Can Facebook be broken up? What you need to know

Can Facebook be broken up? What you need to know

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wields so much power that even one of the social network's co-founders thinks it's both "unprecedented" and "un-American."

Chris Hughes, who co-founded Facebook with Zuckerberg while they were students at Harvard, called for the social network to be broken up in an op-ed published Thursday by The New York Times. "I'm angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks," Hughes wrote, referring to Facebook's boss and major shareholder. "I'm disappointed in myself and the early Facebook team for not thinking more about how the News Feed algorithm could change our culture, influence elections and empower nationalist leaders."

Facebook's rapid growth has been fueled by acquisitions, including Instagram and WhatsApp, a messaging service. Critics and experts say Facebook simply purchased its competition, rather than innovating to meet the challenges they posed.

"Their whole business model is to identify potential threats and then buy them or beat them in some way," said Stephen Diamond, an associate professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law.

And Facebook has been called out for not doing enough to combat election meddling, misinformation and hate speech. Its enormous power, critics argue, needs to be kept in check. Facebook doesn't want to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp.

Here's what you need to know:

Who wants Facebook broken up? Why?

Calls to break up Facebook aren't new. But it is startling to hear one of the company's co-founders call for such an extreme measure. Hughes argues that Zuckerberg holds so much power that even the company's board of directors can't keep him accountable. Zuckerberg controls around 60 percent of Facebook's voting shares, which means the board technically can't fire him even if he messes up.

Hughes isn't alone. Advocacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Color of Change and Common Sense Media, have previously asked the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that enforces antitrust law, to make Instagram and WhatsApp separate companies. A split would also make it easier for other social media companies to compete with Facebook, the organizations argue.

In addition, a group called Freedom from Facebook has called on the FTC to force Facebook to spin off its Messenger service too.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who's also a presidential candidate, is among the lawmakers who want to break up Facebook, as well as other tech giants, including Google and Amazon.

How would Facebook be broken up?

One way to break up Facebook would be for the federal government to file a lawsuit against the company, arguing it stifles competition. That could prompt a negotiation between the parties that could lead to Facebook agreeing to make itself smaller.

Another alternative would be for Congress to pass a law covering tech monopolies. Warren has proposed such a law, which would require tech platforms that take in $25 billion or more in sales to "structurally separate" their products. Amazon, for example, would have to spin off its house brand Amazon Basics. Warren said that if she won the presidential election her administration would also appoint regulators to unwind the mergers of Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook.

What does Facebook think about the idea?

Facebook has pushed back, arguing that breaking up the company wouldn't hold the social network more accountable for its actions. Instead, Facebook has called for more internet regulation around harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability.

"Accountability of tech companies can only be achieved through the painstaking introduction of new rules for the internet," Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications, said in a statement Thursday. The social network also said that having Instagram and WhatsApp under Facebook helps them fight spam, election meddling and crime. Facebook says it has plenty of competition, pointing to YouTube, Snapchat, iMessage and WeChat, among others.

Clegg touched on all those points in a Saturday editorial in The New York Times.

Have tech companies been broken up in the past?

Yes, but it's unusual. In 1974, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T but the matter wasn't settled until eight years later. The telephone company was required to spin off two-thirds of its assets into separate companies, according to a 1982 article from The Washington Post. The government has also tried to break up Microsoft and in 2000 a US federal judge ordered that the tech giant split into two companies. Microsoft appealed and the decision was reversed.

What would this mean for users of Facebook?

Facebook is trying to integrate its messaging services so users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp can send messages to one another without switching apps. Splitting up the companies might prevent that from happening.

Those who want the government to break Facebook up argue the move would fuel more competition among social media companies, which could mean more options for consumers. About 2.7 billion people use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger every month.

Diamond said that breaking up Facebook could also lead to the company stepping up its privacy efforts to match its social media competitors.

What are the chances this happens?

The FTC declined to comment on whether it's looking to break up Facebook. But if history is any indication, it would be a rare move.

"I doubt there is sufficient political momentum to break up Facebook," Diamond said. "I'm skeptical, even though I think there might be good reasons to do it."

Originally published May 10, 5:40 a.m. PT.
Update, May 11: Adds mention of Facebook VP Nick Clegg's Saturday editorial in the Times.

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Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right

When Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 in 2015, it delivered an elegant operating system that could -- for the first time -- fulfill the potential of each modern computing form factor. Equally proficient on a touchscreen tablet, laptop, or conventional desktop PC, Windows 10 resuscitated the operating system's best features while setting the stage for Microsoft's ongoing innovation streak that includes idiosyncratic products like the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and, more recently, the Surface Studio -- a desktop PC for artists and designers in need of high-end horsepower and display -- and the Surface Dial, a touch-friendly dial designed to facilitate fine contextual controls.

Late 2016 update

The next generation of the popular Surface tablet, the rumored Surface Pro 5, is expected to appear in the spring of 2017 -- timing that may coincide with the rollout of the next version of Windows, a free update scheduled for the first half of 2017. Windows "Creators Update" will introduce 4K video game streaming and support "augmented reality," bringing 3D capabilities to legacy applications such as Paint and PowerPoint. It will support 3D rendering for Microsoft's HoloLens technology, which will be incorporated into forthcoming devices from Acer, Lenovo, Dell, HP and Asus. And it will enable a virtual touchpad that lets you control external monitors from tablets, without need for a mouse.

It's worth mentioning that Apple delivered its own operating system overhaul in September 2016. MacOS Sierra added some new features inspired by its own mobile operating system. And though Apple clearly wishes to continue the integration of Macs and iOS products, providing additional incentives to keep your hardware inside Apple's walled garden, it's not always a perfect fit. In fact, the new MacBooks announced in early October 2016, equipped only with USB-C ports, can't connect to the new iPhone 7 and its Lightning Connector, without an adapter.

