2019年7月20日
Google will reportedly face a multimillion-dollar fine after an investigation found YouTube was in violation of children's privacy laws
The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly finalised a settlement with Google after an investigation found that YouTube was in violation of children’s privacy laws. Specifically, the investigation found in part that YouTube had been collecting the data of children under the age of 13 – a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The Washington Post report, which cited two people familiar with the matter, said the fine would likely be in the “multimillion-dollar” range, but the exact amount has yet to be learned. The report indicates that the FTC’s three Republican members are in favour of the settlement, while the two Democrats are against it.
With news of the FTC investigation swirling since June, Google has been considering fundamental changes to its video platform to protect children, including moving all children’s content to YouTube Kids, a secondary app with increased moderation, according to Bloomberg. YouTube has also considered disabling the platform’s recommendation feature for children’s programming, according to reports. This year, YouTube has already removed more than 800,000 videos that violated its child-safety policies.
In February, the FTC levied a $US5.7 million fine against TikTok, a video app geared toward teens, for not requiring parental consent before collecting data from users under the age of 13.
Amazon made an estimated US$2 million from its Australian Prime Day
Amazon’s Prime Day sales extravaganza was was held around the world this week and, in its second time running the event in Australia, it generated an estimated US$2 million in revenue. Asked about the performance of this week’s Prime Day in Australia, Walker admitted the company didn’t have a complete picture yet, but did make some educated estimates.
“So we know that the US predictions was US$6 billion…for Prime Day. If you look at us and say, well, we’re really about 10% of the size, you start to get down to US$6 million [mark]. Look, if it pulled up US$2 million maybe … somewhere around that mark,” Walker said.
“We’ve seen Black Friday, and all the major sales [like] Click Frenzy and so forth. So there’s an increasingly educated market to online sales and to these online events. There’s a strong awareness to the Amazon brand,” he said. “The whole [Prime Day] event is about increasing awareness. And so you have to have to look at that in an increasingly educated online event marketplace. And say, yes, that’s definitely growing. [Greater awareness] is definitely factor for that growth.”
Amazon’s penetration into the Australian market is on the rise, but that 50% of Aussie consumers are still unsure if they can trust the US retail giant. “Prime Day is the best of shopping, savings and entertainment and a way to say ‘thank you’ to Prime members,” said Amazon Australia country manager Rocco Braeuniger in the statement. Prime Day was also a boon for some third party sellers including Sydney-based pet products business Zenify, which saw one of its slow feeder dog bowls sell out, according to Amazon.
WeWork cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann reportedly sold shares he owned in the company and took loans worth $700 million
The cofounder and CEO of WeWork, the fast-growing co-working startup, has sold and borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions involving his shares in the company. Adam Neumann, WeWork’s largest single shareholder, has cashed out some of his stake in the company in recent years, while also borrowing money against his holdings. The news of Neumann’s transactions, which the WSJ said totalled $US700 million, comes as the office-space giant prepares for a highly anticipated IPO.
WeWork confidentially filed to go public in April and was valued at $US47 billion in its most recent private funding round in January. Neumann sold some of his stake through stock sales during several rounds of financing. Neumann used some of the proceeds to exercise his stock options and purchase more shares in WeWork. Neumann, 40, has also used the money to buy five private residents as well as to invest in commercial real estate and startups.
Selling sizeable stakes ahead of a planned public offering sends Wall Street mixed signals about the founder’s confidence in the company’s long-term viability on public markets. The company has raised $US10 billion in venture funding and debt funding since Neumann cofounded the company in 2011. The company’s financials have come under scrutiny in the run-up to its public debut as it struggles to turn large real estate investments into a profitable business model.
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