JPMorgan fined for breaking record-keeping compliance, Meta is ranked the worst company of the year by Yahoo Finance, Amazon has removed its smartphone ban.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Monday, December 20, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Financial company JPMorgan Chase has been fined $200 million by two U.S. banking regulators for record-keeping malpractices. According to CNBC, the company admitted that its employees used personal devices to exchange sensitive financial information, and failed to keep records of important conversations since 2015. This violated federal securities laws. Federal regulators sometimes audit the conversations between brokers and clients to check if they’re violating antitrust and committing fraud. JPMorgan’s company-issued devices keep the proper records, but regulators have no insight into the employees’ personal devices. The company has promised to hire a compliance consultant to review its policies and training.
Yahoo Finance’s annual Company of the Year survey ranked Facebook/Meta as the worst company in 2021, out-tanking trading platform Robinhood, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, and electric vehicle company Nikola. Eight per cent of the survey respondents pitched their votes to Meta. That’s not surprising, however, as the company’s services were absolutely rife with controversies, including failure to stop misinformation, damaging mental health, and complaints of censorship of conservative voices.
Amazon has removed its no phone at work policy after six workers died when a tornado struck one of its facilities last week. In addition, the Omicron Covid-19 variant has pushed the need to maintain communication. The rule has been around for years in an attempt to prevent workers from being distracted. When the pandemic hit, Amazon temporarily lifted the restriction but reinstated it in January 2021. Now, Amazon has messaged some of its employees that phones would be allowed until further notice. In addition, Amazon shareholders are apparently calling for an audit of the company’s workplace following the recent deaths, which has been marred with employee treatment issues in the past.
Now for something a little different. Dutch authorities found that some necklaces that claim to protect people from 5G networks are radioactive. These accessories targets conspiracy theorists that believe 5G causes harmful radiation. Currently, there’s no evidence that 5G networks damage health as they’re non-ionizing and cannot change DNA. Besides necklaces, some bracelets for children and a sleeping mask were also found to be radioactive. Their seller, known as ANVS, has been told to cease their sales immediately.
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. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire Newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. If you have a suggestion or tip, please drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thanks for listening, I’m Tom Li.