Editors' note: The original Microsoft Windows 10 review, first published in July 2015, follows.

Windows 10 is the Goldilocks version of Microsoft's venerable PC operating system -- a "just right" compromise between the familiar dependability of Windows 7, and the forward-looking touchscreen vision of Windows 8.

This new Windows, available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and Windows 8 noncorporate users, is built from the ground up to pursue Microsoft's vision of a unified OS that spans all devices without alienating any one platform. It's an attempt to safeguard Microsoft's crumbling software hegemony, assailed on all sides by Google and Apple. And it's a vision of the future as Microsoft sees it, where a single user experience spans every piece of technology we touch. Welcome to Windows as a service.

Yes, this new OS is chock-full of fresh features. To name just a few: a lean, fast Internet Explorer replacement called Edge; Microsoft's Siri-like voice-controlled virtual assistant, Cortana; and the ability to stream real-time games to your desktop from an Xbox One in another room. (And in case you're wondering: there is no "Windows 9" -- Microsoft skipped it, going straight from 8 to 10.)

Windows 10 bridges the gap between PC and tablet. Nate Ralph/CNET

But Windows 10 is also the end of a long, awkward road that began with the release of Windows 8 in 2012, when Microsoft tried to convince a world of keyboard and mouse wielders that touchscreens were the way to go -- or else. Ironically, in 2015, the PC hardware for that touchscreen future is now here -- everything from 2-in-1s such as the Lenovo Yoga line to convertible tablets with detachable keyboards, like Microsoft's own Surface. And Windows 10 smoothly lets users transition from "tablet" to "PC" mode on such devices like never before.

For the rest of the PC universe -- including those who still prefer good old-fashioned keyboard and mouse navigation -- Windows 10 is a welcome return to form. The Start menu, inexplicably yanked from 8, is back and working the way you expect it to. Those live tiles from the Windows 8 home screen still exist, but they've been attached to the Start menu, where they make a lot more sense. And the fiendishly hidden Charms bar has been morphed into the more straightforward (and easier to find) Action Center.

As always, there are some quibbles and gripes with the end product, but all-in-all -- after living with Windows 10 for months -- I can say it's a winner. It's flexible, adaptable and customizable. And it's been battle-tested by an army of beta testers for the better part of a year, making it one of the most robust operating system rollouts in recent memory.

A fresh Start

The Start menu is back; it's almost funny how relieving that is. That humble Start button has been a fixture on the lower left corner of the Windows desktop since the halcyon days of Windows 95, offering speedy access to apps and settings. Press it on Windows 10, and you'll see the latest step in a long conversation about the state of the PC industry.

I spend more time than I'd like to admit rearranging the Start Menu. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The past sits on the left: a neat column with shortcuts to your most used apps. Press the "All Apps" button and you'll get an alphabetical list of all of the apps installed on your PC. There are folders in there too -- press them, and extra options will fly out, just like they always have.

The future -- or at least, the future as Microsoft envisions it -- sits on the right side of the Start menu. These are the colorful, animated live tiles that debuted in Windows 8, pulling double duty as app shortcuts and informative widgets. You can resize these live tiles, drag them about to arrange them into groups and pin as many apps as you'd like -- the entire Start menu can be shrunk or expanded to suit your liking. It's essentially a miniaturized version of the fullscreen Start menu we saw in Windows 8. Hate live tiles? Then unpin them to excise them from your computer, leaving you with the narrow column of frequently used apps we've known for so long.

One step back, two steps forward

The Start menu in Windows 10 is admission that Windows 8 maybe have been a bit too forward thinking. But Microsoft hasn't abandoned that vision of unifying all manner of devices under a single operating system: Continuum in Windows 10 is the latest attempt to bridge the gap between touch and non-touch devices, and this time it doesn't force us to relearn how to work with our PCs.

To start, there's no divide between the Windows 8-style "Modern" apps you get from the Windows app store, and those you install the old-fashioned way. Everything exists as a traditional windowed app, sharing space on the desktop. If you're on a two-in-one device like Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 , pop the keyboard off and Windows 10 will switch to tablet mode. The Start menu and your apps will stretch to take up the entire screen, and all of the miscellaneous apps and shortcuts on your taskbar will disappear, to give your finger fewer obstacles to hit.

Apps go fullscreen, and the taskbar gets a little less cluttered in tablet mode. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Reattach the keyboard, and everything slots back into place. It's an instantaneous, seamless process (once you've shooed away the annoying confirmation window). It's also entirely optional: you can disable the feature and switch to tablet mode manually, or forget that this whole touch concept exists at all.

This is what Windows 8 always should've been: an operating system that bridges the divide between touch and non-touch, without alienating folks who fall into one camp or the other. Like it or not, the future belongs to devices with touchscreens. But Microsoft (finally) understands that we'll all get there at own pace, and Continuum makes the transition painless. And now that there are so many hybrid devices to choose from, making the switch to touch without abandoning the interface we know is more important than ever.

Learning new tricks

Microsoft hasn't stopped at making touch make sense on a Windows PC. With Windows 10, just about every facet of the OS has been tweaked and updated, and a few new features have been rolled in. In typical Microsoft fashion, there's a dizzying array of keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures for each of these features, giving you no fewer than three ways to access the things you're trying to get to. No need to memorize them all -- just use whatever suits you (or your device) best.

Virtual desktops

If I had to pick my favorite new feature, I'd go with virtual desktops. Click the new Task View button on the taskbar and you'll get a bird's-eye view of all of the apps you've got open. Drag one of those apps onto the "new desktop" button, and it'll be moved to its own independent workspace. I can keep one workspace focused on work, a separate desktop for gaming forums, yet another workspace for the new camera lenses I'm checking out; there's no limit to the amount of virtual desktops you can create, and each one is treated as its own little private island.

