NEWSWORTHY
A little light reading. After many months of speculation, shared workspace startup WeWork filed to go public. The 220-page filing (plus a financial addendum) revealed WeWork's revenue for the first half of 2019 doubled to $1.5 billion from a year earlier. The company's net loss increased 25% to $905 million. WeWork's paid user base also about doubled to 527,000 people as of June 30.
Dusting for prints. You can change your password but you can't change your fingerprint, so they say. That's too bad, because two security researchers uncovered an unencrypted database online containing more than one million people's fingerprints plus some facial recognition data. The data set is part of the Biostar 2 biometric lock system used around the world.
If at first you don't succeed. Messaging service Snap has said it's really a camera company, so probably no surprise that Snap is back with an updated version of its Spectacles glasses-with-cameras product. The new Spectacles 3 have dual cameras but cost $380, double the price of prior versions.
Down the rabbit hole. That Pentagon cloud computing contract that just may never be awarded is under review by the military's Office of the Inspector General. The review began in June, a month before President Trump said he would take "a very long look" at the process. Amazon and Microsoft are finalists for the $10 billion project known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure.
Not on my watch. The Federal Aviation Administration has banned some older Apple MacBook Pro models from flights due to recalled batteries. The ban covers 15-inch MacBook Pros sold between September 2015 and February 2017.
Don't make me do it. In other news from the government, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission said he would consider breaking up big tech companies, if necessary. "If you have to, you do it," FTC chair Joe Simons told Bloomberg in an interview. "It's not ideal because it's very messy. But if you have to you have to."
Another log on the pyre. Facebook was the latest company to admit it had contractors listening to recorded conversations of users. The company said it had paused the process, as Apple, Google, and Amazon have done. Facebook said the audio came from Messenger users who wanted voice chats transcribed.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The Baby Boomers are aging, everyone is working longer before retiring, and yet the tech industry isn't exactly known for its openness to older people. Ageism is "the last ism" society has yet to address, Tom Kamber tells writer Lauren Smiley in a piece for the MIT Technology Review. But Kamber's not standing by. He's the director of a New York City senior center called Senior Planet to teach and train older people about technology–everything from navigating Facebook to selling things on Etsy.
Roughly one in five arrive wanting to use technology to work and make money—whether because they've gotten bored with retirement or to turn a passion into a side hustle. They want Etsy and Instagram, Google Suite and Microsoft Word. They want to process payments on PayPal, and build a Wix website, and email video clips for acting auditions. They want to open stores aimed at older people like themselves, and launch magazines for curvy women, and drive around Harlem in their own dog-grooming van. They may want to reach their goals even more than younger folks do, because when you get to a certain age, "your horizon is shorter—your dreams become more critical and urgent," Kamber says.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Twitter Has Tripled the Number of Workers Policing Its Service In the Past Year By Danielle Abril
11 Female CEOs and Founders on What It's Really Like to Have a Baby While Running Your Company By Emma Hinchliffe
Why You Should Wait Until September to Buy an iPhone By Don Reisinger
The Viacom CBS Merger Could Dim Netflix's Rising Star By Aaron Pressman
Ever Wonder How a Product Becomes 'Amazon's Choice'? So Do Two U.S. Senators By Chris Morris
British Airways Has Yet Another Security Problem, New Report Says By Alyssa Newcomb
BEFORE YOU GO
So back in 1991 the star Hollywood director Sidney Lumet (who died in 2011) had a suggestion for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Shouldn't there be an Oscar awarded for best stunts? He had his stunt coordinator Jack Gill inquire and Gill was told the process might take "three or four years." Fast forward to 2019 and Gill is still waiting. But it's a great idea, as New York Magazine's Vulture blog writes this week.
This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Aaron Pressman. Find past issues, and sign up for other Fortune newsletters.
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