THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Wednesday, August 21, 2019 |B3
Facebook Inc. will start giv-
ing users more control over
what data is shared with the
social-media giant from their
other online activities, a step
toward a pledge of enhanced
privacy options Chief Execu-
tive Mark Zuckerberg made
more than 15 months ago.
The initiative was one of
several announced by Face-
book on Tuesday, including
others designed to improve
how news gets presented on
the platform as well as how it
guards against political bias.
Regarding data, the com-
pany said it is rolling out a fea-
ture called “Off-Facebook Ac-
tivity” to let users see
information that apps and
websites gather on them and
send to Facebook, such as
shopping activity, logins using
Facebook credentials and site
visits that trigger tracking sig-
nals. People will be able to use
the tool to prevent that data
from being associated with
their Facebook accounts.
The new tool has limits. Us-
ers can’t delete the outside
data that apps and websites
send Facebook. It still will col-
lect that information anony-
mously—unlinked to users’ ac-
counts if they choose—to
provide analytics and advertis-
ing conversion metrics. And it
won’t give users the ability to
limit or even see the full list of
data that Facebook gathers
from their direct interaction
with the company’s products.
“They’re trying to do every-
thing they can to fly under the
banner of privacy and still
maintain their business prac-
tices,” said Ashkan Soltani, a
former Federal Trade Commis-
sion technologist who focuses
on privacy issues. “Providing
users with the ability to delete
their information when the in-
frastructure is built to main-
tain it all is very difficult.”
The feature will be available
first only to account holders in
South Korea, Ireland and
Spain, but will roll out to all
users in the coming months,
Facebook said.
The move is Facebook’s lat-
est response to an uproar over
its handling of user informa-
tion—including that collected
on other platforms. The Wall
Street Journal reported in Feb-
ruary that some apps were
sending Facebook deeply per-
sonal information without
those users’ knowledge, such
as users’ weight-loss goals or
even the timing of their men-
strual cycles. As part of its
new tool, Facebook will both
screen apps for potentially in-
appropriate data and allow us-
ers to report any that slip
through.
Also on Tuesday, Facebook
continued revamping how it
presents news stories. Face-
book told the New York Times
that it would hire a small team
of journalists to help it curate
“News Tab,” a new section of
the Facebook mobile app that
will present recent stories to
readers. The Wall Street Jour-
nal previously reported that
Facebook was planning to pay
news outlets for the use of
their content in such a feature.
Facebook also announced
the conclusion of its conserva-
tive free-speech audit, which
was launched in response to
complaints that the platform
at times suppressed conserva-
tive viewpoints.
Led by former Arizona Re-
publican Sen. Jon Kyl, the
eight-page report came to no
firm conclusions about bias on
the platform. Instead, it cata-
loged potential areas of con-
cern, including that Facebook’s
prohibition against hate speech
might disproportionately apply
to conservatives and that its
ban on shocking content in ad-
vertisements limited the ability
of antiabortion organizations
to buy ads featuring photos of
premature babies. The report
stated that “there is still sig-
nificant work to be done to
satisfy the concerns we heard
from conservatives.”
BYJEFFHORWITZ
Tightens
Privacy
Controls
The social network
makes its response
to the latest uproar
over user data.
with merchants and suppliers
to limit the tariff effects.
The number of customer
transactions was flat from a
year ago, while the amount of
money customers spent per
visit rose 1.7%, and big-ticket
transactions, or the number of
comparable transactions over
$1,000, climbed 3.7% from a
year earlier.
“The consumer is healthy
today,” Ms. Tomé said in an
interview, citing the number
of customers and transactions
Home Depot sees in stores and
online.
She said consumer confi-
dence is high, wages are up
and homeowners are spending
right now.
Same-store sales—a com-
mon metric in retail based on
revenue at stores open at least
one year—rose 3%. Analysts
expected a 3.3% rise.