Virtual desktops help you spread your apps across several workspaces. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

Virtual desktops are far from a new development, and they've been available in past versions of Windows thanks to third-party apps. But it's nice to see Microsoft catching up here. The feature could still use some work: desktops are numbered, but if you create a lot of them it can be hard to keep track of where everything is. The "traditional" Win32 apps you might download and install from a website are happy to open a new instance on any desktop, while clicking the shortcut on an app from the Windows store will yank you back to whatever desktop you used it on last.

You can move apps across virtual desktops -- just drag them, or right-click to shunt them over -- but there's no way to reorder the virtual desktops themselves, which would be really useful for staying organized. I'd also like to be able to set a different wallpaper for every virtual desktop -- I can do both of those things in Apple's OSX operating system, and have always found it really handy.

Windows Snap

The Snap feature introduced in Windows 7 has gotten a bit of an upgrade, too. Drag an app to the left or right side of the screen, and it'll "snap" to fill that space. The new Snap Assist feature will then chime in, showing you little thumbnails of any other apps that are currently open -- click a thumbnail, and it'll fill up the remaining space. You can also snap an app into a corner of your display and fill your screen with up to four apps, divided equally across the screen -- this could prove useful for folks with massive monitors.

Action Center

The new Action Center replaces the "Charms" introduced in Windows 8, and is another nod to mobile operating systems. Click the Action center icon on the taskbar to bring up a panel that houses all of your app notifications, and offers quick access to a few important system settings, like toggling your Wi-Fi network or switching in and out of tablet mode -- you can choose the options that turn up here in the settings menu. If you're coming from Windows 7 and have no idea where to find some of the settings you're used to, there's a good chance you'll find them here.

Wi-Fi Sense

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wi-Fi Sense. While technically not a new feature (it's part of Windows Phone 8.1) its presence in Windows 10 should've been a welcome addition: Wi-Fi Sense connects your devices to trusted Wi-Fi hotspots.

I love the idea. Automatically sharing Wi-Fi credentials with my friends would remove much of the hassle of most social gatherings, when people just want to jump on my Wi-Fi network. And -- this part is key -- Wi-Fi Sense doesn't share your actual password, so it theoretically eases a social transaction (the sharing of Wi-Fi connectivity) without necessarily compromising my network security.

Until Wi-Fi sense offers granular control over sharing, I'd avoid it. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

But the implementation is, in a word, daft. I do want to automatically share my network with a select group of friends who are visiting, and have them return the favor. I don't want to automatically share access with everyone in my Outlook address book, or on Skype, or the random assortment of folks I've added on Facebook over the years. Give me the ability to choose who I share access with, down to the individual, and I'll give it a shot. Until then, I'll be leaving Wi-Fi Sense off -- I recommend you do too.

Windows Hello and Windows Passport

Microsoft is also beefing up security with Windows Hello. The feature will use your Windows 10 devices' camera or a fingerprint scanner to turn your body into a password. Once you've authenticated yourself with Windows Hello, Windows Passport will then give you access to a number of third-party sites and products, without forcing you to log in all over again. This should make it a bit more convenient to log in to your devices, so you don't skimp on traditional measures, like having a robust password. The only catch is that Hello isn't widely supported on a lot of existing hardware: you'll need a device sporting Intel's RealSense camera, or a fingerprint scanner.

Chatting with Cortana

Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana isn't exactly a new feature, as she's been on Windows Phone for just over a year. But the company's answer to Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Now has made the transition to the desktop with Windows 10, taking over the OS' search functionality, while also handling quite a few housekeeping duties. You can have Cortana trawl through your email and calendar, and keep you notified of any upcoming flights you're taking, or packages you're expecting. She can set reminders and track stocks, and you can even dictate email messages for her to send to your contacts. Cortana can also be set to listen for you to say "Hey, Cortana," and can be trained to recognize several different voices. If you want to learn more about Cortana, head over to my preview on Microsoft's virtual assistant .

Cortana will help you get things done. James Martin/CNET

I'm torn. I love Google Now's proactive stream of useful information, served to me whenever I need it. But my primary mobile device is an Android phone and not a Windows Phone, which keeps my interactions with Cortana sequestered to my desktop.

She's not especially useful here. Windows 10's Voice recognition is rather accurate, but if I have to send an email message and I'm at my desk, I'm just going to use my email client. She'll offer recommendations for places to eat or things to see, but that'd be a lot more useful when I'm out and about than at my desk. The same goes for reminders, which are decidedly less useful if I can't access them anywhere.

Cortana will be making her way to Android and iOS devices later this year, which should clear up most of these issues -- provided most of her functionality crosses platforms without issue. I'll still turn to Cortana for the occasional joke, but until it's available on a phone I use regularly, I'll be sticking to Google for Now.

Microsoft Edge rethinks the browser

Microsoft has added a brand-new browser into Windows 10, and it's called Microsoft Edge. Introducing a new browser in a world that already has Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Apple's Safari is a pretty bold move. Doubly so when your previous effort was Internet Explorer -- once a juggernaut in the space, now the Internet's favorite punchline.

Annotate webpages with Microsoft's Edge browser. James Martin/CNET

Edge is a fast, modern browser that offers quite a few commendable features. Cortana is integrated right into the browser, and she'll offer detailed information on things like the weather or flight statuses while you're typing into the browser's address bar. Navigate over to a bar or restaurant's website, and Cortana can pull up a little sidebar full of useful information, like reviews or directions. The webnote feature lets you scribble on webpages and share your annotations to OneNote or via email, and you can use the Reading view option to strip a website down to its bare essentials. Edge has also been built with tighter security from the start, to hopefully circumvent some of the headaches that erupted from Internet Explorer.

