Google is looking in the couch for spare change after it was handed a $170 million fine for violation of child privacy laws over the space of a number of years.

The fine rolls in under Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)—a law enacted in 1998 to protect minors against monitoring or collection of personal data for those under 13, requiring companies to first get parental consent when using cookies or tracking activity online.

These fines are so small it's almost not worth bothering, given Google made a cool $39.2 billion in Q4 2018 alone. That means the YouTube fine is just 0.43% of the company's revenue in the space of three months, an amount that feels like permission to get away with doing it all over again.

This started with a case against Google in 2016, when a number of consumer groups and privacy advocates complained repeatedly about the site apparently targeting minors with advertising and tracking them, after luring them to the site with content made specifically for children.

The suit came just a year after YouTube Kids arrived, an app specifically targeting that age group, notably stripped of advertising and requiring parental consent—which came with other problems in tow. Google now pushes children toward this app actively, and recommended in its response to the ruling that kids use the separate app.

This ruling, yet again, highlights the weakness of the legal system up against companies that make so much money. The fine seems indeterminately low, and won't serve as much of a deterrent in the long run, when a percentage-of-revenue based fine would have made a serious dent that would make investors pay attention as well.

When companies are making tens of billions of dollars every year, a couple hundred million is literally what's stashed under the couch cushions. Yet again, it's a reminder of why the antitrust system needs a total shakeup. 

Firefox 69 (nice) arrives, blocking third-party tracking cookies by default
The new Firefox is really compelling, and refreshingly light compared with Chrome. I keep trying to switch, but end up hitting roadblocks with services I use like Superhuman and Google Meet, which require Google's browser—which is really bad for the health of the web... but hard to do much about as an end-user.

Android 10 is here, and it's rolling out to Pixels right now
Google's dropped the cutesy desert names, and the new version of Android is hitting phones from today. It comes with things like dark mode, focus mode, notification improvements, and a bunch more in tow. 

There are big changes to how updates actually function under the hood, so a number of third-party devices are getting day one updates—but it remains incredibly patchy depending on the manufacturer of your phone. Pixel owners get it now, but good luck figuring out when it'll ship if you're on a Galaxy S10.

Facebook will now delete its record of your facial data if you ask
My advice? Do it.

👀 More than half of U.S. state attorney generals will announce a Google antitrust case next week
Speaking of weak antitrust regulation...

Amazon is testing letting you pay at Whole Foods with your fingerprints

The British High Court rules that police use of facial recognition is A-OK
This is a pretty bleak outcome, essentially laying the framework for police to rely on facial recognition for law enforcement and build a database of citizens. 

Hackers breached 500K+ XKCD accounts
Please, use a password manager if you aren't already.