Ticketmaster Customer Data Hackers, Lie-Detecting AI, and the Rise of Super-Cheap Online Shopping

Welcome back to Lately, The Globe’s weekly technology newsletter.

In this week’s issue:

🛍️ Shein, Temu and the rise of ultra-cheap e-commerce

🥷 Why did Ticketmaster wait so long to notify customers about the hack?

🤥 Artificial intelligence is better at detecting lies than humans

🎙️ A must-have podcast for techies and entrepreneurs

Ticketmaster finally notifies Canadian customers about data breach

Ticketmaster waited almost two months before informing customers that their personal information may be on the dark web.Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Nearly two months after a user named “ShinyHunters” posted on a hacker forum that he was selling the personal information of millions of Ticketmaster accounts, the company has finally notified Canadian customers who may have been affected by the breach. Better late than never, I guess.

In an email Monday, Ticketmaster said it learned on May 23 that some customers’ personal information may have been stolen, such as names, email addresses, phone numbers or encrypted credit card information. Affected customers can sign up for 12 months of free identity monitoring service, which will send alerts if any of their personal information is found on the dark web.

That’s little comfort to customers, many of whom have taken to social media to express their frustration over having to cancel credit cards and other perennial pain points like exorbitant fees and unstable pre-sales.

Shein, Temu, and the Rise of Super Cheap Online Shopping

A mushroom lamp, fluffy cat ears or kitchen utensils are just some of the items you can buy at Shein or Temu.Globe and Mail

Are you looking for crocheted bikini tops or fluffy cat ears for your motorcycle helmet? Or maybe Scandinavian minimalist silicone kitchenware sets – or a mushroom table lamp? And want to spend less than $20 on all of the above? No problem: Shein and Temu have everything you need.

Chinese e-commerce sites have become incredibly popular in the past few years, offering huge selections, low prices, and gamified shopping experiences. (See: flashy sale clocks and spinning roulette wheels for coupon codes.)

A third of Canadians have shopped on Shein or Temu in the past year, according to a study by marketing platform Omnisend. In a bid to fend off competition, Amazon plans to launch its own discount store with no-name products shipped directly from China. But these ultra-cheap e-commerce platforms are also raising a barrage of ethical questions. In this week’s episode of Lately, journalist Louise Matsakis delves into the mysterious world of e-commerce made in China, the stakes for competitors and the ethical concerns of consumers who want to shop responsibly and affordably.

Star Trek-Inspired Vancouver Company Produces 3D-Printed Living Tissue

Aspect Biosystems’ patented bioprinting technology was inspired by Star Trek.Marlin Olynyk /The Globe and Mail

For Vancouver-based biotech company Aspect Biosystems, it all started on the USS Enterprise. In 2011, Tamer Mohamed and his co-founders were exploring ways to create advanced printing technology that could “print” biological structures when they remembered the Replicator, a machine from the Star Trek universe that could instantaneously produce food and drink on demand.

That sparked an epiphany, and the team began developing specialized 3D printers that could create synthetic, living tissues that could be implanted into damaged livers and pancreas to repair function — a move that could change the way diseases like type 1 diabetes are treated.

Last year, the company signed a blockbuster $75 million development deal with Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind Ozempic, to fund research and take an undisclosed ownership stake. This week, Aspect received $73 million in government funding to build a biomanufacturing facility in British Columbia

As my colleague Sean Silcoff explains, Aspect is one of a group of promising Vancouver-area companies that aim to make the city a major player in the global pharmaceutical market.

Polygraph Test, Learn About Artificial Intelligence

Could AI be used as a new polygraph test?iStockPhoto / Getty Images

What else are we reading this week:

‘We’re Living in a Nightmare’: Health Crisis in Texas’ Bitcoin Town (TIME)

Could AIs Become Sentient? We Currently Have No Way to Tell (Ars Technica)

Thermonuclear Explosions and New Species: Inside Elon Musk’s Plan to Colonize Mars (New York Times)

Part of text:

“Shein and Temu start with the premise: What if shopping was a form of entertainment?” – Technology journalist Louise Mastakis on the rise of ultra-cheap e-commerce on this week’s episode of Lately.

Money for adults

The FoodCycler dries, grinds and processes kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich garden waste.PETR_MAUR/Delivered

FoodCycler, $800

Kitchen composters can be a smelly business, which is why a number of new companies are offering high-tech machines that can turn food scraps into garden fertilizer. One such gadget is a product from Canadian company FoodCycler, which dries and grinds up food waste and uses carbon filters to minimize unpleasant odors.

The end result looks similar to coffee grounds and can be added to the garden or thrown into regular compost bins. These machines are not cheap, costing $800, so if you are not ready to go crazy, let me show you my method: keep your compost bin in the freezer. It traps the stench, and since you are forced to use a small bin, you cannot allow it to get too full.

Cultural radar:

This week on Culture Radar, Silcoff is a special guest to recommend a must-listen podcast, The Acquired. (Want more podcast recommendations from Globe staffers? Go here.)

“Want to hear two venture capitalists discuss the history of Nvidia for seven hours or Berkshire Hathaway for nine? Acquired is a favorite podcast for CEOs and tech insiders, with hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal delving into the history of iconic corporate institutions, from Costco and Lockheed Martin to the NFL.

“Their deeply researched yet engaging, free-form conversational explorations of origin stories, personalities, and strategies can stretch on for hours and multiple episodes, but they are a novel and accessible form of business storytelling. I recently spent half a trip to Boston listening to the fascinating story of Ozempic’s maker, Novo Nordisk, and spent most of the return trip learning about the first 20 years of Microsoft. Now I’m in a toss-up between Visa and Porsche.”

Other news from the world of technology and telecommunications:

French authorities say Canadian leader of EncroChat knowingly sold encryption service to criminals

Microsoft resigns as observer on OpenAI board to avoid antitrust scrutiny

China leads the world in adopting generative AI, study finds