But there are no extensions to tame overzealous advertisements, or enhance websites like Reddit, or simply organized my tabs -- I've been thoroughly spoiled by Google Chrome. There's no way to sync tabs or bookmarks across devices, and you currently can't import bookmarks from other browsers. All those features will be available eventually, with support for extensions coming sometime before the end of the year -- like Windows 10, Edge is a constantly evolving work in progress. But it's going to take a lot for someone like me, wholly enmeshed in Google's ecosystem, to ditch Chrome for something new. Internet Explorer also isn't going anywhere: it'll remain a part of Windows for the foreseeable future, as legacy apps are dependent on it. Head over to my Microsoft Edge preview to learn more about Microsoft Edge .

Getting your game on

Windows 10 adds and tweaks a few things in the entertainment department. The Xbox Video and Xbox Music apps have been renamed to Movies & TV and Groove Music, respectively. Their function is identical: any music and video files on your device can be found here, but it mostly serves as a means to convince you to buy or rent content from Microsoft's stores. You've got plenty of streaming services to choose from, for music and video.

Xbox Live achievements for Solitaire? Brilliant. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

If you're a gamer, the Xbox app will prove far more interesting. It's a window into your Xbox Live feed, letting you see what your friends are up to and send them messages, browse recordings people have made, compare achievements, and all of the expected ways of interacting with the social network. But if you own an Xbox One, you can stream activity from your console to any device running Windows 10.

It's awesome. No, it's not a game changer, and certainly not a reason to run out and grab an Xbox One. But it's still awesome: if someone wants to use the television, I can just plug an Xbox One controller into one of my PCs and continue plugging away at the Xbox One version of The Witcher 3 . The quality of the experience is going to be dependent on your network, so I'd recommend making sure both your console and the PC you're streaming to are connect to your LAN. The console also can't be used by others when it's streaming so this won't enable cooperative gaming. But if you frequently find yourself sharing the TV and have a PC with Windows 10 on hand, it's a fun little addition that could come in handy.

Handy tools for shutterbugs

The new Photos app isn't going to replace something like Adobe Lightroom, but if you take a lot of photos and are looking for a simple tool to keep things organized, you'll do well here.

Use the Photos app to make quick, non-destructive edits to your pictures. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

The Photos app scans your devices and OneDrive account for photos, and automatically arranges them into albums. You can use the app as a way to keep track of your pictures, but it also offers some basic editing tools too. If you prefer a hands-off approach, Photos will automatically enhance all of the photos it finds, wrangling red eye and sorting out exposure levels -- it works on RAW files, too. But don't worry: the edits Photos makes are non-destructive, so you can undo any changes it makes, or prevent it from altering your photos altogether.

Windows, everywhere

Windows 10 has finally arrived, but this version of Windows is fundamentally different from any that have come before it. It will truly be an everywhere OS, a concept Microsoft will be pushing with Windows 10 Mobile , and Universal Apps. We've been here before: apps developed for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 could share much of their code, which was supposed to make it easy to create a single app that ran everywhere.

Microsoft's universal apps share an identical codebase: the Excel client on your desktop, for example, will be the exact same client as the one on your phone, with elements adjusted to make sense of the different display, and the lack of a keyboard or mouse. You can currently get a taste of this on the latest version of Windows 10 Mobile, and while I wouldn't recommend editing spreadsheets on your smartphone, it's possible.

Universal apps will lead to their own challenges, as developers will have to weigh creating rich, robust apps that can run on a mobile device, against developing apps that can make use of all of the power a full PC can bring to bear. Microsoft is already drafting a solution using Continuum. Microsoft has demonstrated Continuum for phones: plug a Windows Phone into a display, and the interface will one day morph to mimic the PC-based version of Windows. You'll see the desktop, desktop-versions of Windows Store apps, and get full mouse and keyboard support. There's no word on when Continuum for phones will be available, or what devices it'll run on, but it offers a tantalizing glimpse of what Microsoft has in store.

Getting ready for what's next

The Windows Update process will be key to getting everyone on board with Microsoft's vision of the future of Windows. It'll also prove to be one of the most contentious elements: if you're running the standard Home version of Windows 10, updates are automatic and can't be refused.

This is a great thing. Windows' Achilles' heel has long been its nigh-ubiquity, which makes it a prime target for malware and other digital nastiness. A computer that's kept up to date is a happy computer, as it will offer you the best chance of avoiding viruses and other unpleasant things.

You can delay updates, but you can't avoid them. Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET

This is also a terrible thing. Many of us have encountered software updates that don't quite work out, occasionally breaking more than they fix. One of the last updates to the Windows 10 preview has been triggering software crashes, a recurring reminder that things occasionally don't work out as intended.

Microsoft has plans in place to mitigate these snafus: those of us who've signed up for the Windows Insider program can opt to continue serving as beta testers in perpetuity, and we'll be receiving every update first, for better or worse. But an army of five million testers could go a long way toward making sure these compulsory updates go as smoothly as possible. Insiders will also be able to continue driving the future of Windows by sharing feedback on features and functionality in Windows as they are developed.

I still worry that something will eventually slip through the cracks, and that will be the forced update that sours everyone's mood on the whole process. But I still favor Microsoft's approach: better to deal with the occasional botched update than have the legion of vulnerable or compromised devices that currently exists.

Conclusion

In an ideal world, we'd just call Microsoft's latest operating system "Windows," and sweep version numbers and codenames under the rug. That "10" gives the impression that something comes next, when in reality Windows is transitioning from something you buy (begrudgingly) once every few years, to a living document that's constantly being updated, and tweaked. For many Windows users expecting a predictable upgrade cadence, this is going to be a difficult transition.

Windows 10 will mean the end of grand, sweeping changes, with a marked increase in the sort of minute, quality-of-life tweaks we've grown accustomed to on our smartphones and tablets. Cortana will learn new tricks, and the interface will become flexible enough to support entirely new kinds of devices, like Microsoft's HoloLens . Should Windows Phone survive, we'll eventually see the world Microsoft envisioned back at the launch of Windows 8, when every device was supposed to feel right at home.

