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Silicon Valley giants are drawing battle lines over personal data collection practices and targeted ads as the threat of regulation looms. As Apple presses ahead with plans to give users greater control over their privacy, companies like Facebook and Google have aligned themselves over the latter's more measured approach to scaling back tracking features. In what was billed as the latest step toward data privacy, Google announced this week that it would not replace its tracking features used for personalized ads once it phases out its existing method. ADVERTISEMENT That move came after Apple drew Facebook's ire with its own anticipated anti-tracking feature, which could significantly affect the social media giant's revenue given its reliance on targeted ads. Experts and pro-privacy advocates say that while Google’s update may be a small step toward giving users more control over their data protection, the change may hurt Google’s rivals more than the company itself. … [Read more...] about Tech giants in brewing battle over tracking, ads

Photo-Illustration: retailers We write about hundreds of products a week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we’ve plucked out some of our favorites — expert-recommended essentials , life-changing stuff you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and the very good deals we uncovered while trolling the vast online-shopping universe this past week, including Jenny Han’s secret seasoning for at-home movie-theater popcorn, a Goldilocksian notebook for every type of journaler, and 11 items to support organizations supporting the AAPI community. Vornado Velocity 3R Whole Room Space Heater $80 $80 Though there’s lots of different ways to work out at home, “if you’re a hot-yoga devotee, you’ve probably found it a bit more difficult to duplicate the feel of your sweltering studio,” writes Karen Iorio Adelson. And though there have been accounts of yogis taking extreme measures to achieve the studio heat, Karen … [Read more...] about 11 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Space Heaters to a ‘Soothing’ Salad Bowl