Each week, we review the week’s news, offering analysis about the most important developments in the tech industry.

Hi, I’m Jamie Condliffe. Greetings from London. Here’s a look at the week’s tech news:

When Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s big privacy pivot, he was short on specifics. This past week, we got a glimpse at some of what he might be thinking.

Casey Newton of The Verge reported that Facebook was internally testing a new Instagram app called Threads. Instagram is increasingly Facebook’s main engine of growth, so it’s reasonable to assume that any product developed there is a reflection of Facebook’s broader intentions. (A caveat: This app may never enter public use. Instagram declined to comment.)

More from The Verge:

Threads, which is designed as a companion app to Instagram, invites users to automatically share their location, speed and battery life with friends, along with more typical text, photo and video messages.

And:

Screenshots reviewed by The Verge show an app that’s designed to promote constant, automatic sharing between users and the people on their “close friends” list on Instagram. Opt in to automatic sharing, and Threads will regularly update your status.

Beyond the usual privacy concerns, it’s interesting to consider why automated sharing might be interesting for Facebook, as well as the impact it could have on users.

A private Facebook means less data shared publicly, but the company will still need reams of it to power targeted ads. Reducing friction for users posting content, so apps just do it for them, is useful to the company.

“The benefit of frictionless design for Facebook could be a limitless stream of data to analyze and mine,” said Christopher Burr, who studies the philosophical and ethical issues surrounding the impact of technology on mental health at the Oxford Internet Institute.