<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53630660.cms" /> 
As reported earlier, the Indian government has planned to make <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/You-may-soon-avail-government-services-just-sitting-at-home-Heres-how/articleshow/53447749.cms">Aadhaar-enabled smartphones</a>, with which users would be able to self-authenticate and let businesses and banks verify the identity of their clients. This would also help in the government’s aim of a cashless society. 
 While applauding this plan Nandan Nikelani, former chairman of <keyword id="6355252" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="UIDAI">UIDAI</keyword> told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/aadhaar-enabled-smartphones-will-ease-money-transfer/articleshow/53625690.cms">ET </a>that, "Iris and fingerprint sensors are now becoming a standard feature in smartphones anyway, and this requirement will only take a minor tweak to the operating system. Once enabled, people will be able to use phones to do self-authentication and KYC (know your customer)." 
 
In July, senior executives of UIDAI and smartphone companies met to discuss ways to allow smartphones let citizens authenticate their fingerprints and iris on the phone, so that they could avail government services from the comfort of their homes. 
 
The most immediate use for these smartphones would be the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a new payment system which would allow money transfer between any two parties by simply using their mobile phones and a virtual payment address. 
 
"The two-factor authentication in UPI is now being done with mobile phone as one factor, and MPIN as the second factor. But once you have Aadhaar authentication on the phone, then the second factor can be biometric authentication through Aadhaar," said Nilekani. 
 
With time, Aadhaar authentication will also be made open to third party apps, said another person familiar with the ongoing discussions on the condition of anonymity. 
 
This would let users allow apps to access their biometric and iris scans, just like they grant access to other features like camera, contacts, SMS etc. However, from their end, handset makers have raised security concerns about using iris scan for Aadhar authentication. 
 
"The primary challenge lies in safe storing of the iris scan between the time it is captured by the camera and then sent to UIDAI server seeking authentication," said an industry insider. 
 For this, the he proposal includes a "hardware secure zone" which would encrypt <keyword id="441301" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="biometric-data">biometric data</keyword> before sending it out. However, even this isn’t a foolproof idea. 
 
"Unfortunately, from the biometric sensor the data goes to the hardware secure zone via the operating system. Therefore, the biometric data can be intercepted by the operating system before it is sent to the hardware secure zone," said Sunil Abraham, executive director at Bengaluru-based research organisation, the Centre for Internet and Society. 
 
To this, Nilekani said, "the reluctance to make changes at the vendor level is mainly coming from a desire for control of biometric data for strategic and commercial purposes. Privacy and security are bogus reasons." He added that both ends, the handset and the Aadhaar database, will be using the highest level of encryption. 
 
<a href="http://www.aadhaarnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Aadhar-DBT-780x445.jpg">Image source</a>

And now, Aadhaar-enabled smartphones for easy verification and money transfer

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> is letting users link up their phone with its web and desktop apps using <keyword id="102890" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="biometrics">biometrics</keyword>.</li><li>This means you can now login using face, fingerprint, or iris scans depending on what device you have.</li><li>WhatsApp said all the data is processed by a phone's operating system, so it doesn't see any of it.</li></ul>WhatsApp is adding features to its web app to let users sign by scanning their face, thumbprint, or eye.WhatsApp announced the new feature on Thursday, which it described as an extra layer of security for its WhatsApp Web and Desktop services.At the moment, to use WhatsApp Web or Desktop users have to link it up to their phone account by scanning a QR code. This new feature would add biometric login to compatible devices as an optional extra layer of security.WhatsApp said on Apple devices with iOS14 users will be able to use Touch ID or Face ID. Android phones will be able to use Face Unlock, Fingerprint Unlock or Iris Unlock.The announcement comes at a sensitive moment for WhatsApp, which is still reeling from a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-facebook-data-terms-conditions-privacy-signal-2021-1">huge user privacy backlash</a> over a new set of terms and conditions it sent out earlier this month. "WhatsApp does not see your face or fingerprint data," the company said in its statement announcing the new biometric login feature. In an <a href="https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/download-and-installation/how-to-log-in-or-out">FAQ,</a> the company says because the user's device handles the biometric information, WhatsApp doesn't have access to the data."The authentication is handled by your device's operating system using the biometrics stored there. WhatsApp can't access the biometric information stored by your device's operating system," it said."If they use the standard APIs [Application Programming Interfaces] for biometrics then all this can be done in a way that shouldn't raise red flags," Eerke Boiten, a professor in cyber security at De Montfort University, told Insider."Best practice is in an analysed and then encrypted form (which means that it cannot be reversed), and stored on the user's device, and I expect that all standard biometric APIs on phones do just that. The link that WhatsApp insists on between the phone and WhatsApp Web is then essential, because the phone holds the registered biometric image that is being checked against, not some central server," he added.Dr Catherine Flick, a computer scientist and privacy expert at De Montfort, agreed with Boiten the announcement did not ring alarm bells."If it's the built in facial/etc. recognition this is fine and standard with the phone operating systems (and good to have as a second level of privacy even if your phone is unlocked)," she said.The addition of biometric scanning is not the last feature WhatsApp plans to add this year, as it told <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/28/whatsapp-is-adding-opt-in-biometrics-to-its-web-and-desktop-versions/">TechCrunch</a> it is planning to expand with more features for WhatsApp web and desktop.