All of that comes later. What we have, at present, is a fast, functional OS that that is equally at home on a beefy gaming rig as it is on a Surface tablet. It does everything you expect it to, and bakes in all of the improvements Windows 8 brought to bear. Both Cortana and Edge have a long road ahead of them before they'll supplant Google's vicelike grip on my digital life, but the novelty of dictating emails and requests to my PC is not lost on me. And then there's the price: free, for those upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.

If you're running Windows 7 or Windows 8 you've little to lose, and quite a bit to gain, by making the jump to Windows 10. If you're still on Windows XP, you've probably got your reasons. But Windows 10 marks the first steps in a transition from operating system to ecosystem, a wild dream that gets a little less crazy every time I ask my PC a question, or pop the keyboard of my laptop to get some reading done. This is Microsoft's second attempt at bringing us the future, and this time they're getting it right.

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Encrypted messages don't always stay private. Here's what that means for you

Encrypted messages don't always stay private. Here's what that means for you

As a group of alleged conspirators recently learned, encrypted messaging isn't a guarantee that your private conversations will stay between you and the recipient. The FBI arrested six men on Thursday for allegedly plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. How did the feds get the information they needed? They read the group's encrypted conversations. 

To be clear, accessing the communications wasn't a highly technical effort. The FBI had a confidential informant who participated in the group message threads in which much of the conspiracy was laid out, according to a criminal complaint. That kept the FBI in the loop even when the group changed messaging apps to avoid detection. 

"Because the group still included [the informant], the FBI has maintained the ability to consensually monitor the chat communications," FBI special agent Richard J. Trask II said in the complaint.

The incident underscores a basic fact about encrypted messaging apps, like Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp. While they all offer a layer of privacy, there are plenty of ways for someone to access your messages from these services. 

That's good news and bad news. On the bright side, it means criminals plotting violence can't rely completely on encrypted messaging services to hide their plans from the police. While law enforcement has warned that encryption threatens to make their investigations into the worst criminals "go dark," this case is one example of how investigators can continue to read messages sent with encrypted services.

On the other hand, it means regular users who want to protect their data from hackers, creeps and foreign governments need to rethink what encrypted messaging really does for them. It isn't a magic wand. Here's what you should know about what encryption does -- and doesn't do -- to protect your privacy.

How does encrypted messaging work?

It's OK, most people don't have a handle on just what encrypted messaging apps like Signal, Telegram and Facebook-owned WhatsApp do. They look and act like regular text messaging tools. But behind the scenes, the services scramble up your messages as they travel across cellular communications systems and the internet to get to the intended recipient's phone. 

That means no one involved in sending the message -- including the encrypted messaging service -- can read your messages. Regular SMS messaging is sent in plaintext and doesn't have this layer of protection, so your SMS messages are vulnerable to interception at multiple points as they travel from your phone to the recipient's device.

Is my phone encrypted, too?

If you use an iPhone, the data on your phone is encrypted when the device is locked. On Android phones, users have to enable disk encryption themselves. Device encryption will protect your messages as long as the phone is locked.

Apple describes this form of encryption as essential to users' privacy. For one thing, it protects all the personal data on your phone if it gets stolen. Think private messages and photos, as well as access to your email account and financial information.

Like encrypted messaging, device encryption has been a sore subject with law enforcement. The FBI tried to get a court order in 2016 to force Apple to help it access encrypted messages on an iPhone used by an extremist shooter. After Apple refused, the agency was eventually able to access the data on the phone with another technique.

How can someone get my encrypted messages?

As the Michigan case shows, anyone you send a message can share it with a wider circle of people, regardless of whether it's sent on an encrypted service. The same goes for anyone who has the ability to unlock your phone, which disables device encryption. If you don't lock your device at all, anyone who gets your phone can access your messages.

Then there's hacking, which is used by law enforcement, as well as criminals and foreign governments, to target someone's phone with malicious software. Once the device is compromised, the malware can read messages on the device just like someone looking over your shoulder to watch you type. These tools are sophisticated, can be very expensive, and require someone to target you specifically. 

Another form of malware that can get your communications is called stalkerware. That's phone monitoring software that many people admit to using to spy on their partners or exes, and it usually requires the person to have access to your phone. There are steps you can take if you're worried your device has stalkerware.

Finally, there are your backups. Data on your cloud accounts might not be encrypted, and anyone who has the password could access your backed-up messages there. Some stalkerware works by accessing your phone's cloud backup. That's a great argument for using a unique, hard-to-guess password to protect your cloud accounts, and using a password manager.

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5 predictions for bitcoin, NFTs and the future of money

5 predictions for bitcoin, NFTs and the future of money

This story is part of The Year Ahead, CNET's look at how the world will continue to evolve starting in 2022 and beyond.

Cryptocurrency made many of the strangest headlines of 2021. Boosters touted digital currencies as a world-changing technology with the potential to create new economies and empower people who don't have access to bank accounts. Critics pointed to crypto's massive environmental footprint, as well as its popularity in online crime. The chasm between these views will be hard to bridge.

Much of the cryptocurrency industry functions as a hype-monster, powered by oddball memes of cute dogs and outer-space emoji. The same industry boasts a staggering amount of funding from venture capitalists and private enthusiasts, along with real technical innovations that could radically alter the way we interact with money. And, as it often goes with innovation, what we get may not be what we expect. CNET asked experts to help us navigate crypto's journey to new lands in 2022. Here's what they told us.

1. Crypto moves further into the mainstream

Big companies are trying to figure out how cryptocurrency fits into their business. Everyone from hedge fund managers to Starbucks executives are making moves that could impact how we use digital money this year. 

