NEWSWORTHY
The cupboard was bare. Don't rush to file for your supposed $125 compensation payment from Equifax over its massive 2017 data leak. Turns out, despite 147 million people affected, the compensation fund had only $31 million–and it's now exhausted. You can still opt for free credit monitoring.
In the air tonight. Sticking in the world of too good to be true, the free service Locast that lets people watch their local broadcast TV stations over the Internet has drawn fire from the broadcast industry. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox sued the streaming service in federal court in New York, saying it violates their copyrights and must be shut down.
Financial engineering. The London Stock Exchange Group, which owns the, well, you know, is buying data and trading provider Refinitiv for $27 billion. The acquisition comes less than a year after several large investors formed Refinitiv by spinning off the financial and risk unit of Thomson Reuters in a deal that valued the business at $20 billion.
Hot ride. A couple of rentable Lyft electric bikes in San Francisco caught on fire this week, forcing the company to suspend its service while it investigates the incidents. "The last thing you need is a flaming bike as you're riding down the street," San Fran supervisor Vallie Brown told The San Francisco Examiner.
Can't look away. Supporters of sex tech startups like Dame Products and Unbound Babes protested outside Facebook's New York's headquarters on Wednesday, urging the social network to stop banning advertising from their sector. "We are working to further clarify our policies in this space in the near future," Facebook told CNET.
A falling tide. Rough seas for tech stocks on Wednesday. First, the entire sector plunged along with the rest of the market when the Federal Reserve indicated it was done cutting interest rates. Then came the earnings. Qualcomm's revenue dropped 13% to $4.9 billion (after excluding the almost $5 billion payment it got from Apple to settle the two companies' lawsuits). Bugging analysts was Qualcomm's forecast of up to $5.1 billion of revenue for the current quarter, at least $600 million less than the average forecast. Qualcomm shares, previously up 31% in 2019, lost 7% in premarket trading on Thursday. Fitbit said its revenue grew 5% to $314 million but that, due to disappointing sales of its Versa Lite smartwatch, it will bring in under $355 million next quarter. Fitbit's stock, down 15% this year, dropped 17% in premarket trading to all-time low levels.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
We've covered the debates over artificial intelligence used for facial recognition multiple times here. In a long piece for The Financial Times, Madhumita Murgia reviews how such facial recognition technology is being used in London, which has installed hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras. The police have been able to solve crimes thanks to the A.I. assistance, but civil libertarians are up in arms.
MPs on the science and technology committee last week urged the Home Office to impose a moratorium on all facial recognition trials until regulations can be established. The call has been backed by independent experts including AI researchers at the Ada Lovelace Institute; the biometrics commissioner; and the UK's data protection authority, which said the use of facial recognition in public spaces represented "a real step change in the way law-abiding people are monitored as they go about their daily lives".
However, the police believe the potential benefits are significant. "Live facial recognition technology has the potential to help our officers locate criminals who are wanted for serious and violent offences, such as knife and gun crime, and the sexual exploitation of children," said deputy assistant commissioner Duncan Ball of the Met Police.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Want to Own Kawhi's Jump Shot? NBA and CryptoKitties Maker Launch Digital Collectibles By Jeff John Roberts
DeepMind's Latest A.I. Predicts Kidney Injuries 48 Hours in Advance By Jeremy Kahn
How Intel Hopes to Catch Rivals With Its Latest Chips By Aaron Pressman
Reality-TV Born Startup Clearbanc Raises $300 Million to Help Companies Buy Instagram Ads By Jen Wieczner
As Tech IPOs Grow, Communications Is Even More Crucial By Kathy Bloomgarden and Robin Kim
Your Job Will Be Automated—Here's How to Figure out When A.I. Could Take Over By Gwen Moran
Capital One's Data Breach Could Cost the Company up to $500 Million By Lucinda Shen
BEFORE YOU GO
One of the sweetest, funniest shows on television ended its run on Wednesday night. The final episode of Jane the Virgin may–or may not–have brought a tear to my eye, but left Jane Gloriana Villanueva in a happy place. The first four seasons are available on Netflix, by the way.
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman. Find past issues, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters.
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