WhatsApp is adding eye, fingerprint, and face scanning - but says it won't have any access to biometric data

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Trump wants to force the sale of <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> to a US tech company in order to keep Americans' data out of the hands of the Chinese government.</li><li>But the app's most likely buyers, <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> and Oracle, play a massive role in helping the US government spy on its own citizens.</li><li>The companies provide a range of technologies to law enforcement agencies, including facial recognition software, cloud computing services, and "predictive policing" algorithms — many of which rely on social media data.</li><li>Amid mounting evidence that these tools can exacerbate racial disparities and growing pressure on tech companies to reexamine their relationships with US law enforcement, the potential sale of TikTok raises questions about Microsoft and Oracle's roles in America's own surveillance apparatus.</li></ul>The future of TikTok, and the data of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7">more than 100 million American users</a>, now hangs in the balance as President Donald Trump seeks to force its sale to an American tech company.The reason? <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-issues-executive-order-to-force-bytedance-tiktok-sale-musically-2020-8">Trump claimed</a> in two <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-posed-tiktok/">executive orders</a> targeting TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, that the Chinese government could force the Beijing-based firm to share user data with its intelligence agencies so it can spy on Americans.Trump isn't alone when it comes to concerns about giving China a backdoor into the phones of US diplomats, military officials, or politicians. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-campaign-tells-staffers-to-delete-tiktok-from-phone-report-2020-7">Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign</a>, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democrat-republican-parties-warn-staff-not-to-use-tiktok-2020-7">Democratic and Republican parties</a>, various federal agencies, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-government-agencies-have-banned-tiktok-app-2020-2">nearly every branch of the US military</a> have all banned its use, also citing national security.The president has gone a step further, however, arguing that everyday Americans are equally at risk and a US firm would be a better steward over their data, presumably keeping them safer as a result.But as America faces a reckoning with racially biased police, policing practices, and policing technology, the tech industry's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-surveillance-technology-used-by-police-departments-across-the-us-2020-7">cozy relationship with law enforcement</a> is being called into question. In many cases, those companies are supercharging the same authorities that have been accused of targeting Black and indigenous people, immigrants, Arab-Americans, and other groups that have borne the brunt of state violence.Beijing may be able to blackmail a corporate executive or high-ranking government official, but for many Americans, tech-enabled police forces pose a far more imminent danger, and TikTok's most likely buyers have a strong track record of cooperating closely with law enforcement — sometimes by analyzing the very social media data they could soon be tasked with safeguarding.<h2>Government ties</h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-acquisition-potential-buyers-us-operations-investors-microsoft-walmart-oracle-2020-8">Microsoft and Oracle</a> have stood as the frontrunners to buy TikTok largely because of their history of cooperation with law enforcement. In a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-us-has-all-the-cards-on-potential-tiktok-sale-2020-8">press conference</a> earlier this month, Trump specifically cited Microsoft's existing "high-level" security clearances from its work with the US government.Microsoft and Oracle both declined to comment for this story.Both companies have a long history providing technology solutions to US military and law enforcement agencies of various stripes. Oracle got its start in 1977 when <a href="https://blogs.oracle.com/startup/ellison-recounts-oracle-origins-to-startup-founders">the CIA contracted cofounder Larry Ellison</a> to build it a database. Microsoft started building the New York Police Department's <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2012/08/nypd-domain-awareness-system-microsoft-is-watching-you.html">notorious surveillance network</a> in 2009.They've also been reliable partners to their government counterparts even when that involved legally or ethically dubious work. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data">Microsoft gave the NSA access</a> to its users' encrypted messages and Skype video calls as part of the notorious PRISM program unearthed by Edward Snowden in 2013. Ellison defended that same NSA surveillance dragnet, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq41o0YsNTE">calling it "essential."</a>Eleven years earlier, Ellison argued in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/31/opinion/IHT-a-single-national-security-database.html">2002 New York Times op-ed</a> that the US should create "a national security database combined with biometrics, thumb prints, hand prints, iris scans."As of the present day, Oracle and Microsoft have developed and provided exponentially more powerful surveillance technology to law enforcement.In a July report, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/07/14/microsoft-police-state-mass-surveillance-facial-recognition/">The Intercept's Michael Kwet</a> provided a detailed look into the suite of Microsoft services deployed in the name of public safety. Some notable ones include:<ul><li>The NYPD surveillance network mentioned earlier, which in just four years amassed two billion license plate scans, 15 million police reports, 33 billion public records, and footage from 9,000 surveillance and 20,000 body cameras — all of which feed into a "predictive policing" algorithm to identify where future crimes might occur.