In addition to TikTok, we also have updates from Cailu, Waresix, and Naspers’s digital payments unit PayU

UK investigates TikTok over children’s data privacy handling – SCMP

Elizabeth Denham, head of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, announced in a parliamentary committee hearing earlier this week that the regulator is investigating ByteDance’s TikTok over its handling of children’s data privacy, South China Morning Post reported.

The regulator is investigating the app’s open messaging system which allows adults to contact children. It is also investigating how private information of underaged users is collected and stored. It is looking forward to seeing if the platform is violating the European Union privacy law, which requires companies to provide specific protections related to children’s personal data.

ByteDance, as the company behind the platform, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Singapore’s GBCI Ventures leads US$10M pre-Series A funding for China’s Cailu – Dealstreet Asia

Singapore-based smart city venture fund GBCI Ventures has led a US$10 million pre-Series A funding round for Chinese blockchain media firm Cailu, Dealstreet Asia reported.

Digital asset investment fund Orka Capital also participated in the funding round.

Founded in 2018, Cailu integrates industry information, content socialisation and token mechanism to provide content and servers to users and creators.

The company plans to use the funding to further research and development on blockchain immersion media (IM), CLC ecosystem building, engineering expertise, platform operations, and partnership programmes to build a blockchain ecosystem.

Also Read: Why Tik Tok is not a real competitor to Instagram

Naspers’s PayU expands into Southeast Asia by acquiring Red Dot Payment – e27

The payments arm of South African internet conglomerate Naspers, PayU, has announced its entry to Southeast Asia by acquiring Singapore-based online payments solutions company Red Dot Payment (RDP).

PayU acquired a majority stake in RDP in a transaction valuing the company at US$65 million.

RDP founder will continue to retain a stake in the company, while the majority of other shareholders will exit.

“We will now provide our existing global merchants access to Southeast Asia with single API integration, thus strengthening our global PayU Hub platform. PayU will continue to look for prospects to reinforce our footprints in this market,” said Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU.

Indonesian logistics startup Waresix raises US$14.5M in Series A – e27

Indonesian logistics startup Waresix today announced that it has raised a US$14.5 million in Series A funding round led by growth fund EV Growth.

SMDV and Jungle Ventures also participated in the funding round, which comes less than eight months after raising its pre-Series A of US$1.6 million.

The startup has previously raised a seed funding round in February 2018.

The funding will be used to expand Waresix’s land transportation service and further strengthen its warehousing network to second-tier cities.

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Image Credit: Caleb Woods on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news, July 5: UK investigates TikTok over children’s data privacy handling appeared first on e27.