T-Mobile’s updated privacy policy adds opt-out customer data sharing

The Verge

T-Mobile will soon put a new privacy policy into effect that will allow it to share certain kinds of customer information with third-party advertisers. Starting on April 26th, 2021, all customers will be automatically opted in to the new program, as spotted by The Wall Street Journal. Customers who don’t want to participate will need to manually opt out using their accounts’ privacy tools.

T-Mobile’s new policy is no different than AT&T or Verizon’s. This is an about-face for former Sprint customers, however. T-Mobile acknowledges in its announcement of the policy change that Sprint offered a similar opt-in service rather than an opt-out one.

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Homebuyers can now use their mobile phone to prove their identity

Gov.uk

HM Land Registry’s first Digital Identity Standard is launched today (Friday 12 March). It provides a step-by-step list of requirements for conveyancers’ use of digital services to verify their client’s identity securely and conveniently online.

The new standard is optional. However, it offers a ‘Safe Harbour’ for those conveyancers who meet the requirements. HM Land Registry would not seek recourse against conveyancers who comply with the standard in the event their client was not who they claimed to be. This makes identity verification much more convenient as it can be done at any time, without the need to meet physically, for all clients whether residential or commercial. It also provides enhanced security by requiring the use of smartphones to extract encrypted information contained within the chips of documents such as passports.

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Facebook targets emerging markets with the launch of Instagram Lite, an Android app that takes up just 2MB, in 170 countries

TechCrunch

Growth for Facebook is coming from the developing world, and so the social network today made another key move to cater better to consumers in those countries. After nearly three years in the planning, Facebook is taking the plunge today and officially launching Instagram Lite, a less data- and storage-intensive Android-only version of its popular photo and video app. It will take up just 2MB on a phone, and it is going live in 170 countries, with a focus on emerging markets, today.

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British Digital Bank Starling Raises $376M in Investment Round Led by Fidelity

Coinspeaker

Starling revealed its plans for using the raised funds. The digital bank plan to expand its business into Europe.
UK-based digital bank Starling has raised $376 million in a recently-concluded investment round led by financial services company Fidelity Investments. Now, the new cash investment has pushed Starling’s valuation to $1.5 billion.

According to a CNBC report, Starling is now lifted into the ranks of Europe’s unicorn companies with its new valuation, fueled by the fresh cash injection.

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Why eSIM standards need to change for low-power IoT

Ericsson Blog

Billions of small IoT devices will change our lives and transform industries, and the technology that supports this must adapt to this evolution. Although eSIM is a great candidate for low-power IoT solutions, there are certain challenges along the way. Read our proposal here.

Cellular networks, in particular 5G and NB-IoT, provide the energy-efficient connectivity and trustworthiness needed to allow small IoT devices to reliably and securely connect and communicate with other entities. Secure identities play a fundamental role for this much needed reliability and security, and are utilized at every layer for secure communication between devices, network nodes, applications, and humans – as discussed in Technology Trends 2020 by our CTO.

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What the rise of gaming means for brands

Raconteur

Accelerated by the appetite for new diversions in lockdown, gaming is morphing into a global entertainments phenomenon with profound implications for the marketing industry

There may be those naysayer brands that dismiss the fast-moving esports and gaming sector as a temporary fad among teenage boys, but shrewder heads believe its potential as a multi-demographic ad platform is only now becoming apparent. With what the industry calls the “gaming ecosystem” rapidly migrating from computers and consoles to the ubiquitous smartphone, creating a meaningful brand presence among gamers, whether through in-app advertising, brand characters, sponsorship or shoppable content, is becoming increasingly important.

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We Went Hunting for Crypto Scams in Google and Apple App Stores. Here’s What We Found

Coindesk

On Feb. 24, an app called “Trezor” was quietly uploaded to the Apple App Store. It appeared to be a crypto app for the popular bitcoin hardware wallet, and it linked to the legitimate trezor.io website and privacy policy.

The developers labelled it “Data Not Collected” with Apple’s “nutrition labels,” which are meant to let users of the app store easily identify what information apps will gather about them and make decisions accordingly.

There’s just one problem: Trezor doesn’t have an app.

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China Telecom reaches 86m 5G customers as it plans Shanghai share listing  

Capacity Media

China Telecom has reported 2020 revenues up by 4.7% on the year with earnings up 1.4%.

The company said its revenues were 393.6 billion renminbi in 2020 — equivalent to US$60.7 billion. EBITDA was 118.9 billion renminbi, said the company, equivalent to $18.3 billion.

Meanwhile the company said that “5G achieved a promising start, with 86.5 million people now subscribing to 5G packages, 24.6% of the company’s mobile customers. “The number of mobile subscribers reached 351 million with net addition of 15.45 million, and the market share expanded to 22.0%.”

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Deep Dive: How AI And ML Can Help QSRs Drive Out Payment Fraud And Keep Mobile Diners Engaged

PYMNTS

Many quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are still looking to regain lost revenue and customer engagement as the pandemic continues to weigh on the restaurant industry, with financially struggling eateries seizing any advantages that can help them stand out from their competitors.

Many have turned to digital offerings and mobile order-ahead apps to meet these challenges, adding new channels and ways to interact with customers who are more and more attached to their smartphones.

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