Twitter has seen a 40% increase in government requests for user information since July last year, with the United States, Russia and Turkey the chief offenders.
While the company did not provide any information to requests in Russia and Turkey, an 8% compliance rate was recorded in the United States where government requests for customer data jumped by 29% since Twitter’s previous transparency report.
In Australia there were 10 government requests for customer information, and information was provided for half of these requests.
In a statement, Twitter encouraged other companies to be more transparent about government requests for customer information.
“As more companies consider publishing or expanding their own reports, we strongly encourage them to join us and our peers at Google, Vimeo, WordPress and Wikimedia in publishing government removal demands,” the statement read.
“The global community deserves this level of transparency from its governments and its service providers.”
Analytics startup Bottlenose has raised $US13.4 million in Series B funding to grow its product line and team of 40 full-time staff.
The round was led by KPMG Capital in exchange for an undisclosed equity stake. Bottlenose analyses real-time data in order for businesses to monitor and anticipate factors that can help them grow their business.
In a statement, co-founder and chief executive Nova Spivack said KPMG’s investment has validated the company’s strategy and will allow it to “help customers see over the horizon”.
“The key to success in today’s fast-paced environment is seeing and understanding what is happening in the present, in order to influence the direction of change as it happens,” he says.
“By analysing millions of changing data points in real time, Bottlenose provides a unique competitive advantage: understanding now.”
There are serious risks when it comes to customer security and privacy with driverless cars, according to a report in the US.
The New York Times reports that hackers can easily gain control of vehicles using wireless technology and car makers do not have the system necessary to detect or respond to security breaches.
The news follows rumours Google is developing its own competitor to Uber, which will likely run in conjunction with its driverless car project.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.51%, falling 90.10 points to 17,734.19. The Aussie dollar is currently trading at 78 US cents.
