Will Legislators Kill Libra?

7

October

2019

5/5 (1)

Libra is the cryptocurrency brought to life by Facebook. The currency will be governed by a Swiss group, called the Libra Association, which currently includes 27 member companies including Facebook, Mastercard, Visa, Lyft, Uber and Spotify which they want to expand to 100 companies in 2020 when Libra is supposed to launch. Before today Paypal used to be among these companies, but they decided to back out of the project which means a major setback for Facebook’s Libra currency (The Guardian, 2019).

From the moment Facebook unveiled Libra, the cryptocurrency has faced a storm of criticism. Mainly regulators and bankers raise concerns about the potential threats to everything from data privacy to financial stability and monetary policy (Bloomberg, 2019). The French government even stated that they will block the development of Libra in the EU (The Guardian, 2019). Because of all these different institutions attacking the Libra currency even Facebook executives have started tempering expectations of the Libra currency reaching their proposed launch date halfway through 2020.

Now, with Paypal backing out of the Libra Association and rumors of major Libra backers such as Mastercard and Visa questioning their involvement, the uncertainty about the success of the project has grown even further (Coindesk, 2019). PayPal has not given a reason for abandoning the project but instead released a statement saying they will leave the Libra Association to keep focus on their core business. PayPal dropping their support and Visa and Mastercard supposedly questioning their involvement might be a sign that the legislators are getting their way and the Libra Association is slowly crumbling down. It will be interesting to see if any other companies follow PayPal’s lead.

Hern, A. (2019). Paypal puls out of Facebook Libra Cryptocurrency. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/oct/07/paypal-pulls-out-facebook-libra-cryptocurrency [Accessed 7 Okt. 2019].

Marsh, A. (2019). Facebook skeptics now have derivatives to bet on Libra delays. Bloomberg. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-07/facebook-skeptics-now-have-derivatives-to-bet-on-libra-delays [Accessed 7 Okt. 2019].

Nelson, D. (2019). Institutional Libra Backers are getting cold feet. Coindesk. [online] Available at: https://www.coindesk.com/institutional-libra-backers-are-getting-cold-feet [Accessed 7 Okt. 2019].

Partington, R. (2019). France Block development Facebook Libra currency. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/12/france-block-development-facebook-libra-cryptocurrency [Accessed 7 Okt. 2019].

Please rate this

A View On The Use Of Smart Sensors

24

September

2019

The American Gate Burdett and his brother had a mountain bike appointment with their father. While he was on his way to the point they would meet their father, he received a notification on his iPhone that his father’s Apple Watch had detected a ‘hard fall’. Not only this, but the watch also showed a location for his father on the map, close to the place they were supposed to meet. While the brothers Burdett arrived at the spot their father wasn’t there anymore. A while later Burdett received a notification with another location; the hospital (CBS, 2019).

The fall detection added in the last OS of is a great example of a way technology can be used by corporations today. By using smart sensor data, they found a way to increase the safety of the users of their Smart Watch, which has been able to save multiple lives already (Lemereis, D. 2019). So why are people still against sharing data using smart sensors in modern devices?

A lot of the fear people have originated from privacy concerns and other way the data can be used. If data like this will someday get shared with other party’s then Apple and your designated emergency contacts, it is possible that it will be used in a way you won’t like. Let’s take insurance companies for example. The business case of insurance has always been about embracing data (IOT Tech Expo, 2017). If companies like these find a way to use data shared from your Apple Watch to alter the risk assessments of their clients, it will be possible that your insurance premium will be increased if you bump your Apple Watch.

But on the other hand, if examples like Gate Burdett’s father exist, isn’t that enough reason for corporations and individuals to embrace these technologies?

IOT Tech Expo. (2017). IOT Tech Expo. [Online] Available at: https://www.iottechexpo.com/2017/01/insurance/smart-sensors-commercial-insurance-investment-case-iot/ [Accessed 24 Sept].

Lemereis, D. (2019). Bright. [Online] Available at: https://www.bright.nl/nieuws/artikel/4597811/apple-watch-valdetectie-redt-leven-van-bewusteloos-gevallen-noor [Accessed 24 Sept].

Brito, C. (2019). CBS News. [Online] Available at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/apple-watch-saves-life-hard-fall-apple-watch-series-4-falling-emergency-bob-burdett/ [Accessed 24. Sept].