</li><li>The Microsoft Advanced Patrol Platform, an internet-of-things enabled patrol car that syncs various data sources to offer real-time intel to officers, and which the company hopes to pair with AI-powered "pattern matching" to help them identify "bad actors."</li><li>AI <keyword id="6357018" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Analysis">analysis</keyword> of police surveillance data via its Azure cloud computing service, which cities like New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Detroit use.</li></ul>Oracle, through its "<a href="http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/public-sector/social-enabled-policing-wp-2541916.pdf">Social-Enabled Policing</a>" tools, aims to "leverage the power of social media" to help law enforcement with "the prevention, detection and solving of crime and disorder." Its flagship product, an AI-powered data analysis platform, collects more than 700 million messages daily from over 40 million social media websites.Microsoft and Oracle have largely flown under the radar compared to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-s1-ipo-silicon-valley-military-tech-patriotic-alex-karp-2020-8">companies like Palantir</a> that market law enforcement partnerships more explicitly. Because Microsoft and Oracle primarily sell software that can also be tailored for non-law enforcement uses, and work with many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-amazon-pentagon-law-enforcement-contracts-2020-7">third party partners and contractors</a>, identifying whether or how extensively they're involved with a given agency's IT infrastructure can be difficult.<h2>Scrutinizing surveillance</h2>In recent years, surveillance technologies and the manner in which agencies use them have come under more intense scrutiny for potential civil rights and civil liberties abuses.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-racial-bias-federal-study-2019-12">Facial recognition technology</a>, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-21/lapd-ends-predictive-policing-program">predictive policing algorithms</a>, and other AI-powered tools have frequently been shown to reinforce racial, gender, and other biases, and even led to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/facial-recognition-arrest.html">wrongful arrest in Michigan</a> earlier this year.The FBI's use of an internet surveillance program <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbis-use-of-foreign-surveillance-tool-violated-americans-privacy-rights-court-found-11570559882">was ruled unconstitutional</a>; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cbp-venntel-contract-phone-location-data-2020-8">US Customs and Border Patrol</a> and other agencies have paid private companies for people's personal data to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/police-buying-hacked-data-bypassing-legal-processes-2020-7">avoid obtaining warrants</a>; and police departments have used everything from <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/07/09/twitter-dataminr-police-spy-surveillance-black-lives-matter-protests/">social media posts</a> to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/amazon-ring-drones-monitor-protests-1523856">Ring doorbell cameras</a> to spy on and profile Black Lives Matter protesters in ways that evoke the <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/cointelpro-1956-1976/">FBI's controversial COINTELPRO program</a> targeting Black activists from the 1950s to 1970s.Following George Floyd's killing, and amid aggressive and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/us/protests-seattle-portland.html">at times violent responses</a> to protesters by law enforcement in Seattle (near Microsoft's headquarters), <a href="https://onezero.medium.com/250-microsoft-employees-call-on-ceo-to-cancel-police-contracts-and-support-defunding-seattle-pd-e89fa5d9e843">more than 250 Microsoft employees sent a letter</a> to the company's executives asking Microsoft to end its contracts with police departments.Shortly after, Microsoft said it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-brad-smith-facial-recognition-police-departments-2020-6">wouldn't sell facial recognition technology</a> to police until stronger civil rights protections are in place, but the company's commitment left major loopholes for its other services that enable police to use facial recognition and other surveillance technologies.Yet even aside from providing IT infrastructure, Microsoft has assisted law enforcement by consistently complying with requests for user data, agreeing to such requests in <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/law-enforcement-requests-report">80% to 90% of cases</a> since it began publishing data in 2013. (Oracle does not publish comparable reports).Both companies refused to answer questions about how they currently handle government requests for data, how they ensure lawful uses of their technologies or handle cases where law enforcement agencies misuse the tools, and how they would protect US TikTok user data if they acquired the app.With TikTok's rise as a platform for anti-racism activists and law enforcement's increased use of social media to surveil protesters in the US, some Americans may have more to fear with their data in the hands of Microsoft or Oracle than they do with China's ByteDance.

