India’s millions of active Facebook and other social media users could be at a greater risk of user data breach, as per report

Go-Jek set to announce foray into first SE Asian market outside Indonesia [DealStreetAsia]

Indonesian ride-hailing and online payment company Go-Jek is set to announce its first expansion to another country in Southeast Asia in the “next few weeks”, according to an internal company email seen by Reuters.

Go-Jek also plans to expand to three other Southeast Asian countries by the middle of this year, the email quoting Go-Jek Chief Executive Nadiem Makarim said. News of the plans come after Uber Technologies Inc agreed this week to sell its Southeast Asian business to regional rival Grab.

The industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, could put pressure on Go-Jek, which is backed by Alphabet Inc’s Google and China’s Tencent Holdings.

Rift deepens between Apple, India’s telecom regulator over anti-spam app [Reuters]

US technology giant Apple Inc and India’s telecoms regulator are at loggerheads over the development of a government anti-spam mobile application, with user privacy at the heart of a deepening rift between the two sides.

The latest impasse comes after Apple in October agreed to provide some help to the regulator to tap into new iOS features to build the “Do Not Disturb” app, which allows users to report unsolicited calls and text messages as spam.

At issue has been Apple’s contention that allowing the app broad access to customers’ call and text logs could compromise privacy.

Indian social media users more prone to data breach [The Economic Times]

India’s millions of active Facebook and other social media users could be at a greater risk of user data breach and of giving away more information about themselves on social platforms compared to users in other markets due to weak rules and careless approach.

Lax rules and regulations for app developers and owners, which do not require them to seek explicit permissions from users compared to other markets like Europe before downloading apps, rampant proliferation of the Android platform, which enables apps to seek out a lot more information and the unique social media habits of Indians are all factors that put them at a greater risk, cyber and data security lawyers and industry experts told ET.

“App permissions and the way app developers and owners seek permissions from users before the latter download the apps varies with locations,” said Sivarama Krishnan, cybersecurity leader, India, at PwC.

Indian fintech startup SmartCoin raises US$2M pre-Series A [press release]

Bangalore-based fintech startup SmartCoin has raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from a top Chinese seed-stage investor Accion Venture Lab.

Unicorn India Ventures, an existing investor in the company, along with ISME ACE, a fintech accelerator based in Mumbai, also participated in the round.

SmartCoin plans to further invest in technology and grow its team as it continues with its expansion plans, with an aim to cover a much larger customer base.

The post Today’s top tech news, March 28: Go-Jek set to expand into 3 markets in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.