Have you ever wondered what would happen if swiping right replaced elections?
If so, you’re not alone. In his debut novel DISCO SOUR, loyal #TechAways reader Giuseppe Porcaro, Head of Communications at Bruegel, has dreamt up a world where that’s the reality.
Here at #TechAways, we love thinking about the future – especially one where a Tinder-like app defines politics. If you want to join a discussion exploring how technology is changing why we vote, who we love and how we live – join Giuseppe’s book launch on 24 May: For info and RVSP, click here.
P.S. We’d love to celebrate the creative achievements of other readers! Just shoot us an email if you have something exciting to share.
Register for #TechAways here.
What is Zuckerberg thinking? [The Guardian]
We should rejoice that Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg is finally coming to Europe to make amends for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, right? But wait a minute. He’s chosen the very week that Europe’s data privacy shakeup – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – is taking effect. He’s insisting that his session in Brussels with MEPs is behind closed doors, in contrast to his public hearings with U.S. policymakers. And he’s bypassing parliamentarians in the UK, seat of Cambridge Analytica, to spend quality time with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. All the signs are that his apology tour of Europe could be a suicide mission.
Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got job openings – and cool ones [TechCrunch]
Stuck in the job-hunting jungle? French startup Welcome to the Jungle is starting to think bigger – read ‘European’ – as it raises a funding round of €7 million. The Paris-based firm works with a video crew, photographers and writing staff to help more than 1,000 companies increase their exposure to job applicants. The startup’s Welcome Kit also helps them manage the applications received and make the whole recruiting process as smooth as possible. Welcome to the Jungle now wants to expand beyond French borders, eyeing Spain next – because when you’re high, you never, ever, want to come down.
Copyright comes for YouTubers [WIRED]
A prominent YouTube personality is being sued for allegedly stealing the identity and persona of another (previously) famous YouTuber in a slightly confusing story full of stage names, dramatic accusations and, unfortunately, domestic abuse. Mars Argo (aka Brittany Sheets) has accused Poppy (Moriah Rose Pereira) and Titanic Sinclair (Corey Mixter) of transforming Poppy into a Mars Argo “knockoff”. If Mars Argo wins, it could set a precedent for YouTubers worldwide. But experts say the case is not specific enough in its complaints of infringement. At stake is whether Mars Argo is a well-defined enough character to be copyrightable. Mars Argo has requested a jury trial, so we will wait and see how the American public understands and cares about copyright issues.
Cloud and AI, special guests during the royal wedding [The Register]
If you are a royal wedding fan without a good memory for VIP names and faces, don’t panic Technology has you covered. An app using AI-based facial recognition software will – in real time – identify the guests and indicate their names and background information as they arrive for the ceremony. Even though it will bring the event into a techier dimension, it also raises privacy issues. Using AI-based recognition to identify people during an event, and sharing information collected with people using the app, might raise red flags for some. Hey, it’s not the 25th of May yet!
Going postal over GDPR’s unintended consequences [The FT]
We have to admit, this one left some of the digital native generation at #TechAways bemused. Why would GDPR result in a decline in snail mail posted through the UKS’s Royal Mail service? Of all the consequences we’ve read about, this seemed particularly farfetched. But the Gen-Y crowd was reminded that a lot of posted mail consists of – for lack of a better word – spam. Analog spam still relies on all that personal data stored on a server somewhere. In a statement, the Royal Mail was direct in placing the blame: “Due to the potential impact of GDPR and, or, if business uncertainty persists, we expect to be at the higher end of the range of decline for 2018-19.” Stay tuned for other interesting GDPR snippets over the coming weeks – or months.
#TechAways is brought to you by Cambre’s Technology Practice led by Victoria Main and featuring Fernando Anton, François Barry, Zachery Bishop, Lauren Clark, Nicolas Gyss, Anne-Claude Martin and Simos Piperidis.
Questions, comments or ideas to zbishop@cambre-associates.com.