Uber Eats Ups Grocery Delivery; About Zoom’s ‘End to End Encryption;’ Lucid Motors Delays Production; Brooks Brothers to Mass Produce Masks

Uber Eats has stepped up grocery delivery options in three markets hard hit by the coronavirus. According to techcrunch.com, Uber’s food delivery division said today it’s inked a partnership with supermarket giant Carrefour in France to provide Parisians with 30 minute home delivery on a range of grocery products, including everyday foods, toiletries and cleaning products. In Spain, it’s partnered with the Galp service station brand to offer a grocery delivery service that consists of basic foods, over the counter medicines, beverages and cleaning products in 15 cities. In Brazil Uber said it’s partnering with a range of pharmacies, convenience stores and pet shops in Sao Paulo to offer home delivery on basic supplies. Due to the
pandemic, the company has switched all deliveries to contactless by default — with orders left at the door or as instructed by a user.

When a company is vaulted into the limelight, it isn’t uncommon to see a number of problems exposed to the greater audience. That’s been the case as Zoom has seen a huge increase in use while people work from home. Theverge.com reports that even though the company states on its website and in a white paper that it supports end to end encryption for meetings…that’s not really true. In fact, a spokesperson said that “Currently, it is not possible to enable E2E encryption for Zoom video meetings.” Zoom does use TLS encryption, though…the same standard that web browsers use to secure HTTPS websites. In practice, that means that data is encrypted between you and Zoom’s servers, similar to Gmail or Facebook content. There are reports of hackers crashing meetings, and it was also revealed that the company had been sharing data with Facebook…something that wasn’t disclosed until discovered. Zoom still says it doesn’t sell user data of any kind. As with most things internet…consider most of what you do online to be public…and keep in mind that if you are dealing with something sensitive, Zoom may be compelled to hand over meeting recordings for legal proceedings.

Lucid Motors, the EV company started by former Tesla Chief Engineer Peter Rawlinson, won’t be starting production as planned. due to the coronavirus, thenextweb.com says production will be on hold until later this year. Lucid had planned a big rollout of the vehicle at the now cancelled Detroit Auto Show. The Lucid Air is roughly the same size and class as the Tesla Model 3, but is alleged to have about twice the power of the Tesla. The company says its supply chain is ready and Lucid will go into production as soon as the virus situation cools down.

Fancy yourself in a grey flannel mask? How about a pin striped one? Jokes aside, legendary clothing company Brooks Brothers has shut down, and will begin production of medical grade masks and gowns. GQ.com reports that the company is converting its facilities in New York, North Carolina, and Massachusetts to production of the badly needed medical supplies. Brooks Brothers says they will be able to crank out 150,000 medical grade masks a day. The 200 year old company has remained one of the few American brands that has kept clothing production in the US. Brooks has been making 70% of their suits in Massachusetts, all of their ties in New York, and about 10% of their shirts in North Carolina.