When we hear about cryptocurrency in the headlines, it's often about Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweets, overnight millionaires, expensive digital art and hacks. Yet the larger, fundamental changes are often less flashy and attention-grabbing than whatever crypto-hype machine dominates Twitter at any given moment. 

"I hope we're going to see a lot more focus on utility," said Denelle Dixon, CEO of Stellar Development Foundation. "Instead of focusing just on a few use cases that create a lot of hype, we'll see more focus on the use cases that drive real value. And more discussion around financial inclusion."

2. NFTs create new ownership opportunities, and remix old ones

NFT, or nonfungible token, is a buzzy term that many of us heard for the first time in 2021. A new way to determine ownership of digital property using a blockchain ledger, NFTs are increasingly popular in the art and collectibles scenes. One of the most notable NFT collections of 2021 was called the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Go figure.

But the potential of NFTs goes far beyond eccentric digital artworks. NFTs are also used for digital land purchases in virtual worlds and for next-generation music ownership, licensing and publishing. Some observers see a future in which NFTs offer access to special sales or limited-edition products. How about using a NFT as a concert ticket? Or when you log into your favorite video game online? Expect to see all of that in 2022. 

"The possibilities of NFTs are endless, since they can be used to log ownership of any unique asset," Alex Atallah, co-founder of OpenSea, said in an email. "We're already seeing early use-cases of NFTs being used as event tickets, software licenses, fan club memberships, or otherwise tied to interactive experiences."

Some of America's biggest brands, including Nike, are already working on expanding the application of NFTs. But NFTs used in consumer products may only be the tip of the iceberg. How about using an NFT to prove you are you? 

"We've seen some movement from the artist-driven NFTs to NFTs that are focused on access or authorization," said Stellar's Dixon. "There was a party in New York recently where folks got access to the party by purchasing an NFT. So I wonder if we'll see some focus on leveraging NFTs for digital identity."

The $85 billion video game industry may be one of the most fertile areas of potential for NFTs. Some of the larger studios are already experimenting with them. And with all the talk surrounding the metaverse, an immersive 3D digital environment that's been proposed by Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other movers and shakers in the tech industry, NFTs could serve as building blocks for a next-generation digital world. 

"Gamers are already accustomed to caring about digital goods, so the potential for NFTs is enormous: a few million NFT users compared to almost 3 billion gamers," said Atallah. "We're seeing some exciting developments when it comes to the intersection of NFTs, gaming and the metaverse."

3. Bigger hacks and bigger ransoms

Cryptocurrencies were used to facilitate millions of dollars of ransomware payments in 2021. That's because digital currencies include features that make them attractive to criminals. They're difficult to track, they're borderless, and once the payment goes through, it's nearly impossible to unwind. 

"We should expect to see more criminals turning to cryptocurrency and services that promise to obfuscate illicit funds due to the misconception of total anonymity," Gurvais Grigg, a senior tech officer at Chainalysis, said in an email. "Bitcoin is appealing to criminals for the same reasons it appeals to those using them for legitimate purposes: It's cross-border, instantaneous and liquid."

Grigg and others expect decentralized finance, a nascent but blossoming industry on the cryptocurrency frontier, to be a popular target for cybercriminals in 2022. Decentralized finance, or DeFi, involves finance that works independently of a central authority or institution. Instead of relying on a bank or credit card network, people can connect directly with DeFi products on a distributed network. 

Though the industry is still in its early days, DeFi is a fast-evolving, highly technical space with tremendous potential. As such, it's attracted a great deal of attention and investment, making it ripe for criminal activity.

"Criminals are likely to explore DeFi as both a target for hacking and as a means to attempt laundering funds through," said Grigg. "Because of how new DeFi is, and the explosion in adoption in developed markets, these platforms are easy targets for experienced criminals who have conducted similar hacks before."

4. You'll hear more about stablecoins

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have grabbed headlines because of their volatility. You can become a millionaire or lose it all at the hyper speed of the internet. But try buying a latte with bitcoin, and that volatility can make things confusing fast. 

Enter stablecoins. This subcategory of cryptocurrency, which is tied to an underlying asset, mitigates much of that volatility. Stablecoins could play a vital role in turning cryptocurrency into something we can easily use to conduct the ordinary transactions of everyday life. 

"People should start paying attention to trends in stablecoins both as a medium of payments and as a dollar digital currency. The use cases for cross-border payments, aid relief, instant settlement payments are starting to flourish in 2021 and we will see more of that in 2022," Rachel Mayer, a vice president of product at fintech firm Circle, said in an email.

Transferring assets more efficiently is one of the central values of a stablecoin. This value is powerful for companies that need to move digital assets and cash quickly and efficiently. 

"On the payments side, more industries will start adopting stablecoins as a more efficient way to make payments," Omid Malekan, author of The Story of the Blockchain and a professor at Columbia Business School, said in an email. "Stablecoin volumes will continue to grow, but the share of that volume that is only involved in crypto trading will go down."

5. New crypto rules appear on the horizon

Washington lawmakers sense that cryptocurrency is a big and important thing. But they are struggling, perceptibly, to understand it. It may only be a matter of time before crypto gets its "series of tubes" moment from a hapless representative out of their element.  

In December, executives from six cryptocurrency companies were called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, where they discussed potential paths for future legislation. Lawmakers in the US have expressed interest in a range of topics -- whether stablecoin issuers should be considered banks, when to tax cryptocurrency and how to craft functional rules in a highly technical and complex industry. This is tricky stuff. Creating the right standards will take time. 

"I think there's going to be a lot more conversations around crypto and blockchain," said Dixon, one of the executives who testified before the House committee. Dixon previously testified on the issue of net neutrality before a House committee during her tenure at Mozilla in 2019 and harbors no illusions when it comes to regulating new technology. Some discourse will be positive and some will be negative, "but I just think that [by] having these conversations, we're going to see policymakers and regulators be more focused, and hopefully, more traditional businesses will be more focused on that." 

