We present insights from an interview with the senior senator from Minnesota regarding wearable technology, details on Sony’s removal of “Cyberpunk 2077” from its digital store, and news of a substantial funding round for Indian food delivery service Zomato. This is the Daily Crunch for December 18, 2020.

Key development: Amy Klobuchar addresses Amazon Halo privacy issues

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota recently sent an open letter to Alex Azar, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, voicing her concerns about Amazon’s Halo fitness tracker. She indicated that the device “seems to gather an unusually extensive amount of personal data.”

In a discussion with TechCrunch, Klobuchar stated that the HHS “should take a more active role in protecting data privacy related to health” and collaborate with the FTC “to establish regulations that secure personal health information.”

Klobuchar further noted, “I believe the Amazon Halo serves as a prime illustration of this, but numerous other devices share similar concerns.”

Major technology companies

Following reports of numerous bugs, CD Projekt Red, Sony, and Microsoft are offering refunds to customers of “Cyberpunk 2077” — Sony has removed “Cyberpunk 2077” from the PlayStation Store in response to a large volume of user complaints.

The significant Google DOJ antitrust lawsuit is likely to begin trial in 2023 — A preliminary trial date was established during a court hearing on Friday by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta.

Twitter will introduce ‘new account types’ for bots and memorialized users in 2021 — Twitter is planning to implement a system for identifying bots and automated accounts.

Startups, financing, and venture funding

Zomato, a leading Indian food delivery company, has secured $660 million in funding — The 12-year-old company is also finalizing a $140 million secondary transaction.

Reports suggest Bumble has confidentially filed for an initial public offering — The news of Bumble’s IPO plans comes as no surprise.

Unfold has launched Bio Sites, streamlined, link-focused profiles — Social media startup Unfold was acquired by Squarespace last year.

Insights and analysis from Extra Crunch

The competition to dominate neighborhood stores: from India’s wealthiest individual to Amazon and numerous startups — Amazon and Walmart are adopting a different approach in India after more than ten years of disrupting local stores in the U.S. and other markets.

General John Raymond, commander of Space Force, discusses public-private collaborations for space defense — The Space Force commander explained how the new military branch functions like a startup and what startups can learn from the Space Force.

A review of Poshmark’s IPO filing — The company transitioned from reporting losses in 2019 to achieving net income in 2020.

(Extra Crunch is our subscription service, dedicated to making information about startups more accessible. You can register here.)

Other news

TechCrunch Early Stage is set to return with an expanded program in 2021 — TC Early Stage focuses on providing founders with access to leading experts in the essential areas of entrepreneurship.

Guidance on applying an intersectional approach to AI development — What steps can be taken to move beyond the use of AI/ML models that exhibit unfair bias?

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