Amazon Launches AWS Africa Region in SA, Apple and France Divided on COVID-19 App Privacy Policy, and Facebook Invests $5.7b in India’s Reliance Jio

Africa

Amazon launches AWS Africa Region in SA

Amazon Web Services has launched its first data centre in South Africa to support the development of cloud applications on the continent, it has been reported. AWS Regions comprise of one or more data centres within specific geographic zones. A user’s accessibility and cloud pricing options depend on which region is under use. With an Africa Region, businesses and governments on the continent will now have at least one data centre close by, thereby reducing latency in data transfer. “The cloud is positively transforming lives and businesses across Africa and we are honoured to be a part of that transformation,” Peter DeSantis, Senior VP of Global Infrastructure and Customer Support said of the project.

Nigeria’s PalmPay creates $300k COVID-19 fund

Nigeria’s Africa-focused payments service provider, PalmPay, has launched a $300,000 COVID-19 pay out fund to support subscribers who contract the coronavirus, TechCrunch has reported. The PalmPay Support Fund will offer pay outs of up to $250 to customers who have contracted the virus. Also, the fund will reward customers with a gift for every transaction conducted for the next one month. In addition, the start-up is waiving all fees on transfers made within the country. “We want to provide relief…and get our customers feeling that they’re adding something to it as well,” PalmPay CEO Greg Reeve said in a telephone interview. PalmPay is backed by China’s Transsion Holdings and was established in 2019.

Europe

Apple and France face-off over contact-tracing app

France is pressing Apple to grant its COVID-19 contact-tracing app a waiver on its stringent privacy policy measures, the BBC has reported. France’s digital minister wants to collect more information on user smartphone than the iPhone maker currently makes possible. Both Apple and Google announced plans to provide the building blocks on which such tracing apps could be developed. The apps will use Bluetooth signals keep track of every time two or more persons come into contact with each other. This makes it easy to track potential victims if one person is diagnosed with the coronavirus. However, neither the platforms nor the app creators can know who has been warned about a potential viral infection. According to information, the French app will make it possible to identify users. Analyst fear “…that leads to the risk that the government later repurposes the system to make sure that people obey a quarantine or other kinds of things the state might want to know.”

Hisense to cut 2,000 jobs in Europe

Home appliances manufacturer, Hisense, will cut up to 2,200 jobs in Europe following a slump demand that has resulted from the coronavirus crisis, it has been reported. “The number of employees will be reduced in all units of Hisense Europe,” the company said, adding that some of its processes will be outsourced while some staff are put on voluntary retirement. The Slovenia-based Chinese-owned manufacturer admitted sales fell by almost two-thirds in April alone, while year-on-year volumes fell by a third. Hisense Europe employs more than 9,000 workers of which 5,580 are in Slovenia. The company forecasts losses worth tens of millions this year alone.

The Americas

Credentials of health leaders dumped online

A ton of credentials allegedly belonging to health leaders has been dumped on online platforms including 4chan and Twitter, it has been reported. Of the information dumped, about 9,900 passwords and emails belonged to workers at the National Institute of Health, 6,857 from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 2,700 from the World Health Organisation. Meanwhile, data from workers at the World Bank, the Gates Foundation, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology were part of those exposed. Experts believe the dump was from an older hack as none of the institutions have reported any recent security breaches.

YouTube bans wrong coronavirus-related content

YouTube has banned all coronavirus-related content that contradict WHO directives, the BBC has reported. The video-sharing site said it was part of measures to stamp out misinformation. There has been a surge in conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 and 5G networks with the WHO describing it as an “infodemic.” “So people saying, ‘Take vitamin C, take turmeric, we’ll cure you,’ those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy,” CEO Susan Wojcicki said, adding, “Anything that would go against World Health Organization recommendations would be a violation of our policy.”

Asia

Facebook invests $5.7b in India’s Reliance Jio

Facebook has announced that it is investing $5.7 billion in Reliance Jio, an Indian mobile internet company, it has been reported. The investment will give Facebook a 9.99% minority stake in the company which is owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. This represents yet another push by Facebook into an economy where its own WhatsApp has 400 million users. In addition, Facebook has made plans to offer a payments service in the country. “This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country,” Facebook said. Facebook added that it was planning to create a partnership venture between WhatsApp and JioMart, Reliance’s e-commerce to make it easy to connect businesses with buyers.

DForce hacker returns stolen money

A mystery hacker who allegedly stole $25 million in cryptocurrency from China-based DForce platform has returned the money to the platform, it has been reported. The hacker is believed to have tricked the system with a false deposit transaction while the hacker was in fact withdrawing coins from the platform. The hacker allegedly stole a variety of cryptocurrencies including $10 million in Ethereum and another $10 million in coins pegged to the US dollar. The returned coins are said to be in different mix of crypto currencies, however. “The hackers have attempted to contact us and we intend to enter into discussions with them,” DForce founder, Mindao Yang, said. DForce allows users to exchange cryptocurrencies with each other.