Technology
TikTok owner ByteDance launches Douyin Pay, an e-payment service
Technology|Business|: Beijing: TikTok owner ByteDance has begun rolling out an electronic payment service connected to Douyin, the Chinese version of the popular short video app, the tech giant said Tuesday. Douyin Pay, which functions similarly to reigning Chinese electronic wallets WeChat Pay and Alipay, aims to "supplement existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience," ByteDance told AFP. The move sees the tech giant wade into China's lucrative market for electronic payment services, which are used by hundreds of millions of consumers for everything from street food to fast fashion and online purchases. Users of the app will be able to connect bank accounts to the service, which can then be used to pay for products promoted by video influencers as well as to tip content makers. ByteDance said it would gradually roll out the function to users. Douyin, which listed over 600 million daily active users last year, has quickly grown from its short video roots to include livestreaming and e-commerce. Livestream shopping is a nearly $70 billion industry in China, attracting influencers who scour markets and malls for items to peddle to live audiences via social media.
India asks Facebook's WhatsApp to withdraw privacy policy update
Media|India|Business|: New Delhi: India's technology ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy the messenger announced this month, saying the new terms take away choice from Indian users. The demand creates a new headache for WhatsApp and its US parent Facebook, which have placed big bets on the South Asian nation to expand their payments and other businesses. "The proposed changes raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens," the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote in an email to WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart dated January 18. "Therefore, you are called upon to withdraw the proposed changes," the ministry wrote in the letter seen by Reuters. Read more How WhatsApp lost the trust of its users in India, its largest market WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash WhatsApp answers questions about February 8 update, says it doesn't share private information with Facebook Is Signal better, safer than WhatsApp? What would we do without WhatsApp? California-based Facebook invested $5.7 billion last year in the digital unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance with a huge part of that aimed at drawing in tens of millions of traditional shop owners to use digital payments via WhatsApp. With 400 million users in India, WhatsApp has big plans for India's growing digital payments space, including selling health insurance via partners. Those aspirations could take a hit if Indians switch to rival messengers such as Signal and Telegram, downloads of which have surged after WhatsApp said on Jan. 4 it could share limited user data with Facebook and its group firms. It is of "great concern" that Indian users have not been given the choice to opt out of this data sharing with Facebook companies and are being given less choice compared to the app's European users, the tech ministry letter said. "This differential and discriminatory treatment of Indian and European users is attracting serious criticism and betrays a lack of respect for the rights and interest of Indian citizens who form a substantial portion of WhatsApp's user base," it said. The ministry asked WhatsApp to respond to 14 questions including on the categories of user data it collected, whether it profiled customers based on usage and cross-border data flows. WhatsApp did not respond to a request for comment but has previously said the update to its privacy policy did not affect the privacy of users' messages with friends, family and in groups. The company said last week it would delay the new policy launch to May from February, after facing criticism from users in India and elsewhere to the new terms. WhatsApp has launched a media advertising campaign in India to calm worried users. The update to the privacy policy has also resulted in two legal petitions in Indian courts.
Food waste + fly larvae = millions of dollars for this facility north of Calgary
News/Canada/Calgary: Enterra Feed Corp. last year opened a 17,500-square-metre production facility, about the size of three football fields. It's been producing insect-based feed ingredients out of the Rocky View plant for the pet food, poultry and wild bird markets in North America and Europe.
Hundreds of health care facilities were hit by ransomware last year amid pandemic
At the University of Vermont Medical Center in October, a cyberattack knocked out 5,000 computers on the hospital's IT network, disrupting everything from its financial systems to its radiology services and sleep studies. Patient care ground to a halt -- and the outage lasted for weeks.
Toronto businesses getting digital help after being forced to compete online due to COVID-19
News/Canada/Toronto: Some Toronto business owners are getting help with e-commerce as government rules are forcing them into the digital marketplace — and competition with established online brands.
Montreal servers hosted TheDonald, far-right site blamed for stirring up violence at Capitol riot
News/Canada/Montreal: The servers provided a temporary home to TheDonald, a forum for right-wing extremists, after it was shut down by Reddit over racist, violent content and as other tech companies cracked down on hate speech.
Could new virus variants derail COVID-19 vaccination efforts? Scientists hope not
News/Health: The more opportunities the coronavirus has to replicate, the more it will evolve, potentially creating a new variant that won't be mitigated by current vaccines. With concerning sets of mutations already popping up around the world, scientists are on high alert.
Facebook posts promoting violence still circulated even after insurrection
Facebook posts promoting violence during inauguration week have circulated on the platform over the past week despite a crackdown by the social media giant since the January 6 insurrection, a tech watchdog group found.
