Twitter faces GDPR fine; cash near extinction in Norway

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Settling up

European regulators are close to an enforcement action against Twitter over potential GDPR violations.

Twitter reportedly exposed user data due to a security bug tied to its "protect your Tweets" feature, which has suffered protection lapses — with some user data exposure dating to 2014, reports TechCrunch.

Since social credentials are sometimes part of authentication for other apps, any Twitter exposure could potentially compromise apps for functions such as fund transfers. GDPR fines could reach 4% of a company's annual revenue, though most fines have fallen far short of that. The Twitter case is one of the early cross-border cases, making it one of the first GDPR cases to reach that scale.

Bloomberg News

All digital

Cash makes up only 4% of payments in Norway, a decline that should boost development of a central bank digital currency — though the government has not been aggressively pursuing one.

While Norwegians have traditionally embraced digital payments, the current use of cash is considerably lower than before the pandemic, reports Finextra, citing a recent government study.

Norway claims it's the world's least cash-dependent country, but does not plan to speed its CBDC program, which is normally a response to a concern about a lack of cash access.

Cruise control

Walmart and General Motors plan to test a fleet of driverless electric cars for delivery in early 2021.

The big box retailer will deploy the cars near Phoenix, and will link the vehicles to Walmart's mobile order and delivery app, reports CNBC. The partnership is part of GM's Cruise electric vehicle division, and is part of Walmart's goal to reach zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Walmart, which is testing autonomous vehicle delivery with about a half dozen other companies, is also locked in a delivery competition with Amazon, with both retailers investing heavily in "last mile" partnerships and innovation.

E-license

The Central Bank of Ireland has approved SumUp's application to operate an electronic money business.

The license allows SumUp to process payments and issue e-money wallets as well as provide services to Ireland's small businesses, such as its range of coronavirus-related products. SumUp earlier this year added a prepaid card to its menu of small business products.

Dublin will also act as a regulatory hub for SumUp's EU business, giving it coverage on the continent after Brexit.

From the web

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Federal judge dismisses some claims by Apple in fight against Epic Games
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A federal judge in California late on Tuesday dismissed some of Apple Inc's counterclaims against Epic Games, in a dispute that has seen the online game maker's "Fortnite" game removed from the iPhone maker's App Store.

Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, angel investor and COO of GoCardless, is joining Index as partner
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Index Ventures, the London and San Francisco-headquartered venture capital firm that primarily invests in Europe and the U.S., has recruited its latest investment partner.

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