Here s what s going on in tech.
New VC report: Just nine tech companies became unicorns — with valuations of at least $1 billion — in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with 23 companies in the second and third quarters last year.
Safe Harbor ruling has boosted business for cloud companies such as Amazon, which has servers in Europe that can make it harder for U.S. spies to get to user data. BTW, progress is being made on a new agreement over trans-Atlantic data transfers, FTC chief says, according to Politico.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Yahoo speak out against U.K. surveillance bill, a couple of weeks after Apple did the same. (Telegraph; companies submission) The companies say the bill could weaken encryption and require them to collect more user data.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands says it won t force tech firms to share encrypted communications.
Google hiring more than 50 people as it beefs up its presence in China.
Facebook Messenger reached 800 million users in 2015, the company said today. (WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, has 900 million users.)
Twitter files suit against Turkey as the country attempts to collect a fine over what it says was Twitter s failure to remove terrorist propaganda tweets, Reuters reports.
Google Translate s Ukrainian to Russian service translated Russia to Mordor and Russians to occupiers in what the company has called an automated error that it has since fixed.
ICYMI, Uber has settled with New York over its God View tracking system, which it uses to track riders and drivers. The company is paying a fine and revising its privacy and security practices.
Flash sale: Gilt Group sells for $250 million to Saks Fifth Avenue parent. In 2011, Gilt was valued at more than $1 billion.
Photo from AFP/Getty Images
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