Microsoft today joined Amazon and IBM in limiting the privacy nightmare that is facial recognition software. IBM has left the business entirely, Amazon banned use by the police for one year, and Microsoft said they won’t sell for police use until a national regulation is in place. Yes, there’s some virtue signaling involved and there are plenty of other companies still in the business. But it’s a step in the right direction.
No one really knows what the post-COVID-19 world will look like, but everybody has an opinion. Let’s look at some today. We’ll start with this survey of marketers from The 614 Group, which found that just 19% expected in-person conferences will reach their pre-pandemic levels but 76% said they personally expect to attend. I’d interpret that to mean attendance is more likely than it seems. More here on what people miss most about their office (hint: it’s not their boss).
As you’re well aware, Dear Reader, consumers have increasing rights to find out what data companies have gathered about them from Neustar, Stirista, and other sources. One result is a growing list of vendors who help companies to find that data in their systems so they can share it when asked. You can add Transcend to that list: they have emerged from beta with a $25 million Series A, bringing total funding to $29 million.
Salesforce has reversed course on its bid to acquire data management and integration platform Informatica a source has told Reuters. Informatica itself said that it is not in talks to be acquired. Salesforce stocks rose on this latest news while Informatica’s fell.