Month: June 2021
Europe wants to go its own way on digital identity
In its latest ambitious digital policy announcement, the European Union has proposed creating a framework for a “trusted and secure European e-ID” (aka digital identity) — which it said today it wants to be available to all citizens, residents and businesses to make it easer to use a national digital…
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A new video platform offering classes about skilled trades begins to build momentum
Trade schools are nothing new, but a new startup called Copeland thinks it can build a big business by bringing education about plumbing, drywall, cabinetry and more to the masses through high-quality pre-filmed classes online that feature industry pros and professional educators. If it sounds like a kind of MasterClass…
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Rebranded Toyota Ventures invests $300 million in emerging tech and carbon neutrality
Toyota AI Ventures, Toyota’s standalone venture capital fund, has dropped the “AI” and is reborn as, simply, Toyota Ventures. The fund is commemorating its new identity by investing an additional $300 million in emerging technologies and carbon neutrality via two early-stage funds: the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund and the Toyota…
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TikTok just gave itself permission to collect biometric data on US users, including ‘faceprints and voiceprints’
A change to TikTok’s U.S. privacy policy on Wednesday introduced a new section that says the social video app “may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information” from its users’ content. This includes things like “faceprints and voiceprints,” the policy explained. Reached for comment, TikTok could not confirm what product developments…
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Google set to allow ads for crypto exchanges and wallets for the first time Cryptocurrencies
Google has announced that it will update its financial products and services policy to allow businesses providing cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets to advertise on its platform later this summer. Cyrptocurrency advertisements have been banned by the search giant since March of 2018 though it did update its policy just a…
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Climate tech is about to fly commercial
A greenhouse gas-tracking technology is about to go commercial. Greenhouse gas detectors will soon take flight on an Alaska Airlines-run Boeing 737-9, in an effort to help federal scientists get even more information about how we’re changing the climate. The tools would measure concentrations of planet-heating pollution in the air,…
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