ZDNet – “The same technologies that enable people to work from home can be used to watch them work. A survey finds widespread use of monitoring software and not everyone is told it is there…For work at home advocates the future looks rosy. With the current jobs boom it looks certain that they’ll get what they want – either at their current employer — or somewhere else. But will workers agree to allow their employer to monitor their home office activities? Is it something that can be refused or not? How is the home different from the office where people can be seen to be working at their desks, engaged in meetings, and logging into their IT systems?
Do remote workers have a right to refuse to be monitored? Digital.com released a survey late last year that found widespread use of remote worker monitoring software especially in IT (77%) and advertising (83%). One in seven workers hadn’t been told about it. Working from home might not be such a wonderful thing when you consider that people worked harder – a 10% boost in productivity was reported in the survey after the software was installed…”
“Consumers in 2021 reported losing about $770 million to fraud initiated on social media—about one fourth of all reported fraud losses for the year and an 18-fold increase from 2017, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight. Of those who reported losing money to fraud in 2021, more than 95,000 indicated that they were first contacted on social media—more than twice the 2020 number. Investment scams topped the list of total reported dollar losses, followed by romance scams. The largest number of reports came from people who lost money to online shopping scams. Most of the reports about online shopping scams involved someone who ordered a product they saw marketed on social media that never arrived. Consumers who listed the social media platform where the undelivered products were marketed most often named Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about how to spot, avoid, and report scams—and how to recover money if you have paid a scammer—visit ftc.gov/scams. If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, stop deceptive and unfair business practices and scams, and educate consumers. Report fraud, scams, or bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Get consumer advice at consumer.ftc.gov. Also, follow the FTC on social media, subscribe to press releases, and read the FTC’s blogs.”
State Of Fintech 2021 Report
CB Insights: “It was a record year for global & US fintech funding, mega-rounds, unicorns, M&A exits, and more. Global fintech deals and dollars reached record highs in 2021. Funding more than doubled year-over-year as private market deal activity soared across sectors and geographies. In our State Of Fintech 2021 Report, we dive into global investment trends to spotlight takeaways including:
- Fintech accounted for $1 in every $5 of global venture funding
- The metrics behind $100M+ mega-rounds, how mega-rounds compare against total global fintech funding, and which region had the highest number of mega-rounds
- The record unicorn count, unicorn birth trends, and the highest-valued unicorns to close out the year
- Which sector, from payments to digital lending to banking, saw the highest funding growth
- Which region saw the most fintech funding growth in 2021, and which accounted for almost 50% of total 2021 funding
- How 2021’s M&A, IPO, & SPAC exits & exit valuations compare to previous years
- The deal stages experiencing the most dramatic YoY median deal size expansion
- And much more..