Gooooood morning everyone, happy Wednesday. It’s cold and miserable in Sydney today, but the tech news is keeping us warm (no, I don’t for a second believe that). Anyway..
1. U.S. starts surveillance of surveillance companies
The U.S. agency in charge of consumer financial protection is reportedly looking into regulating companies that track and sell people’s personal data. Per Reuters, a statement from the CFPB said the agency will be “taking steps to ensure that modern-day data brokers in the surveillance industry know that they cannot engage in illegal collection and sharing of our data”. Particularly “worrisome”, the agency said, in the age of AI. ICYMI, the ACCC in July kicked off a probe into companies that do that down under.
2. STEM has a diversity problem
A 44-page document was yesterday published about the state of diversity in STEM in Australia. The doc is a bunch of draft recommendations aimed at helping to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM-related careers. It comes via the Diversity in STEM Review Panel following a nation-wide engagement campaign to identify ways to address systemic and structural barriers limiting STEM participation. It’s…there’s 22 recommendations that basically say “we should be doing more”. Yeah, wow, cool.
3. Pr0n kebab
This is a super ridiculous one brought to our attention by The Verge, citing a report from local rag Chelsea News. The long and hard short of it is that a kebab joint in New York is facing a trademark infringement battle with the parent company of Pornhub.com. As both reports note, I don’t think anyone walking into Doner Haus is unsure what’s on the menu.
4. TPG to now get real-time fix for network performance
Now for something super duper high-tech and TPG Telecom has switched on a new analytics and troubleshooting solution that it said uses AI and machine learning to pinpoint, diagnose, and enhance network performance for its mobile, fixed-wireless, and IoT customers. As a consumer, it’s not something you’ll ever notice, but the agreement TPG has with Ericsson will give the telco the ability to respond in real-time when network issues arise, which is a win for all.
5. No one is giving you cheap Matildas tickets
Lastly, the ACCC and its new National Anti-Scam Centre has issued a warning to Matildas fans, noting there has been multiple reports of scams targeting fans on social media, including fraudulent ticket sales and fake live-stream links to matches. “Understandably, Australians are inspired by the phenomenal success of the Matildas, but fans should be very careful when last-minute ticket shopping for hugely popular events such as the World Cup finals,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said. Suprising no one, these scams are heavy on Facebook. Stay vigilant, folks. And, CARN THE TILLIES!!!
BONUS ITEM: Oh, thank god.
Stay warm!