Trump wants to ban TikTok to keep Americans' data out of China's hands, but Microsoft and Oracle's track records suggest they could turn it over to the US government instead

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57491037.cms" /><keyword id="6355252" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="UIDAI">UIDAI</keyword>, the Unique Identification Authority of India, has assured that its biometrics data are completely secure. The announcement was made after some rumours cropped up last week about a possible breach in the biometric security of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Aadhaar-beats-even-the-FBIsdata-base-fair-and-square-becoming-the-worlds-largest-biometric-database/articleshow/47068353.cms">Aadhaar database</a>. 
 
The authority has said the reported breach was a one-off incident, in which an employee working with a bank's business correspondent's company made an attempt to misuse his own biometrics. The breach was detected by UIDAI internal security system and appropriate action was taken. 
 A police complaint has been filed against Axis Bank, business correspondent Suvidhaa Infoserve and e-sign provider <keyword id="1662229" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="eMudhra">eMudhra</keyword> for attempted unauthorised authentication and impersonation by illegally storing <keyword id="144117" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="AADHAAR">Aadhaar</keyword> biometric data, said a release by UIDAI. 
 
 "Any unauthorised capture of iris or fingerprints or storage or replay of biometrics or their misuse is a criminal offence under the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Centre-to-link-Aadhaar-with-NPR-chalks-out-a-budget-of-Rs-951-crore/articleshow/47877985.cms">Aadhaar</a> Act," it said. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/verify-drivers-and-domestic-helps-using-Aadhar-Cards/articleshow/50818292.cms">Verify your drivers and domestic helps using Aadhar Cards before hiring</a> 
 
"UIDAI uses one of world's most advanced encryption technologies in transmission and storage of data. As a result, during the last seven years, there has been no report of breach or leak of residents' data out of UIDAI," the statement claimed. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Aadhaar-encryption-protects-privacy-will-take-eons-to-crack/articleshow/49348547.cms">Not easy to crack Aadhaar encryption code! Would require the most powerful computer to do that</a> 
 <keyword id="4256821" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="security-of-aadhaar">Security of Aadhaar</keyword> card is all the way more important now that a biometric-enabled payment system called Aadhaar Pay is about to be launched. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/A-Step-Toward-Digital-India-10-Crore-Aadhaars-Linked-To-Bank-Accounts/articleshow/45523974.cms">A Step Toward Digital India: 10 Crore Aadhaars Linked To Bank Accounts</a> 
 
(Image Source: Wikimedia)

Database completely secure, UIDAI assures

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Impossible Foods is trying to standardize where its plant-based meats are stocked at supermarkets.</li><li>Some stores put the products near animal meat, while others stick them in the vegetarian section.</li></ul>Impossible Foods has a problem: Its products, like plant-based burgers and meatballs, are almost impossible to find at some grocery stores.Some grocery stores put them next to the butcher's counter with animal meat, which is Impossible's preferred placement, Impossible CEO Peter McGuinness told Time Magazine in <a href="https://time.com/6251008/peter-mcguinness-impossible-foods-myths/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview published on Sunday.</a> But others put the products next to veggie burgers — or in a cooler of their own."In preparation for this interview, my wife and I went out to our local supermarket but had a hard time finding the product," Time Executive Editor John Simons wrote. Simons said he and his wife looked for the products next to their animal-based equivalents as well as in the veggie burger section without success."Turns out it had its own refrigeration case at the back of the store," he added.Impossible's placement in grocery stores is "a challenge," McGuinness said.Impossible is trying to win over shoppers who eat beef, pork, and other animal meats, he said. Those customers already stop by the meat department of their grocer on a regular basis, but "they're not going to be in the vegan set," McGuinness said."We're working on that, and it's getting better," he added. "It's a bit of a treasure hunt to find it, which we're working on aggressively."Where plant-based meat sits in a grocery store can affect sales. A <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-fake-meat-sales-study-20200713-3j7v6p66hbfn5dkcz77msebl4a-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 study</a> conducted by Kroger and the Plant Based Foods Association found that shoppers bought 23% more plant-based meats when they were stocked in the meat section instead of the vegetarian section.Sales of plant-based meat grew quickly during the early months of the pandemic. But that growth slowed down in 2022, leading some analysts to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-01-19/beyond-meat-bynd-impossible-foods-burgers-are-just-another-food-fad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">question the long-term potential of plant-based foods.</a> An Impossible representative previously pointed Insider to an estimate from the food-industry data provider IRI that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/impossible-foods-is-at-a-crossroads-with-ceo-peter-mcguinness-2022-10">Impossible's retail sales had grown by 65% in the past year.</a>Impossible has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/impossible-lays-off-6-in-reorganization-under-ceo-mcguinness-2022-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">laid off employees</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/impossible-foods-loses-chief-experience-officer-and-president-executive-exodus-2022-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lost key executives</a> over the last year as McGuinness has gotten situated at the company. Founder and former CEO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/founder-pat-brown-takes-leave-from-impossible-foods-2022-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pat Brown is on leave</a> from the company, Insider reported last fall. Earlier this month, Bloomberg Businessweek published a cover story declaring plant-based meat was "just another fad." In response, Impossible took out a <a href="https://images.ctfassets.net/hhv516v5f7sj/5odaEDrJfLU8DO3J7sPPfP/8a3d22f247fd9deabeb59f7776519e1c/Impossible_NYT_ad.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full-page ad in the New York Times</a> that decried media coverage "hating on plant-based meat."McGuinness, who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/impossible-foods-is-at-a-crossroads-with-ceo-peter-mcguinness-2022-10">became Impossible's CEO last year,</a> pushed back on the recent press coverage in the Time interview. He said that just 17% of US consumers know about Impossible's products and that the company has plans to launch new advertising and marketing campaigns this year and in 2024 to change that. "We're not even in second gear yet," McGuinness said. Do you work at Impossible or have information to share? Reach out to Alex Bitter at <a href="mailto:abitter@insider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">abitter@insider.com</a> or via encrypted messaging app Signal at (808) 854-4501.

