#1 | Major retailers accept crypto payments via Spedn
A number of retailers including Amazon-owned Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and Crate and Barrel will start accepting cryptocurrency payments. The initiative comes via a partnership between digital currency company Gemini and payment startup Flexa that enable users to pay with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, or Gemini’s dollar-backed stablecoin called the Gemini dollar. Retailers had to configure their digital scanners to accept phone-based crypto payments from an app called Spedn. Flexa will operate as a bridge between the blockchain and merchants settling payments in real time. It remains to be seen whether this initiative could lead to mainstream adoption of crypto payments.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/2WRkOw2 http://bit.ly/30r93hW
#2 | WhatsApp hack shows that no app is fully secure
WhatsApp released software fixes for a security flaw that left many of its 1.5 billion users exposed to spy software. The app’s end-to-end encryption wasn’t broken and malicious actors couldn’t read messages as they travel across the internet. But they could access messages before they’re encrypted and once they’re decrypted. This incident shows that even major tech firms make critical mistakes and that absolute security remains an elusive goal. The best thing users can do is to follow basic principles and regularly update systems, use strong passwords, and be wary of links in unexpected emails or messages.
Read more here: https://bbc.in/2VqOcHS http://bit.ly/2WQCsjg
#3 | San Francisco to ban facial recognition AI
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the proposal to ban the use of facial recognition tech in city agencies, including law enforcement. Any surveillance operations would now have to get board approval. The measure, the first of its kind by any major city in the US, comes amidst heated debates about civil liberties, and bias and error rates of facial recognition algorithms. Industry groups argue that the full ban of this technology, which has many reasonable uses, is an extreme measure. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2w2XgbN https://n.pr/2WNymsk
#4 |Amazon is testing robots that box up orders
Amazon is testing the use of robots to pack customer orders, a job currently performed by thousands of its workers. Machines built by the Italian firm CMC Srl can crank out up to 700 boxes per hour, which is five times faster than a human packer, and require only three persons to operate. If Amazon fully deploys these machines, that would lead to more than 1,300 job cuts across 55 fulfillment centers in the US. But the company is still vetting the technology and is analyzing the impact of layoffs on subsidies and public goodwill it enjoyed because of job creation. Nonetheless, the plan shows that Amazon is relentlessly looking for ways to reduce labor and boost profits by introducing increasingly efficient automation systems.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/2YBeE3h https://reut.rs/2VLZT0H
#5 | YouTube and content creators fight against European copyright directive
Read more here: https://cnb.cx/2EflnbB http://bit.ly/2JR8nN7