There could be more milestones to reach before Americans see a comprehensive framework for crypto-focused legislation. But if industry leaders and elected officials can work together, regular cryptocurrency users and investors may benefit while environmental and security concerns are addressed. 

"It's important to understand that the cryptocurrency industry wants to be regulated, but wants to ensure that proposed regulatory frameworks are feasible," said Grigg. "Governments globally are working with industry players to create legislation that protects consumers and fosters innovation."

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Nebraska Police Obtained Facebook Messages About Teen's Alleged Abortion

Nebraska Police Obtained Facebook Messages About Teen's Alleged Abortion

Facebook parent Meta provided Nebraska police with messages between a teenager accused of having an illegal abortion and her mother after the social media giant was served with a search warrant, court documents show.

Police in Norfolk, Nebraska, started the investigation in April before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established abortion rights. The Supreme Court's decision has sparked concerns about how online data could be used as criminal evidence against people seeking abortions.

The Lincoln Journal Star earlier reported that 41-year-old Jessica Burgess is facing criminal charges for allegedly helping her daughter, who was 17 years old at the time, abort, burn and bury her fetus. The mother pleaded not guilty, and will face a trial in Madison County District Court. (CNET isn't identifying the daughter, who was a minor at the time of the alleged abortion.)

The teenager told a Norfolk Police detective that she miscarried and gave birth to a stillborn, court documents say. Nebraska bars most abortions 20 weeks after fertilization and police determined from the teen's medical records that she was more than 23 weeks pregnant at the time.

When the detective interviewed the teenager about the timing of the miscarriage, the teen scrolled through messages on her Facebook Messenger account from April, when she was trying to get her mother's attention. The detective then identified the mother and daughter's Facebook accounts.

"I know from prior training and experience, and conversations with other seasoned criminal investigators, that people involved in criminal activity frequently have conversations regarding their criminal activities through various social networking sites, i.e. Facebook," Ben McBride, a detective for the Norfolk Police Division, said in an affidavit supporting the search warrant to Meta. The document states the detective believes the premises of Meta "are being used for the purpose of securing or keeping evidence related to Prohibited Acts with Skeletal Remains."

The detective outlined the Facebook data he was seeking related to the investigation, including photos and private messages. The police were then able to seize more than 250,000 kilobytes of data tied to the teenager's Facebook account, including account information, images, videos and messages, and more than 50,000 KB of data associated with Jessica Burgess' account, according to court documents. 

The Facebook messages suggested that Jessica Burgess had given her daughter instructions about how to take abortion pills after obtaining them, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. After police obtained the Facebook messages, Jessica Burgess faced two more felony charges for allegedly performing or attempting an abortion on a pregnancy at more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor, The Lincoln Journal Star reported. Burgess and her daughter faced other charges in June, including removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body.

Meta didn't answer questions about how many of these types of requests it's received.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone told Forbes that he couldn't immediately confirm any details about the incident. He tweeted late Tuesday that the company received the warrants in June before the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade.

"The warrants concerned charges related to a criminal investigation and court documents indicate that police at the time were investigating the case of a stillborn baby who was burned and buried, not a decision to have an abortion," Stone tweeted.

Motherboard earlier obtained documents about the case that included the messages between the mother and daughter.

Neither the mother nor the daughter immediately responded to request for comment.

The police and Meta's actions have sparked more scrutiny over the social network, which has been plagued with data privacy scandals. On Tuesday, some Twitter users were urging women to #DeleteFacebook and the hashtag was trending.

Civil rights advocacy group Color of Change also raised concerns that "anti-abortion extremists" would use social media to "coordinate the harassment and bounty hunting of people seeking abortions."

Messages on Facebook Messenger aren't encrypted by default, which would prevent Facebook or anyone else from viewing the messages. Facebook Messenger users can send encrypted messaged by turning on a feature known as secret conversations.

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Why WhatsApp users are pushing family members to Signal

Why WhatsApp users are pushing family members to Signal

When WhatsApp users started freaking out about privacy on the messaging app last month, Kevin Woblick knew it was time to encourage his family to move to another chat service: Signal.

The 30-year-old German software developer had broached the topic after Edward Snowden leaked classified documents detailing America's mass surveillance program. But Woblick couldn't convince his family to delete WhatsApp despite the Snowden news and the global uproar over digital privacy that followed. So this time, he took a gentler approach. 

"It wouldn't be too inconvenient to have a second messenger on your phone right?" he asked his family. He found it amusing that his grandma was the first to agree to download the app. Then, the rest of his family followed.

Woblick and his family are among the exodus of WhatsApp users bolting from the Facebook-owned messaging app to services like Signal that are seen as secure alternatives. Making the move isn't easy, because people naturally gravitate toward apps their friends and family use, and then stick with them. In India, WhatsApp's largest market, switching to another messaging service is even tougher because of its enormous reach. 

WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion, is used by more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries. The popular app is an online space where people go to chat, shop and share news. More than 175 million people message a business on WhatsApp daily, allowing them to browse or buy items, ranging from cakes to flights. The messaging app, though, has also been criticized for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation that fuels violence. In 2018, false rumors about child kidnappers ignited mob violence and killings in India, prompting WhatsApp to limit message forwarding.

Outrage over privacy on WhatsApp began to grow in January, when the service notified users it was updating its privacy policy and terms of service. The update included details about how WhatsApp data could be used and shared when a user messages a business on the app. Some users thought the changes meant WhatsApp could read their messages and listen to their personal phone calls. WhatsApp said the messaging service can't read personal messages, because they're end-to-end encrypted, and that the changes wouldn't expand the app's ability to share data with Facebook. 