One of the biggest problems for plant-based products — people don't know where to find them at the grocery store

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="11899468" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fda" source="Orion">FDA</keyword> will stop regulating the ingredients in French salad dressing. </li><li>The change stems partly from a petition filed by the <a href="https://dressings-sauces.org/our-members/">Association for Dressing and Sauces</a>.</li></ul>The US government will no longer regulate French dressing, allowing companies to change up ingredients and appeal to health-conscious consumers.Starting February 14, the <keyword id="11894142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="food" source="Orion">Food</keyword> and Drug Administration will revoke the standardization of French salad dressing, a new ruling from the agency said. The change stems in part from a citizen petition filed by the <a href="https://dressings-sauces.org/our-members/">Association for Dressing and Sauces</a>, a condiment manufacturing interest group representing corporations like Hidden Valley, Meyer's, Kroger, and Ken's.The petition filed by the ADS pointed to "a proliferation of nonstandardized pourable dressings for salads with respect to flavors (Italian, Ranch, cheese, fruit, peppercorn, varied vinegars, and other flavoring concepts) and composition (including a wide range of reduced fat, "light," and fat-free dressings)," according to the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/13/2022-00494/french-dressing-revocation-of-a-standard-of-identity">FDA ruling issued on January 13</a>. The ADS previously told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/us/fda-french-dressing.html">The New York Times in 2020</a> the FDA signaled <keyword id="11929846" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="regulation" source="Orion">regulation</keyword> wasn't necessary to promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of the consumer, and could inadvertently stymie salad dressing innovation.Until now, the FDA has required foods labeled French dressing to contain at least 35% of vegetable oil, plus vinegar diluted with water. <a href="https://www.wish-bone.com/creamy-dressing/creamy-french">Wish-Bone</a>, for example, makes its French dressing using primarily soybean oil, water, sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, and apple cider vinegar.Though salad dressing sales have been flat as of 2018, refrigerated options — which tend to use fresher ingredients — saw growth while shelf stable products decreased, according to <a href="https://www.producebusiness.com/toss-up-sales-of-salad-dressings/">IRI data reviewed by Produce Business</a>. <a href="https://www.health.com/nutrition/healthy-salad-dressings">Nutritionists</a>, like those at <a href="https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/belly-up-to-the-salad-bar">Mayo Clinic</a>, have told consumers to avoid creamy dressings high in fat.Got a tip? Email the author at aakhtar@insider.com or the encrypted messaging app Signal at 248-760-0208.The regulator earlier said it will continue to modernize food standards to allow for "innovation to produce more healthful foods." The FDA will continue to protect consumers from the misbranding of products like bread, jams, juices, and some chocolates.Despite its name, <a href="https://www.insider.com/french-things-that-arent-from-france-2018-7#french-dressing-is-actually-american-5">Americans created French dressing</a> and Kraft Heinz first marketed the product in the 1920s. In the UK, French dressing is a synonym for vinaigrette, which was created in France, per Insider's Marilyn La Juenesse.Association for Dressing and Sauces was not immediately available for comment.

