High Tech Secrets, Pfizer's Rebuff, Romancing News Corp And Other News You Need to Know Today

I'VE GOT YOUR BACK — Major high-tech companies "have largely ended the practice of quietly complying with investigators’ demands for e-mail records and other online data," the Washington Post reports. Years ago Twitter was "perhaps the first" to decide that users have a right to know they are being targeted, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which began publishing a "Who's Got Your Back" report in 2011. Few followed immediately. But the tide is changing.

Google already routinely notified users of government data requests but adopted an updated policy this week detailing the few situations in which notification is withheld, such as when there is imminent risk of physical harm to a potential crime victim. “We notify users about legal demands when appropriate, unless prohibited by law or court order,” the company said in a statement. Lawyers at Apple, Facebook and Microsoft are working on their own revisions, company officials said, although the details have not been released.

What's changed? The revelation of bulk data collection by the NSA. Even though that program (about national security) was unrelated to criminal subpoenas the US government would like tech companies to keep secret, the potential spillover effect eroding customer trust is a problem they need to contain.

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MICROSOFT STEPS UP — Microsoft has released a patch to deal with the security bug in Internet Explorer that left 55% of the world's PCs vulnerable. The fix even embraces Windows XP, a 13-year-old operating system for which Microsoft ended support on April 8 and said specifically it would not address — even though PCs running XP account for 25% of the market. In a blog post, Microsoft said that while "concerns were, frankly, overblown" about "this particular vulnerability," they were addressing the entire IE installed base. "We made this exception based on the proximity to the end of support for Windows XP," writes Adrienne Hall, Microsoft's General Manager for Trustworthy Computing. The company also takes the opportunity to tell the world to get with the program and move away from outdated computing environments where black hat hackers will get more work done than you — advice we heartily endorse, whether or not you get a new PC or something powered by Apple or Google.

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PHARMA DANCE — AstraZenica is playing hard to get. The UK's second-biggest drugmaker has rebuffed a sweetened offer from Pfizer, saying the revised $106 billion bid fails to capture the value of products being developed. “We are showing strong momentum as an independent company, in particular with our exciting, rapidly progressing pipeline, which the board believes will deliver significant value for shareholders,” AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson said in the statement. As with all corporate romances, it's impossible to know if the suitor will eventually take no for an answer, and whether protestations from the object of desire is mere negotiation. But for Pfizer, this is at least as much a marriage of convenience as of romance: As something of a tax exile, it would owe less as a UK company than is does as one based in the United States. Love is a powerful motivator — but so is the prospect of increasing what you keep.

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SPEAKING OF ROMANCE — News Corp. is buying Harlequin for $415 million. The Canadian publisher of such romance novels as "My Fair Billionaire" and "Expecting the CEOs Child" will become an imprint within HarperCollins. While some might sniff at the formulaic, Fabio-infused genre that is (unfortunately) still called "women's fiction," this is big business: Per Wikipedia, Harlequin "publishes approximately 120 new titles each month in 29 different languages in 107 international markets on six continents." So, chances are this old media play will go much better than those MySpace and "The Daily" digital debacles.

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BACHELOR OF SELFIE ARTS — Commencement season is upon us, and we all know what that means — interminably long ceremonies getting in the way of fun and, by definition, the beginning of your life. Well, two colleges are doing something about it: University of South Florida and Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., are asking grads not to snap selfies as they accept their diplomas, to save time and preserve the decorum of a solemn occasion. As reported by Fox News:

"It's your moment in the sun right next to everyone else's moment in the sun," said Michael Freeman, the USF dean of students who issued the guidelines saying selfies were banned along with marching, strolling and other fanciful methods of accepting a diploma. Freeman said a handful of graduates took on-stage selfies during the December commencement and he has noticed students growing more and more cavalier as they approach the university president. Aside from keeping the ceremony on time, he wanted to maintain decorum.

But, as with any silly rule imposed on people with nothing to lose, this may just backfire. "It put the idea in my head," said Anthony Sanchez, a 22-year-old USF microbiology major. "I wouldn't have thought of it until they said don't do it."

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WELCOME ABOARD! — It's the first day at a new job for Angela Ahrendts: Yesterday was her last as CEO of Burberry, "and Apple’s website has been updated to reflect Ahrendts beginning her work at Apple today," reports 9to5Mac. Ahrendts — who also happens to be a prolific LinkedIn Influencer — is Apple's first chief of both retail and online. Her most notable predecessor is perhaps Ron Johnson, who was credited with Apple's bricks-and-mortar successes but failed to port the magic over to JC Penney.

Photo: Ken Wolter / shutterstock

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Encouraged by high-tech's newly-discovered backbone? A selfie addict? Closet romance novel reader?

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