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Are the Brits sharing with Silicon Valley?
Well, are they? That’s what we want to know! The Telegraph has a new piece citing concerns from security officials over the flow of data between the country’s chief security department and companies in Silicon Valley. Seems like there’s a lot of that going around these days.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“One senior member of the intelligence community told The Daily Telegraph the discussion around Huawei should be provoking a wider debate about “just how we can effectively declassify key information [in order to share it with companies safely] when we’ve too much of it to examine in the first place.”
Speaking of international privacy law…
China isn’t exactly a paragon of virtue when it comes to keeping information private. The company’s social credit system is built on the idea that it can track citizens doing pretty much anything. But The South China Morning Post claims the government wants to do more, it’s just drafting the right legislation. Well…here’s hoping.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“This is a big problem in China,” said Liu Deliang, a law professor at Beijing Normal University. “Because it’s about regulating the government’s abuse of power, so it’s not only a law issue but a constitutional issue.”
What’s stopping the banks from joining the 21st century?
Fintech! A new Oracle report delves into what’s stopping banks from creating truly connected, digital experiences. Seems like they want a completely frictionless process for credit checks and other financial processes. But working with fintechs isn’t always easy, especially when it comes to protecting information. So…what to do? Build APIs, of course.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“The report advised banks to utilise the rise of open APIs to create connected networks to deliver services to customers. “This open banking ecosystem is an opportunity for banks and their partners to create multichannel solutions to create new commercial business models and sources of revenue.”
Google leaves the Nest…
Remember back when Google bought Nest, the connected devices maker? Well, it still owns it, but things are a little dicey. Google has shut down a “Working with Nest” program designed to help developers use the products. The reason? Privacy is a big part of it, though Google claims the program would break some existing APIs. Maybe. Still, hard to see this as anything other than a defensive move.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“Google is replacing it with a more restrictive “Works with Google Assistant” program later this summer, and Chandra said that it would give a small number of thoroughly vetted partners access to additional data if customers explicitly allowed such data sharing.”
…and starts flying for privacy
Well, speaking of Google’s renewed efforts on privacy. CEO Sundar Pichai crafts an op-ed for the New York Times saying privacy shouldn’t be a “luxury good” anymore, and instead baked into products as a standard. Well, duh. In any case, his piece is all about showing off some new privacy controls, but he does make one tiny mention towards the bottom that’s worth noting: governments are catching up to this. Silicon Valley sees where the future is headed.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“Legislation will help us work toward ensuring that privacy protections are available to more people around the world. But we’re not waiting for it. We have a responsibility to lead. And we’ll do so in the same spirit we always have, by offering products that make privacy a reality for everyone.”
That’s our wrap for this week. Thanks for reading – we hope you found it entertaining and informational. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these articles and anything else data related! Email us anytime at enquiries@datarepublic.com!
Until next week,
Team Data Republic