What's in French dressing? Starting next month, the FDA doesn't have a say.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed a complaint accusing <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> of violating several labor laws during a crackdown of worker activism last year.</li><li>The complaint said Google unlawfully terminated two employees involved in worker activism.</li><li>It also accused Google of violating US labor laws by monitoring and interrogating workers involved in the protests.</li><li>Five employees were fired late last year for their involvement in protests at the company. Two of those employees are mentioned in the complaint.</li><li>Are you a current or former Google insider? You can contact this reporter securely using the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or encrypted email (hslangley@protonmail.com). Reach out using a nonwork device.</li></ul>The National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) on Wednesday issued a complaint accusing Google of violating several labor laws during a crackdown on worker activism last year.According to the NLRB's complaint, Google "virtually surveilled" and then interrogated workers engaging in employee activism, and later fired them.It also enforced rules stopping workers from accessing each others' calendars without a "business purpose," and introduced a 100-person limit on how many employees could sign on for calendar events, the complaint claimed.Google has to respond to the complaint by December 16, and a hearing has been set for April 12.Laurence Berland and Kathryn Spiers, two former Google workers fired by the company late last year for involvement in employee activism, are both named in the complaint. Google accused Berland and Spiers of violating its data-security policies when it terminated their employment late last year.Berland was fired for accessing other employees' calendars while organizing efforts to protest Google's work with IRI, an anti-union firm — something the NLRB says Google was wrong to terminate Berland for.Spiers was a security engineer at Google who created a pop-up notification that appeared when employees visited the IRI website. The notification told employees they had a right to "participate in protected concerted activities."The NLRB has found that Spiers' termination was also unlawful.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timnit-gebru-ethical-ai-fired-google-2020-12?r=ih-sub">One of Google's leading AI researchers says she's been fired in retaliation for an email to other employees</a>"This complaint makes clear that workers have the right to speak to issues of ethical business and the composition of management," Berland said in a statement."This is a significant finding at a time when we're seeing the power of a handful of tech billionaires consolidate control over our lives and our society."Workers have the right to speak out about and organize, as the NLRB is affirming, but we also know that we should not, and cannot, cleave off ethical concerns about the role management wants to play in that society."The NLRB did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. "Google has always worked to support a culture of internal discussion, and we place immense trust in our employees," a Google spokesperson said."Of course employees have protected labor rights that we strongly support, but we have always taken information security very seriously. We're confident in our decision and legal position. Actions undertaken by the employees at issue were a serious violation of our policies and an unacceptable breach of a trusted responsibility." The NLRB did not issue complaints about Google employees who were also terminated around the time. They included Rebecca Rivers, a former employee who helped create a petition demanding Google end its work with US Customers and Border Protection.Laurie Burgess, counsel for the former Google workers, said they intended to "vigorously appeal" the dismissal of charges related to the other employees who were involved in protests that were determined to be not covered by the National Labor Relations Act.

The US labor board accused Google of illegally spying on employee activists, firing them, and blocking workers from organizing

