Marketplace Tech

Amazon's popular brand of video-enabled smart home and security devices, Ring, is adding a new encryption system called TAKE — Throw Away the Key Encryption. It allows users to encrypt all video their home cameras capture while keeping advanced AI-enabled capabilities and security features active.

The company already offered traditional end-to-end encryption, but that disabled advanced security features processed on the cloud that required Ring servers to maintain access to the video. Ring’s founder, Jamie Siminoff, says TAKE works by changing — or "throwing away" — the encryption key so Amazon servers don't have permanent access.

More on this:

“Ring introduces TAKE, setting a new industry standard for default encryption and control” from Amazon

“Ring says its new encryption limits what it can give police” from The Verge

“Ring Superbowl Ad Shows Americans How Powerful Surveillance Systems Have Become, Freaks Them Out” from The American Civil Liberties Union

Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be responsible for collecting the DNA of nearly a million people in 2025. The genetic material is then sent to the FBI, where it can be stored for future policing. That’s according to an updated report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology.

Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Stevie Glaberson, a co-author of the report, about the DNA collection practice — and its legal implications.

More on this:

Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing | Center on Privacy and Technology | Georgetown Law from Georgetown Law

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children | WIRED from Wired

Meta announced this week that it has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle a landmark trial over social media addiction. It also agreed to add stronger child-safety measures on its platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Some of the changes could include new screen time limits, disabled notifications and restrictions during school hours.

Plus, Nvidia reported strong quarterly earnings earlier this week, again. And while investors have been wary of AI spending, Wall Street seemed pleased with the results this time. And the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to eliminate a requirement that forces states to publicize and seek public feedback for new air pollution permits. Anita Ramaswamy at The Information joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino for these stories.

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Old school film technology is having a moment this summer. Moviegoers have traveled far and wide to see Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in its intended IMAX 70 mm film format. But even theaters with non-IMAX 70 mm film projection are hard to come by. The Alex Theatre in Glendale, California was renovated to screen “The Odyssey” in 70 mm film.

Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Miles Williams, the theater’s artistic director, about the renovation and why old school film technology is attracting Gen Z film fans.

When Meta Ray-Ban glasses were launched in 2021, they didn’t perform so well on the market. But in recent years, Meta has been partnering with fashion brands like Coperni and with pop culture figures like Kylie Jenner and Teyana Taylor, in order to expand their demographic reach.

Kylie Jenner recently launched her own model of Meta glasses, called Starfire. But the campaign didn’t go over especially well, says Carrie Battan, a contributing writer at New York Magazine. Putting a spotlight on the glasses has only increased scrutiny — with some calling them “pervert glasses”.

Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Battan about her recent piece in New York Magazine’s “The Cut”, where she tracks Meta’s push to make smart glasses cool.

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The Cursed Quest to Make Meta Glasses Cool from The Cut