Amazon executives are also preparing for coronavirus disruptions. An article by Karen Weise and Michael Corkery outlined the measures the company is taking to hedge against the potential that the impact of the virus gets worse. The Everything Store is “making larger and more frequent orders of Chinese-made products that had already been shipped to the United States,” they wrote.

But at the same time, some suppliers are trying to lower demand, cutting back on advertising and promotions so they don’t run out of stuff.

Privacy debates and doorbells

Speaking of Amazon: Not everyone agrees on where to draw the line between privacy and convenience, sometimes not even everyone in the same house. One couple fighting over whether to keep an Alexa-enabled Echo speaker in the home invented their own solution: a bracelet of silence that jams microphones. Wear it and it’s like smart-home armor. The tale of the couple, two computer science professors, was brought to us by Kashmir Hill.

But if you do agree on getting something that records video and listens — especially a Ring doorbell — there are some privacy best practices, which Brian X. Chen outlined in his latest Tech Fix column. There are many, many steps required, including getting a burner phone number. And his conclusion: “If that all sounds like a lot of effort just to use a security camera, that’s because the security concerns make Ring products impractical to own.”

In Europe, leaders are very good at regulating technology, pioneering responses to issues of privacy and antitrust, but can it build tech giants of its own? My colleagues Adam Satariano and Monika Pronczuk wrote: “As Europe has created a reputation as the world’s most aggressive watchdog of Silicon Valley, it has failed to nurture its own tech ecosystem. That has left countries in the region increasingly dependent on companies that many leaders distrust.” Now it is trying to change that and reclaim “technological sovereignty.”