WhatsApp responded to the fallout, pushing back the update until May. It placed newspaper ads in India, shared more information on its website, and used Status, a tool that lets users post content that disappears within 24 hours, to assure people their personal WhatsApp messages remain private. 

By then, though, the damage had been done. 

From Jan.1 to Jan. 25, compared with Dec. 7 to Dec. 31, Signal installs jumped 4,868%, while downloads of WhatsApp fell roughly 16%, according to data from data analytics firm SensorTower. At one point, the surge in new users led to a daylong outage on Signal. A spokesperson for Signal said the app "had a record breaking January" but declined to say how many users are on the app. 

Unlike WhatsApp, Signal isn't owned by a company. It's funded by a nonprofit set up by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp but left the social media giant in 2017. Besides the user outrage, the encrypted-messaging service has also been endorsed by high-profile figures, including Snowden and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

David Choffnes, an associate computer science professor at Northeastern University, said WhatsApp's policy updates could've rekindled concerns over Facebook's poor track record with privacy. He pointed to the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy, that harvested the data of roughly 87 million Facebook users without their permission. 

"The whole world has lost a lot of trust in Facebook," Choffnes said, adding that the WhatsApp backlash "was sort of like a powder keg ready to ignite."

Nidhi Hegde, director of strategy and programs at the American Economic Liberties Project in Washington, DC, said her family uses a mix of WhatsApp and Signal. Some didn't want to switch to a new messaging service, especially after WhatsApp delayed its privacy updates. On Thursday, WhatsApp was No. 3 in Apple's top apps for social networking, and Signal was No. 12.

"I think what it has done is make a lot more people (like my mom and older relatives) who are not particularly tech-savvy or thinking about privacy become more aware of Facebook's power and how their personal data is mined for targeted advertising to feed Facebook's business," Hegde said in an email. "And they are now significantly concerned that they have no choice but to accept the terms."

Last month, WhatsApp users got a notice telling them the app's 3,800-word privacy policy and 5,000-word terms of service were being updated to include information about processing of user data, the ability of businesses to use Facebook services for managing chats, and the relationship between WhatsApp and Facebook. The notice linked to the revised policies but didn't outline the exact changes users were agreeing to if they accepted the updates.

The changes spell out what happens to your data when you message a business on WhatsApp, which is different from chatting with friends and family. Some businesses might make communications available to a third-party service provider that manages their chats with customers, which can include Facebook, the revised privacy policy says. WhatsApp labels chats with businesses that use Facebook's services to manage their conversations. A WhatsApp FAQ on the changes also notes that when a person messages a business, the store might use that information for marketing, which could include Facebook ads. 

Some users thought the updates meant WhatsApp was going to force them to share personal data with Facebook for the first time. (But WhatsApp has already been sharing data with Facebook to suggest content and connections, and display "relevant offers and ads." The company updated its privacy policy in 2016 to reflect that and WhatsApp users that year were allowed to opt out of this data sharing.) 

On social media, WhatsApp users quickly began sharing strategies about how to get family and friends to migrate to Signal or other messaging apps. 

Siddharth Rao created a public Google doc he shared on Twitter titled "How to start a conversation about the Signal app with your family." Rao, a security and privacy researcher in Finland, said he's trying to learn more from WhatsApp users about their experience migrating to Signal and whether they stayed after the move. Many of the people who added to the document still have "one leg" in WhatsApp and the other in Signal, he said. 

One strategy included in the document is to lie and tell people that WhatsApp is shutting down. Other tips include easing users into deleting WhatsApp after they've tried Signal, by disabling notifications for the Facebook-owned app.

Shachin Bharadwaj, an entrepreneur who splits his time between India and California, said he received anxious messages from his parents after the privacy changes were announced, concerned that WhatsApp was going to read their chats. The 38-year-old said he also recalled seeing videos, including one that called Facebook "evil" and claimed the company was planning to listen to users' conversations. 

Bharadwaj knows that private messages remain encrypted on WhatsApp, but that didn't stop him from downloading Signal last month. He's used WhatsApp to order items such as medication in India, but he feels like there's just "too much happening" on the Facebook-owned service and wants to keep his most personal chats, like his family chats, on Signal. He now splits his messaging between the apps.

"I don't think you can ever leave WhatsApp as of the situation in India today," Bharadwaj said, pointing to the amount of WhatsApp users in that country. "But my idea was to move quality conversations to Signal."

As for Woblick, he thinks it'll "take a lot of time" before he's comfortable deleting WhatsApp, because some of his friends stayed on the app. For now, however, he's OK with using both. "For me it was more important to do that first step and migrate the most important people and contacts to Signal so I'm able to work with them without needing to use WhatsApp," he said.

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WhatsApp update boosts video calling to allow 8 people at once

WhatsApp update boosts video calling to allow 8 people at once

Want to video or voice chat with more people over WhatsApp? Now you can.

In a new update released Monday, the popular messaging app is bumping up the number of people who can be on a video or voice call at once to eight, double its previous limit of four, the company said in an update note on the iPhone App Store. 

As it was before, the calls are end-to-end encrypted with Facebook writing in a blog post that "no one else can view or listen to your private conversation, not even WhatsApp."

The Android version of the app does not yet appear to be updated in the Google Play store but, as MSPowerUser notes, an updated version with support for eight callers can be downloaded directly from WhatsApp's website. 

The new update is rolling out worldwide starting today, and WhatsApp says that it should arrive on the Play store this week. 

To have a call with more people, everyone on the call needs to be on the latest version of the app on either platform. 

The Facebook-owned messaging app is the latest to bump up its calling capabilities as people look to stay connected while stuck at home. Last week Facebook introduced a new Messenger Rooms feature that allows up to 50 people to video chat at once with no time limit for how long the chat lasts.

Read more: 10 free Zoom alternatives for video chat

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