European regulators have questions about a Facebook privacy breach, Clubhouse is adding payments, and a robotics company has SPAC plans. This is your daily crisis for April 6th, 2021.
The big story: Facebook faces data breach questions
A breach of personally identifiable information (such as email addresses and phone numbers) on more than 500 million Facebook accounts was discovered over the weekend thanks to a story in Business Insider. Although Facebook said the breach was related to a security vulnerability “found and fixed” in August 2019, the Irish Data Protection Commission – Facebook’s leading data protection officer in the European Union – suggested that they seek the “full facts” on the matter.
“The newly released dataset appears to include the original dataset for 2018 (pre-GDPR) and combine it with additional records that may have been from a later period,” Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement. “A significant number of users are EU users. Much of the data seems to have come from public Facebook profiles some time ago. “
Additionally, it looks like EU regulators are also looking into Facebook’s acquisition of customer service company Kustomer.
The technology giants
Apple launches an app to test devices that work with “Find My” – Find My Certification Asst. was designed for Made for iPhone licensees who need to test the interoperability of their accessories with Apple’s Find My network.
Google Cloud joins the FinOps Foundation – The FinOps Foundation is a relatively new open source foundation that aims to bring companies together in the area of “Cloud Financial Management” in order to establish best practices and standards.
Facebook confirms “testing” of Venmo-like QR codes for person-to-person payments in the US – this feature allows a user to scan a friend’s code with their smartphone’s camera to send or request money.
Startups, Financing and Venture Capital
Clubhouse starts payments so developers can make money – it’s like a virtual tip jar or a clubhouse version of Venmo.
Robotic Exoskeleton Maker Sarcos Announces SPAC Plans – The deal could value the robotic exoskeleton maker and blank check company at potentially $ 1.3 billion in total.
Hipmunk founders launch Flight Penguin to bring back hipmunk-style flight search – I missed hipmunk.
Advice and analysis of extra crunch
Giving EV Batteries a Second Life for Sustainability and Profit – Automakers and startups are looking for ways to reuse batteries before sending them off for recycling.
Will Topps’ SPAC-led debut expand the busy NFT market? – Topps and its products are popular with the same people who are very excited about creating rare digital items on certain blockchains.
LG’s exit from the smartphone market comes as no surprise. Why didn’t that happen earlier?
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Everything else
GM is building a Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup with a range of more than 400 miles – GM is positioning the full-size pickup for both the consumer and commercial markets.
Putting Belfast on the TechCrunch Card – TechCrunch’s European Cities Survey 2021 – This is the continuation of the major investor survey we’ve conducted over the past six months or more, mostly in capital cities.
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