Overall sales for the Atlanta
company rose 1.2% from a year
ago to $30.84 billion, slightly
behind analysts’ estimates of
$31 billion, according to Fact-
Set.
Home Depot said its sec-
ond-quarter earnings fell to
$3.48 billion, or $3.17 a share,
but topped analysts’ projec-
tionsof$3.09ashare.
Shares of Home Depot
closed up 4.4% on Tuesday
and have gained 26% in the
year.Home Depot Inc. lowered
its sales forecast and warned
that falling lumber prices—as
well as the potential effects of
tariffs on U.S. consumers—
could weigh on growth.
The home-improvement re-
tailer said fiscal 2019 sales
growth would increase by
2.3%, down from its previous
guidance of 3.3%. Same-store
sales were projected to grow
by about 4%, a percentage
point lower than its previous
forecast. The company af-
firmed its earnings guidance,
projecting per-share earnings
growth of about 3.1%.
Lower lumber prices,
crimping what Home Depot
can charge customers, have re-
sulted in about $340 million in
lost revenue from a year ago,
Chief Financial Officer Carol
Tomé said on a call with ana-
lysts on Tuesday. Meanwhile,
the volume of lumber sold has
increased, she said.
The company also said the
potential role of tariffs fac-
tored into its revised guid-
ance. Chief Executive Craig
Menear said in a conference
call that Home Depot has to
weigh the uncertainty around
the tariffs and the potential
“total impact on the cus-
tomer.”
Ted Decker, executive vice
president of merchandising,
said on the call that he and his
team have been negotiatingBYKIMBERLYCHINHome Depot Warns on
Sales, Lumber Prices
Heard: Home Depot holds up
to housing fears..................... B14seven fires. The retailer is de-
manding Tesla remove the
roof-mounted panels from
more than 240 Walmart loca-
tions and cover the costs.
Walmart, the world’s larg-
est retailer, alleges the fires
destroyed significant amounts
of store merchandise and that
buildings required substantial
repairs, costing hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
Tesla didn’t immediately re-
spond to a request for com-
ment.
Some of the problems withthe panels stemmed from a
rushed approach to the sys-
tem’s installation, Walmart
said in its filing, and that indi-
viduals sent by Tesla to in-
spect the panels lacked basic
solar training and knowledge.
“Walmart’s inspectors ob-
served negligent and danger-
ous wire connection practices,
which were readily apparent
at many of the sites visited
and are a critical risk factor in
contributing to fires,” the re-
tailer alleges in its suit.
Walmart said it began usingsolar panels made by Solar-
City, which Tesla acquired in
2016, in 2010.
Walmart had no comment
beyond the suit. Shares of
Tesla were off about 1.4% dur-
ing after-market trading.
After acquiring SolarCity,
Tesla began selling and leasing
solar panels in Tesla show-
rooms, with the leases extend-
ing 10 to 20 years.
Later, Tesla began promot-
ing sales as opposed to leases.
Once the top U.S. residential
solar installer, Tesla rankedNo. 3 in the first quarter, with
a 6.3% share, according to
Wood Mackenzie, a firm that
tracks renewable-energy proj-
ects.
The company this week said
it was offering to rent solar
panels to homeowners in Ari-
zona, California, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Jersey
and New Mexico.
Last month, Tesla told ana-
lysts on an earnings call it was
optimistic for its future in so-
lar, saying its “energy prod-
ucts business will grow.”Walmart Inc. is suing Tesla
Inc., alleging that some of the
company’s solar panels
sparked roof fires at several of
the retailer’s locations, adding
to the problems the electric-
car maker has had with its
venture to power homes and
stores.
In a suit filed in New York
state court on Tuesday, Wal-
mart said that as of last No-
vember, Tesla’s solar panels
were responsible for at leastBYPATRICKTHOMASWalmart Alleges Tesla Solar Panels Caused Fires
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The retailer said tariffs’ impact on consumers could limit growth.
LUKE SHARRETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS
BUSINESS NEWS
Alibaba has co-financed or
marketed three Oscar movies
in China.
