Tech Giants: Arbiters Of Truth

The US president accused the tech giant of "stifling the truth."

According to Twitter spokesperson Katie Rosborough, the tweets were labelled because they contain “potentially misleading information about voting processes.” 

Even Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explained that labeling two of President Donald Trump's tweets with fact checks does not make the social media company an "arbiter of truth." Dorsey assumed accountability for Twitter’s actions and said, "There is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that's me.” 

Mark Zuckerberg said that "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online."

On this issue, I would take the side of Twitter providing it's users guidance to know the facts and make informed choices or opinions. Fact-checking should be in the DNA of tech giants whose platforms have a global reach and influence. 

Zoom addresses data privacy issues

With the continuing challenges of the pandemic, companies have allowed, encouraged or forced employees to work from home. Safety has become the mantra of many companies. But not all homes are equipped with the tools to enable productivity and efficiency of remote work.

 

Employees who work from home need a range of tools and technology. It starts with one’s internet connection which can get crowded with all other devices from family members connected. Often, I would tell my kids to shut down Netflix so I can have more bandwidth. Still, I would need to upgrade my Sky Broadband internet connection as soon my kids would also be studying from home. 

 

At least my MacBook Pro is still up to the challenge and is proof that technology works. I have deleted many files and documents, and even Rafa’s Minecraft app to allow more space. Still, I would need a new external drive.

 

Remote work has made Zoom part of the new normal around work collaboration tools. But even Zoom faced some recent challenges. Have you heard of “zoombombing?”

According to www.howtogeek.com, “Zoombombing” is when an uninvited person joins a Zoom meeting. Aren’t they like trolls? Zoombombers often share pornographic photos, throw in racial slurs and find ways to disrupt technology.

 

Photo from https://screenrant.com/zoom-bombing-report

Zoom zoomed in to address the issue. Even, Eric Yuan, Zoom’s chief executive, apologized. He said the recent problems are been addressed. Data privacy issues have been raised against Zoom. 

In a Zoom blog published last 8 April 2020, Yuan said, “We are committed to ensuring that the safety, privacy, and security of our platform is worthy of the trust of all of our users — both new and existing.”

 

If data is secured and protected, then, technology works.

Cashless transactions amidst the pandemic

With social distancing rules being strictly enforced around the country, technology is helping us navigate through the pandemic to keep us safe from the COVID-19 virus,

We all have seen the increasing use of cashless and contactless payment systems. eWallets are becoming more popular as they function like a debit card or credit card. This can be easy used in online purchase and retail establishments. 

Globe claims that GCash "has made financial transactions easier for its 20 million registered users. And with over 63,000 partner merchants in the country, it truly has helped revolutionize the way Filipinos transact." Yes, from bills payments to online shopping, GCash and other forms of eWallets have provided convenience to millions of Filipinos.

Cashless transactions are adjusting to changing consumer habits like refusing to handle cash. I am sure you have gone through a McDonald's or Jollibee drive-thru and the cashier would give you a small basket to place your cash. Yes, there is the fear that cash can carry the virus. But health and medical experts say there is little data to support this fear. Still, better safe than sorry. So, we better bring out our eWaller.

According to a Bloomberg story by Linda Poon, "The cashless economy may accelerate even faster in countries where pre-pandemic adoption was already high — like in Sweden, where some 80% of the population pay predominantly by card and just 1.3% of the country’s GDP is circulated in cash."

According to the 2016 Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes Survey, results revealed 49% of Filipinos are carrying more cards and 29% carry less cash since they consider e-payments safer than carrying cash.

The study also showed that 71% of Filipinos shop online at least once a month. This is up 11 percent compared to the previous year, as online platforms  like Carousell, Lazada and Shopee continue to enjoy increasing patronage.

The results of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) FIS, revealed that Filipino adults who own accounts grew to 29% in 2019 from 23% in 2017. "The number of Filipino adults who are unbanked is estimated at 51.2 million, out of a total adult population of 72 million in 2019," says the BSP.

But would you believe that EMV technology was only implemented in 2017 in our country in 2017 while other countries have had it in place ten years ago?

With the primary concern of people and companies quickly evolving to focus on health and safety, we can say that cashless transactions will be an integral part of the new normal. 

Hopefully, financial institutions like banks would be more accommodating and flexible with their own regulations to bring more Filipinos to go cashless. And paperless too!

Most Popular Social Networks from 2003 to 2019

It is amazing how social networks have evolved for the past several years. This video is from Data Is Beautiful You Tube Channel.

One can see some Chinese companies crawling up in search like Qzone which is China's Facebook and challenging tech giants like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Qzone begun in April 2005 as part of the Tencent Holdings s a Chinese multinational holding company founded in 1998. This company has subsidiaries in various segments such as artificial intelligence, internet services to entertainment in China and many countries.

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Growth of TikTok and Data Privacy

My daughter, Angel, is a fan of TikTok. She has been accessing TikTok through my old Samsung phone. And often shows me the short videos that she has created.

While it has experienced growth as teens and kids having more free time on their hands through summer vacation, internet and data privacy advocates are quick to call the attention of tech giants when data protection is placed at risk.

Even the US Department of Defense has to encourage its employees to avoid installing the app on their smartphones. CNN Business reports that "US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle warn that the app could pose a national security risk, and are calling on regulators and intelligence agencies to investigate TikTok's ties to China. 

In response, Sean Kim, Head of Product, TikTok US, in it's corporate website, says, "TikTok is committed to building an experience that protects the safety and privacy of our community."

Roland Cloutier, TikTok's Chief Information Security Officer, says, "Building technology security defenses is a constant effort to anticipate, plan, and react. What has been clear since I started this job almost three months ago is that the team at TikTok is fully committed to protecting the privacy of our users and providing transparency on our overall security efforts."

Technology works only when the user's data privacy is upheld and protected.

Tech Giants of 2018

Here are the top 20 internet leaders of 2018 as published in www.visual capitalist.com last 6 July 2018.

Maybe as I would have expected, Apple leads with a value of US$915 billion, followed by Amazon and Alphabet. Not many know that Alphabet is the parent company of Google, after Google restructured in 2015. The top guns at Google assumed leadership roles with Larry Page as CEO and Sergey Brin as president.

 You can see a few Chinese companies like Alibaba, Bai and Xiomi in this list. But am happy to see that Netflix is on that list.

77% of Filipinos still unbanked

The recently released 2017 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS) reports that 77% of Filipinos still unbanked. That is still a whole lot of Filipinos who are into the banking system. Only 15.8 million adult Filipinos, or 22.6 percent, have bank accounts. 

Other findings are:

1. The breakdown of 22.6 percent of adults who do own bank accounts shows 11.5% of them are in the formal banking sector, 8.1%are in non-government microfinance organizations, 2.9% are in cooperatives, and 0.3% are in non-stock savings and loan associations.

2. The top reason given for having bank accounts is to save in case of an emergency (42%), followed by saving for an education (31%), for business (29%), for safekeeping (23%) and as a form of investment (12%)

3. Around 52.8 million, or 77.4 percent, remain unbanked, citing reasons like lack of funds to put into a bank account or lack of documentary requirements. Or maybe, Filipinos still find many banks intimidating.

Opening a bank account can be made a simple and less intimidating process. And even, make it paperless.

Only if technology works to bring more financial inclusiveness for unbanked Filipinos.