Daily Crunch - Shopify confirms data breach

Wednesday, September 23, 2020 • By Anthony Ha

Shopify blames “rogue” employees for a data breach, Google Maps adds COVID-19 data and China pushes back against the TikTok deal. This is your Daily Crunch for September 23, 2020.

The big story: Shopify confirms data breach

The e-commerce platform blamed two “rogue members” of its support team, alleging that they stole customer data from “less than 200 merchants.” Shopify said it has fired the employees in question and referred the matter to the FBI.

In a blog post, the company said the affected data includes names, postal addresses and order details, but not “complete payment card numbers or other sensitive personal or financial information.” The company also said that there’s no evidence that the data has been utilized.

A merchant shared with TechCrunch a copy of their notification from Shopify, which said that the last four digits of customers’ payment cards had also been taken.

Could Colocation Be the Nervous System of Digital Business?

Amazon removes the $500 Prime Bike, says it has nothing to do with the Peloton knock-off — Echelon Fitness said it developed the Prime Bike “in collaboration with Amazon,” but Amazon is saying that isn’t the case.

Google Maps gets a COVID-19 layer — Google Maps users will be able to see a color-coded map indicating the number of cases per 100,000 people.

Top 20 iOS homescreen customization apps reach 5.7M installs after iOS 14 release — The three most-downloaded apps (Widgetsmith, Color Widgets and Photo Widget) account for 95% of these 5.7 million downloads.

Image Credits: Echelon

Startups, funding and venture capital

China says it won’t approve TikTok sale, calls it ‘extortion’ — An editorial in the official English-language newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party said China has no reason to approve the “dirty” and “unfair” deal.

Zoom’s earliest investors are betting millions on a better Zoom for schools — ClassEDU is a new startup from former Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen aiming to answer the question: What if someone created a Zoom experience that was designed, not just marketed, for classrooms?

Endel raises $5M to create personalized ‘sound environments’ that improve productivity and sleep — I tried it out myself, listening to Endel’s mix of soothing music and white noise as I worked.

Startups, funding and venture capital image

Image Credits: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Fundraising lessons from David Rogier of MasterClass — Rogier says entrepreneurs should try to raise funds before launching.

Scaling to $100 million ARR: 3 founders share their insights — For this Disrupt panel, Alex Wilhelm spoke to Egnyte CEO Vineet Jain, Kaltura president Michal Tsur and GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij.

Dear Sophie: Possible to still get through I-751 and citizenship after divorce? — Another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch image

Image Credits: John Lamparski / Getty Images (Image has been modified)

Everything else

Data breach at New York Sports Clubs owner exposed customer data — Town Sports International, the parent company of New York Sports Clubs and Christi’s Fitness gyms, is mopping up after a security lapse exposed customer data.

Curly the curling robot throws stones like a pro — Researchers designed Curly to be a robot that can observe the real world and act accordingly in a precise and strategic manner.

TC Sessions Mobility 2020 kicks off in two weeks — Speakers include Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel and Celina Mikolajczak, vice president of battery technology for Panasonic Energy of North America.