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e8cc7f015ea4b52bb452766-1440/screen shot 2020-02-12 at 103646 am.png" alt="stephanie korey away" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>Buzzy unicorn luggage startup has furloughed about half of its workforce and laid off another 60 corporate employees, according to a report in <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/bc7856">The Information.</a></li><li>Away's founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio announced the cuts in a blog post on Tuesday, which have affected nearly every department at the New York-based company.</li><li>The news comes on the heels of a bombshell investigation by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/5/20995453/away-luggage-ceo-steph-korey-toxic-work-environment-travel-inclusion">The Verge</a> in December 2019, which described a problematic workplace culture at the company.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Away is the latest startup to be hit by layoffs amid the coronavirus pandemic.The unicorn luggage startup has furloughed about half of its workforce and laid off another 60 corporate employees, according to a report in <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/bc7856">The Information</a>. More than 500 people list Away as their employer on LinkedIn. The company's founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio announced the cuts in a blog post on Tuesday, which have affected nearly every department at the New York-based company. Travel has been hit particularly hard amid the coronavirus crisis, and Away's sales have plummeted 90% over the last few weeks, The Information reported. The company is giving employees eight weeks severance and will cover the cost of health care coverage through June and extending the time employees have to exercise their stock options after leaving the company, according to the report."Today, the company's salary costs alone exceed our revenues many times over," Korey and Rubio wrote in the blog post. "What once seemed like a healthy cash balance is no longer enough to keep the lights on without dramatic action." The news comes on the heels of a bombshell investigation by <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/5/20995453/away-luggage-ceo-steph-korey-toxic-work-environment-travel-inclusion">The Verge</a> in December 2019, which described a problematic workplace culture at the company and led to Korey <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/away-ceo-steph-korey-steps-down-lululemon-coo-new-ceo-2019-12">stepping down</a> as CEO. Korey ultimately returned to the role when Stuart Haselden, a former Lululemon COO, was named co-CEO.Other direct-to-consumer companies, including lingerie startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-challenger-thirdlove-sees-layoffs-due-to-coronavirus-2020-4">ThirdLove</a> and beverage startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-backed-startup-iris-nova-layoffs-due-to-coronavirus-2020-3">Iris Nova</a>, have cut staff as consumer spending declines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-coronavirus-means-for-dtc-companies-wild-growth-2020-3">amid the coronavirus pandemic</a>. Online spending on direct-to-consumer products week over week declined 7% on average between March 2 and 22, <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/what-the-coronavirus-means-for-dtc-brands/575182/">according to Edison Trends data</a>.Away has raised $181 million in venture capital funding and is backed by venture firms Accel and Forerunner Ventures. Got a tip about what's going on at another direct-to-consumer company? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 702-2530, email at tdua@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at <a href="https://twitter.com/tanyadua">@tanyadua</a>. Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.And get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus analysis and research</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting businesses.

Buzzy luggage startup Away has furloughed half of its staff and laid off 60 employees as the coronavirus continues to crush the travel industry

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d24eb85a17d6c18ef49c052-2048/thirdlove 247 classic nursing bra.jpg" alt="Thirdlove 24:7 Classic Nursing Bra" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>ThirdLove, the buzzy lingerie upstart that was trying to challenge Victoria's Secret's dominance, has laid off close to 35% of its employees as the coronavirus crushes DTC brands and other companies.</li><li>The layoffs follows the company shuttering its pop-up brick-and-mortar store, laying off 10 staffers in New York City last month, and cutting roles in its customer experience center in Chico, California, in late February prior to the coronavirus.</li><li>DTC companies have been facing increasing headwinds in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and some have cut staff as a slowdown in consumer spending hit their retail business.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>ThirdLove is the latest direct-to-consumer startup to be hit by layoffs.The buzzy lingerie company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thirdlove-changing-bra-shopping-online-2019-4">that's aimed to challenge Victoria Secret </a>has laid off close to 35% of its employees, sources with knowledge of the layoffs told Business Insider. The cuts took place this week at the company's San Francisco headquarters and affected employees across teams such as logistics, recruiting, design, data, customer experience and marketing, two sources said.The company wouldn't say how may employees it has, but 270 people list the company as their employer on LinkedIn. ThirdLove co-founder and co-CEO Heidi Zak told Business Insider the cuts were due to the business being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic."We've had to make difficult decisions including closing our pop-up store in New York City, reducing spending overall, and saying goodbye to some of our beloved teammates because of events completely outside of our control," she said. "We are making sure that ThirdLove is positioned to succeed in the long-term, and are focused on our responsibility to our stakeholders, current teammates, our millions of customers and our many donation partners."The layoffs were communicated individually by team leaders and one other member of the leadership team, and each person was offered extended benefits and provided a minimum of two weeks of severance or more depending on tenure, a company spokeswoman said. Some employees also took pay cuts. The cuts were relayed to affected employees via Google Hangouts on Tuesday, with calendar invites being sent out a few hours earlier, one of the sources said. The layoffs come on the heels of the company closing its pop-up brick-and-mortar store and laying off 10 staffers in New York City last month.The company also cut its customer experience team based in Chico, California, before the coronavirus spread in late February, asking nearly 40 employees to move to other roles with reduced salaries or leave, one of the sources said. At that time, the company announced the creation of new customer-facing positions called "Fit Experts" and eliminated just three non-customer facing positions, the spokeswoman said. Others, who were previously in non-customer facing positions, were offered these new roles, and most took them, she said.ThirdLove was launched in 2013 and became known for its online bra-sizing tool Fit Finder and its anti-Victoria's Secret stance. Its ads have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lingerie-upstart-thirdlove-is-coming-out-with-its-first-ever-tv-ads-2017-9">emphasized its products</a> through customer testimonials rather than models posing in lingerie. Last year, it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lingerie-upstart-thirdlove-is-coming-out-with-its-first-ever-tv-ads-2017-9">took out a full-page ad slamming Victoria's Secret</a> in The New York Times.Other direct-to-consumer companies such as beverage startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-backed-startup-iris-nova-layoffs-due-to-coronavirus-2020-3">Iris Nova</a> have cut staff as consumer spending declines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-coronavirus-means-for-dtc-companies-wild-growth-2020-3">in the face of the coronavirus pandemic</a>. Online spending on DTC products week-over-week fell 7% on average between March 2 and March 22, with ThirdLove's falling 39% week-over-week during the week of March 16, <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/what-the-coronavirus-means-for-dtc-brands/575182/">according to Edison Trends data.</a>ThirdLove has raised close to $68 million to date, most recently raising $55 million in February 2019 in a round of funding led by consumer-focused private-equity firm L Catterton. Got a tip about what's going on at another DTC company? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 702-2530, email at tdua@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at <a href="https://twitter.com/tanyadua">@tanyadua</a>. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/brand-investment-esports?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=advertising&amp;itm_campaign=brand-investment-esports"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5d3718e78d66427858223be4" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: Brand Investment in eSports by Business Insider Intelligence" style="width: 100% !important" /></a>

