Facebook faces its privacy test

[It’s Facebook versus the feds. Again.]([Facebook has made encryption a centerpiece of its corporate future,]( but now the Justice Department plans to ask Facebook to delay launching encryption on its different platforms’ messaging services, [according to BuzzFeed News.](Attorney General Bill Barr on Friday is scheduled to release a letter asking Zuckerberg to ensure that this encryption will not impede federal officials from investigating possible crimes. The request sets up a possible standoff between Facebook and the federal government. - Facebook has to decide how much to cooperate with Barr. Facebook said in a statement that current law already requires it to cooperate with the US government. But if Facebook capitulates entirely, it would draw into question just how committed Zuckerberg is to his promise that the future of Facebook will be private. [[Theodore Schleifer / Recode](] [And another thing on Facebook:](The European Court of Justice has ruled that individual countries can order Facebook to take down posts, photographs, or videos anywhere, not only in their own countries, if the content was determined to be defamatory or otherwise illegal, the New York Times reports. Facebook said the court’s decision “undermines the longstanding principle that one country does not have the right to impose its laws on speech on another country,” in a statement. - The big deal: The ruling is a blow to platforms like Facebook as it places “more responsibility on them to patrol their sites for wrongdoing,” the New York Times reports. - But the effects of the decision won’t necessarily be widespread. One expert told the Times the decision "should not be expected to lead to a flood of orders against Facebook to take down content globally.” Instead, he said, courts will try to figure it out slowly in the years ahead. [[Adam Satariano / The New York Times](] [France is going in on facial recognition.](The country is about to become the first European country to use “facial recognition technology to give citizens a secure digital identity — whether they want it or not,” Bloomberg reports. In November, France will roll out a program it calls Alicem that creates a “digital identity” to give citizens secure access to everything from their taxes and banks to social security and utility bills. France has said the system won’t be used to keep tabs on citizens. - There’s a catch: Several privacy groups and individuals, including France’s data regulator, oppose the program and say it breaches the European rule of consent. Others are raising concerns about the country’s security standards and its ability to protect the sensitive personal data Alicem would collect. [[Helene Fouquet / Bloomberg](] [Uber launched a new app pairing businesses with temporary workers.]( The introduction of the Uber Works app is an effort to bring in more revenue as the company struggles to turn a profit, the Wall Street Journal reports. The app will match workers like chefs and cleaners with companies looking to fill a temporary position. - The pressure is on. The Uber Works app aims to offer a service to gig workers rather than employ them directly. The move comes as Uber’s core ride-hailing business is under a lot of pressure in states like California,[which recently passed legislation]( that will likely force gig economy companies to reclassify independent contractors as employees. [[Preetika Rana / The Wall Street Journal](] Weekend reads: [How ICE picks its targets in the surveillance age]( [[McKenzie Funk / New York Times Magazine](] [What is Facebook Dating for?]( [[Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic](] [The sum of Zuckerberg’s fears]( [[Kara Swisher / The New York Time](] [Join Recode's Peter Kafka at Code Media in Los Angeles this November 18 and 19.](#) The man who runs HBO, CNN and Warner Bros, John Stankey, is about to take on Netflix, Disney and the rest of the the media world, with a new streaming services. But he’s also facing restless shareholders. Come hear him discuss all of this, [live at Code Media in Hollywood,]( where he’ll join a great lineup of speakers at [our annual conference dedicated to the intersection of tech and media](. [Insert alt text here] [One of Peter Thiel’s closest aides might run for the US Senate]( Blake Masters could become the latest Thiel protege in Washington. [[Theodore Schleifer](] [BuzzFeed News' Ben Smith on covering Trump and making money]( Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith talks to Peter Kafka about how BuzzFeed News went from fledgling news organization to breaking major news stories in the Trump era. [Listen to the Recode Media interview here](. [Insert alt text here] [The Good Place is a good place to start learning about moral philosophy.]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences]( to receive fewer emails, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.