Recent developments include a California court decision regarding Proposition 22, Google’s removal of several applications due to data privacy concerns, and Senate subpoenas issued to Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg. This is your Daily Crunch for October 23, 2020.

Key development: Uber and Lyft face another court setback

A California appellate court has affirmed that a new state law does apply to drivers working with Uber and Lyft, necessitating their classification as employees instead of independent contractors. The judge determined that potential financial repercussions, as argued by the rideshare companies, did not constitute irreparable harm.

However, the implementation of this ruling is delayed by 30 days, indicating that Proposition 22—a statewide ballot initiative supported by Uber and Lyft—will likely be the decisive factor. This measure seeks to maintain the contractor status of drivers while providing guarantees such as minimum earnings and healthcare assistance.

A Lyft representative communicated to TechCrunch that “This decision underscores the critical need for voters to support drivers by voting yes on Prop. 22.”

Major technology companies

Google has removed three Android applications designed for children, collectively downloaded over 20 million times, due to violations of data collection policies. Investigations by the International Digital Accountability Council revealed that these seemingly harmless apps targeting younger users were not adhering to Google’s established data privacy guidelines.

Huawei reports a deceleration in growth as its business ‘encounters substantial difficulties’—The complete effects of U.S. trade restrictions are still unfolding, as the government has previously issued several waivers to Huawei.

Senate subpoenas may compel Zuckerberg and Dorsey to provide testimony regarding the New York Post situation—The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to authorize subpoenas for Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Jack Dorsey of Twitter.

Startups, investment and venture funding

Quibi announces its shutdown in early December—A recently published support document on the Quibi website indicates that streaming services will cease “on or around December 1, 2020.”

mmhmm, the new venture from Phil Libin, obtains Memix to integrate advanced filters into its video presentation tools—Memix has developed a range of filters that can be applied to videos to adjust lighting, background details, or the overall image.

Nordic financial institution Lunar secures €40M Series C funding, with plans to expand into the ‘buy now, pay later’ market—Lunar initially began as a personal finance management application but obtained a full banking license in 2019.

Insights and analysis from Extra Crunch

An overview of growth rates for several dozen startups in Q3 2020—This provides a close approximation of financial reports from privately held companies.

A retrospective on the brief history of Quibi—A comprehensive account of the Quibi story, consolidated in one resource.

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

Other news

France renames its contact-tracing application to encourage increased usage—France’s contact-tracing app has been rebranded as TousAntiCovid, translating to “everyone against Covid.”

Legislators introduce a bill to restrict the president’s authority to implement an internet ‘kill switch’—The proposed legislation would limit the president’s ability to unilaterally shut down internet access.

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