All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Get WIRED's daily briefing in your inbox. Sign up here
Amazon is seeking permission for its own broadband satellite constellation
Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems has applied to the US Federal Communications Commission for permission to launch a constellation of 3,236 broadband satellites (Ars Technica).
The planned communications network would cover most of the US and many neighbouring countries. But with an increasing trend for large, competing low-Earth orbit satellite constellations and concerns about both potential orbital debris and interference with astronomical observations, Kuiper Systems has promised that its satellites will take less than a year to "actively decommission and deorbit" when they reach end-of-life.
Facebook's biggest anti-misinformation project may be the effort to fix its own public image
Facebook takes particular interest in what its users have to say about it, tracking posts and public sentiment with a tool called Stormchaser and a monitoring program called Night's Watch, according to Bloomberg sources. This allows the firm to correct or reduce the appearance of scams such as viral posts saying it'll release your public information if you don't copy and paste them, but people who worked on the project say that Facebook prioritised tackling misinformation about itself instead of more broadly harmful false content.
The Metropolitan Police wants to follow China's example
The head of London's Metropolitan Police union has praised China's approach to facial recognition while defending the Met's own inaccurate systems (The Register). Speaking to BBC Radio Essex last Friday, Metropolitan Police representative Ken Marsh praised the Chinese government's famously repressive deployment of facial recognition technology, saying: "Although China is a very intrusive country and I don't agree with a lot of what they do, they've got it absolutely correct. They're recognizing individuals per second and they've got it spot on."
British Airways faces record fine over data breach GDPR failure
The UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, has announced its plan to levy a massive fine against BA – equivalent to 1.5 per cent of its global turnover (WIRED). Users who booked flights through the BA app or website over the course of three months in 2018 were directed to a fake website that siphoned off their personal details, including usernames and passwords, credit card details and important information required for travelling on flights, including names and addresses.
US Amazon workers plan European-style Prime Day strikes
For the first time, a US Amazon warehouse is planning a strike to coincide with Prime Day, protesting mandatory overtime and holiday cancellation enforced over the period (Gizmodo). Amazon's self-created Prime Day sale is a major date in its marketing calendar, pushing putative bargains in an attempt to create an online shopping frenzy among customers. It's currently not known whether any other US or European Amazon warehouses have strike plans for Prime Day.
The return of Netflix's Stranger Things
Listen now, subscribe via RSS or add to iTunes.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
