adecco, claimed they couldn't even write "novels" or "reassure their parents they are making enough money to pay their bills."
5. A Senate committee voted to subpoena the CEOs of Google, Twitter, and Facebook to testify before Congress. The CEOs will face questions about concerns over Section 230, a law that shields social media companies from being held liable for the content of users' posts, as well as privacy and antitrust concerns.
6. Russia is responsible for most nation-state cyberattacks, followed by Iran, North Korea, and China, according to a new Microsoft report. The lengthy report digs into ongoing trends in cybersecurity, and reveals that Russia is responsible for the most government-backed cyberattacks by far.
7. Trump's campaign has spent up to $40,000 on Facebook ads promoting baseless rumors that Biden wears an earpiece. Facebook has a policy of not fact-checking political speech or ads, although there are some exceptions.
8. Amazon removed listings for Proud Boys shirts using President Trump's "stand back and stand by" quote. "All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account," Amazon said, although it did not specify which rules had been broken.
9. Google announced it is going to pay publishers $1 billion to contribute to a new product called Google News Showcase. The new product, which will feature specially written and curated news content, is launching first in Germany and Brazil.
10. The EU is drafting new rules to limit which apps Apple and Google pre-install on your phone. The idea is to limit how these companies use their existing might to favor their own services.

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