Josh Constine

techcrunch.com Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them Desperate for data on its competitors, Facebook has been secretly paying people to install a “Facebook Research” VPN that lets the company suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity, similar to Facebook’s Onavo Protect app that Apple banned in June and that was removed i…

My biggest scoop ever. Facebook was paying teens to snoop on all their data with a secret VPN “Research App”. This story led to the shut down of Faceboook’s Onavo program

techcrunch.com Snapchat launches privacy-safe Snap Kit, the un-Facebook platform Today Snapchat finally gets a true developer platform, confirming TechCrunch’s scoop from last month about Snap Kit. This set of APIs lets other apps piggyback on Snap’s login for sign up, build Bitmoji avatars into their keyboards, display public Our Stories and Snap Map content, and generate bran…

Snapchat confirms my scoop on its platform

techcrunch.com Snapchat preps Snapkit platform to bring camera, login to other apps Snapchat is secretly planning the launch of its first full-fledged developer platform, currently called Snapkit. The platform’s prototypes indicate it will let other apps offer a “login with Snapchat” options, use the Bitmoji avatars it acquired and host a version of Snap’s …

My scoop on Snapchat finally building a true developer platform a year after I wrote that its anti-developer attitude was a major liability https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/19/no-snapplat/

techcrunch.com Facebook alerts 14M to privacy bug that changed status composer to public Facebook has another privacy screw-up on its hands. A bug in May accidentally changed the suggested privacy setting for status updates to public from whatever users had set it to last, potentially causing them to post sensitive friends-only content to the whole world. Facebook is now notifying 14 m…

My scoop on Facebook’s latest privacy screwup, where it accidentally changed privacy settings of its status composer to public, leading people to mistakenly overshare

techcrunch.com Facebook demands advertisers have consent for email/phone targeting Facebook is hoping to avoid another privacy scandal by adding new accountability and transparency requirements for businesses that use its Custom Audiences too to target you with ads based on your email address or phone number. Starting July 2nd, advertisers will have to declare whether contact inf…

Facebook confirms my scoop that it would demand advertisers pledge they had consent to use people’s contact info, though the tool falls short of verifying that in any way

techcrunch.com Instagram plans to launch Snapchat Discover-style video hub Instagram is preparing to unveil a home for longer-form video — a YouTube competitor and its take on Snapchat Discover. According to multiple sources, Instagram will offer a dedicated space featuring scripted shows, music videos and more in vertically oriented, full-screen, high-def 4K resolu…

My big scoop on Instagram’s plan to launch what would become IGTV

techcrunch.com A leaked look at Facebook’s search engine for influencer marketing Facebook’s next money-maker could be this tool for connecting marketers to social media creators so they can team up on sponsored-content Facebook ad campaigns. The Branded Content Matching search engine lets advertisers select the biographical characteristics of creators’ fans they wan…

My scoop on Facebook’s plan to keep creators loyal by offering them ways to make money.

techcrunch.com Instagram CEO confirms upcoming “time spent” Usage Insights Instagram is jumping into the time well spent movement, following the unveiling of Google’s new time management controls last week. Code buried in Instagram’s Android app reveals a “Usage Insights” feature that will show users their “time spent”. It’s not e…

My scoop on Instagram’s plan to show you how much time you spend on the app, which was confirmed in a tweetstorm by Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom

techcrunch.com Facebook united Facebook was a mess. The independence it dangled to close acquisition deals with Instagram and WhatsApp turned the company into a tangle of overlapping products. Every app had its own messaging and Stories options. Economies of scale were squandered. Top innovators led mature products already burst…

Facebook’s reorg could reduce autonomy, scaring away talent and future acquisitions.

techcrunch.com ‘Facebook Avatars’ is its new clone of Snapchat’s Bitmoji Hidden inside the code of Facebook’s Android app is an unreleased feature called Facebook Avatars that lets people build personalized, illustrated versions of themselves for use as stickers in Messenger and comments. It will let users customize their avatar to depict their skin color, hair st…

Scoop on Facebook’s answer to Snapchat’s Bitmoji that I said it should build 9 months earlier in my piece “Facebook seriously needs its own Bitmoji”