Canadians are leery of social media, but not as much as the U.S., according to a new report, Super Micro is moving production away from China, and Amazon is ready to make one-day shipping the default for Prime members.
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Only 28 per cent of Canadians trust information found on social media, according to a new survey. That number, however, is higher than it is in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K., where the percentage of people who trust news on social media is 23, 20, and 12 per cent respectively. The survey results, published exclusively by The Guardian and now trending on Linkedin, highlights the growing distrust people have towards social media platforms stemming from last year’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, and many more high-profile cases related to privacy and data protection. The report also highlights the need for increased levels of regulation of social media and technology companies. Last month, a cabinet minister said Twitter, Facebook and Google should install more safeguards to help Canada fight potential election meddling.
Even though zero evidence has been found to date, IT company and manufacturer Super Micro says its moving production away from China after media reports last October suggested tiny spy chips were planted on Super Micro motherboards through a supply chain infiltration. The story, now trending on Reddit, highlights the fact that Super Micro isn’t the only one that’s pulled production out of China. In 2017, nearly 90 per cent of the nearly 14 million server motherboards produced were from China. A year later, that number fell to just 50 per cent of the 15.2 million boards produced globally. Techspot says Super Micro will build its own production facilities moving forward, including a new $65 million factory in northern Taiwan. There are also planned expansions within Sillicon Valley.
And lastly, also trending on Reddit, Amazon’s ongoing efforts to reduce its default two-day free shipping to one for Prime members. Amazon is already capable of offering same-day and next-day deliver to 72 per cent of the total U.S. population thanks to significant investments – $800 million to be exact – over the past four years, which means its got a huge head start in fulfilling its plan to shorten the current two-day free shipping plan by one day for Prime members. CNBC reporting quotes experts who point to the fact that reducing Amazon’s delivery time to one day gives people more reasons to stop shopping at physical stores. Canada currently has 13 cities with Prime free one-day delivery.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Remember to add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. I’m Alex Coop, thanks for listening.