ThirdLove, the buzzy lingerie upstart that challenged Victoria's Secret's dominance, just laid off nearly 35% of its workforce as the coronavirus crushes DTC companies

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53447817.cms" />What if we say you won’t have to go to ant government office for getting your work done? Yes, this is going to turn into reality soon as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=UIDAI&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Unique Identification Authority of India</a> (UIDAI) is planning to get smartphones <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=aadhar&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Aadhar</a> enabled. 
 
A meeting was conducted during which UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey and senior executives of smartphone-makers such as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Apple&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Apple</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=samsung&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Samsung</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=google&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=microsoft&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Microsoft</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=micromax&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Micromax</a>, and product software think tank iSPIRT, discussed various ways to make this idea possible. 
 
“Nearly 104 crore Indians have Aadhaar and almost 40 crore have smartphones. Every agency requires authentication via Aadhaar. If people don't need to go to any office to authenticate their identity and get government services, and if they are able to do so through their mobile phones, this can be the big gamechanger," Pandey told ET. 
 
He said the response from handset makers was positive and if it sees light of the day, it will change the way people use government services. 
 
So, how will it happen? The chips of Aadhaar-enabled smartphones will be encrypted with a UIDAI key and the handsets will be linked to the Aadhaar server. The key is a security feature to prevent information leakage. The server connection will allow instant fingerprint and iris authentication. Some high-end smartphones already have fingerprint and iris recognition technology embedded in their operating system. The technology bar for putting these features in smartphones is not high - most smartphones can be equipped similarly. 
 Meanwhile, a <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> India spokesperson told ET it is the only mobilephone-maker to have already embedded Aadhaar-friendly technology in one of its handsets. 
 
"Galaxy Tab Iris will support government benefit programmes and enable banks and financial institutions to streamline the process of an individual's authentication, regardless of language and literacy barriers,” the spokesperson told ET. 
 
However, one of the queries raised was sending fingerprint and iris data over unsecure networks, which also has privacy issues. 
Pandey said the solution was a "registered device". 
 
He also said UIDAI can address other concerns about privacy since the authority has ensured full privacy and security of personal biometric information of 104 crore citizens. He said laptops used for capturing biometric information have an Aadhaar key that encrypts the information, and there has been no leakage of information.

You Searched For "iris data encryption" and got 10 results

And now, Aadhaar-enabled smartphones for easy verification and money transfer

BI India Bureau

WhatsApp is adding eye, fingerprint, and face scanning - but says it won't have any access to biometric data

Isobel Asher Hamilton

Trump wants to ban TikTok to keep Americans' data out of China's hands, but Microsoft and Oracle's track records suggest they could turn it over to the US government instead

Tyler Sonnemaker

Database completely secure, UIDAI assures

BI India Bureau

One of the biggest problems for plant-based products — people don't know where to find them at the grocery store

Alex Bitter

What's in French dressing? Starting next month, the FDA doesn't have a say.

Allana Akhtar

The US labor board accused Google of illegally spying on employee activists, firing them, and blocking workers from organizing

Hugh Langley

Buzzy luggage startup Away has furloughed half of its staff and laid off 60 employees as the coronavirus continues to crush the travel industry

Tanya Dua

ThirdLove, the buzzy lingerie upstart that challenged Victoria's Secret's dominance, just laid off nearly 35% of its workforce as the coronavirus crushes DTC companies

Tanya Dua

You may soon avail government services just sitting at home. Here’s how

BI India Bureau