Facebook could be looking at a massive fine over the Cambridge Analytica data breach, Amazon is looking to sell its cashier-less store technology, and an innocent Florida man’s legal ordeal in a geofencing operation.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Alex Coop, thanks for listening.
Trending on Twitter, the Australian Information Commissioner is taking Facebook to federal court over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The 2018 data breach saw millions of private Facebook information collected without proper user consent. Now, the Australian Information Commission is suing Facebook up to $1.7 million for every account that was involved in the breach. Assuming the maximum penalty is applied to all of 86.3 million affected users, Facebook could be looking at an astronomical $529 billion fine.
Next, trending on Google, Amazon is considering selling its cashier-less store services to other retailers. According to a message to Reuters, Amazon already has signed several deals with interested parties. It has been testing its cashier-less checkout system for a few years now, and in February, it opened its largest automated storefront in Seattle. Unlike Amazon Go stores, however, the product in question, called Just Walk Out, requires customers to insert their credit cards before entering the store. All purchases would then be billed directly to the card.
Lastly, trending on Reddit, a Florida man was caught in an unfortunate case of geofencing. As part of a burglary investigation, the police used location data served by Google to identify potential suspects. Being an avid cyclist, Zachary McCoy happened to ride by the victim’s home three times at around the time of the robbery. This made him look suspicious to police, who then demanded Google to produce all details related to McCoy. Fearing that he’d be falsely charged, McCoy was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing, but only after a legal ordeal involving paying a large amount for a lawyer.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Tom Li, thanks for listening.