“Green Book,” the best-pic-
ture-winning story of two men
navigating race relations in
the 1960s American South,
collected $71 million in
China—just $14 million shy of
its haul in U.S. and Canada—
despite little familiarity
among Chinese moviegoers
with the Jim Crow era. “Bohe-
mian Rhapsody,” the Queen
biopic that won four Oscars,
was released in singalong ver-
sions that tapped into China’s
passion for karaoke. Both still
went through the country’s
censorship process and saw
cuts made.
The most unlikely commer-
cial performance belonged to
“Capernaum,” a critically cele-
brated film by Lebanese direc-
tor Nadine Labaki about a
young boy living in poverty.
“The audiences in China are
developing their tastes,” said
Alibaba Pictures President Wei
Zhang.
Many in Hollywood see Ali-
baba as a partner to help navi-
gate a marketplace with differ-
ent moviegoer expectations.
“They have a really good
feel for what would seem to be
an American story, and take
the pieces of that story and
translate them into a language
Chinese audiences can under-
stand,” said Jeff Small, presi-
dent of “Green Book” produc-
tion company Amblin
Partners.
The Academy Awards have
loomed large in China’s enter-
tainment ambitions. Dalian
Wanda Group Co., which for
several years was the biggest
Chinese acquirer of Hollywood
firms, in 2016 mounted a se-
cret but fruitless campaign
that invested in productions it
thought could win Oscars.
Alibaba’s chief rival, Ten-
cent Holdings Inc., announced
in June that it had bought a
stake in “A Beautiful Day in
the Neighborhood,” a Mr. Rog-
ers biopic coming this fall that
awards prognosticators see as
a potential contender.
In the past, Alibaba—often
seen as China’s Amazon.com
Inc.—took stakes in blockbust-
ers like the “Mission: Impossi-
ble” franchise and other major
releases. “Forrest Gump” was
a favorite of Alibaba founder
Jack Ma, Ms. Zhang said.
No one at Amblin thought
“Green Book” would appeal to
the Chinese market before Ms.
Zhang, an Amblin board mem-
ber thanks to a 2016 Alibaba
Pictures investment in the
company, Mr. Small said.
Chinese posters highlighted
the movie’s themes with slo-
gans like, “There are so many
lonely people in the world, be-
cause they’re afraid to take
the first step.”
Chinese censors did de-
mand one cut: A scene in
which Don Shirley, a pianist
played by Mahershala Ali, is
caught by police after an inti-
mate encounter with another
man was edited so it was less
apparent the men were nude.
—Xiao Xiao
contributed to this article.
Everyone in Hollywood
knew “Avengers: Endgame”
would be a hit at the Chinese
box office. No one there had
the same hunch about “Caper-
naum,” a Lebanese drama
that—despite being nominated
for best foreign-language film
in this year’s Oscars—hadn’t
cracked $2 million in any mar-
ket before capturing $54 mil-
lion in China.
Behind the unlikely perfor-
mance: Alibaba Group Hold-
ing Ltd., the e-commerce giant
that has succeeded in promot-
ing critically lauded movies to
Chinese audiences once used
to getting only big-budget of-
ferings from Hollywood.
It is a shift for a company
and a country whose taste in
Hollywood imports until re-
cently ran mainly to comic-
book adaptations or action
spectaculars. In recent
months, Alibaba has success-
fully marketed several Acad-
emy Award-winning and -nom-
inated movies, a strategy that
points to diversifying tastes in
the world’s No. 2 box-office
market.
Alibaba’s ability to turn
such movies into moneymak-
ers also speaks to Hollywood’s
growing reliance on Chinese
partners that can tap overseas
businesses and get Chinese
moviegoers to show up. So far,
BYERICHSCHWARTZEL
ANDJULIEWERNAU
Alibaba Hits Oscar Gold in China
‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ which won four Oscars, was released in singalong versions in China.
HOW HWEE YOUNG/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
NY
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